1/2 c Walnuts — coarsely chopped
2 1/4 c All-purpose flour
1 ts Double-acting baking powder
3/4 ts Baking soda
1/4 ts Salt
1 1/4 c Sweet cherries in juice —
Drained
8 tb Unsalted butter — softened
3/4 c Sugar
1/4 c Honey
2 lg Eggs
1/3 c Fresh orange juice
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Toast the chopped walnuts in a baking
pan in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Raise the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Sift the flour, baking
powder, baking soda, and salt together into a bowl. In a second bowl,
combine the cherries and the nuts. In the bowl of an electric mixer,
cream the butter until it is light and fluffy; add the sugar and
honey gradually, beating the mixture until it is very light. Add the
eggs, one at a time. With mixer at lowest speed, add the flour
mixture (reserving 1/4 cup), alternating it with the orange juice.
Toss the cherry-nut mixture with the reserved 1/4 cup of flour, and
fold it into the batter. Turn the batter into a buttered and floured
loaf pan, approximately 9 x 5 x 3 inches.Bake the bread in the
centrer of the oven for 1 hour. Cool the loaf for 15 minutes in the
pan; unmold the bread on a rack to cool completely. Wrap it in
plastic wrap and keep it a day before serving.
Yields
8 Servings