Miso-Maple Loaf

From the book BAKING WITH DORIE: Sweet, Salty, & Simple by Dorie Greenspan.
Photography © 2021 by Mark Weinberg.
Makes about 10 servings

IF I OWNED A BED-AND-BREAKFAST, I’d make this my signature treat. Sturdy, coarse-crumbed (I say this with admiration) and on the brink of savory, the loaf is reminiscent of many crowd-pleasers. It may make you think of honey cake or gingerbread or banana bread, but in the end, it will never be anything other than itself—it’s an original.

The miso and maple are less stand-out individual players than they are a team working together to create flavors that are robust, warm and mysterious. And, along with the recipe’s buttermilk, their moistness contributes to the bread’s lovely crumb, which is slightly open and very tender.

I prefer white (shiro) miso here, but if you’re looking for a stronger flavor, you can use red. You can also switch the orange or tangerine zest for lemon, if you’d like.

1¾ cups (238 grams) all-purpose flour
2½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup (150 grams) sugar
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Finely grated zest of 1 orange or 2 tangerines
1 stick (8 tablespoons; 4 ounces; 113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup (70 grams) white miso
¼ cup (60 ml) pure maple syrup
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
⅓ cup (80 ml) buttermilk (well shaken before measuring)

FOR THE GLAZE (OPTIONAL)

About ¼ cup (80 grams) orange marmalade or apricot jam
1 tablespoon water

Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch loaf pan and dust with flour, or use baker’s spray. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Put the sugar, salt and zest in the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl that you can use with a hand mixer. Reach in and rub the ingredients together until the sugar is moist and fragrant; it may even turn orange. Add the butter, miso and maple syrup to the bowl. If using, attach the bowl to the mixer stand and fit it with the paddle attachment.

Beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl and beater(s) as needed, until you’ve got a smooth, creamy mixture. One by one, add the eggs, beating for a minute after each goes in. Beat in the vanilla. The mixture might curdle, but this is a temporary condition. Turn off the mixer, add the dry ingredients all at once and then pulse to begin the blending. Beat on low speed until the dry ingredients are almost incorporated. With the mixer still on low, pour in the buttermilk and blend well. Scrape the batter into the pan, working it into the corners and smoothing the top.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, checking the bread after 40 minutes and covering the top loosely with a foil or parchment tent if it’s browning too fast. The loaf is properly baked when it pulls away from the sides of the pan and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. The top will be flat—this bread doesn’t rise above the pan—and most likely cracked down the middle. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the bread rest for 5 minutes, then run a table knife around the edges of the loaf and unmold onto the rack; turn it right side up.

IF YOU’D LIKE TO GLAZE THE BREAD: Stir the marmalade or jam and water together and heat the mixture in the microwave or over low heat until it comes just to a boil. Using a pastry brush (or a spoon), cover the top of the loaf with the glaze. Allow the bread to cool to room temperature before slicing.

STORING: Wrapped well, the bread will keep for about 4 days at room temperature. If it stales—or

maybe even if it doesn’t—toast it lightly before serving. If you haven’t glazed it, you can wrap it airtight and freeze it for up to 2 months; defrost, still wrapped, at room temperature.

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Baking with Dorie, Sweet, Salty, Simple
by Dorie Greenspan

Maybe it’s her short hair and propensity for neckerchiefs, but I have a girl crush on Dorie Greenspan. Or maybe it’s her recipes: foolproof, beautiful, delicious. I’m not alone: There’s an avid online community of food bloggers and home cooks who bake recipes from her previous cookbooks every week (search for Tuesdays with Dorie). Suffice it to say, her latest is highly anticipated. Greenspan’s recipes are ambitious but doable and reflect her Parisian lifestyle and world travels. (Again with the crush.) The book covers a range of baking, from a simple white sandwich loaf and easy quick breads to fancier cookies and tarts. As a fan of Blue Oven Bakery’s cheddar-spinach scone, I’m eager to try Greenspan’s version at home. You probably have several cookie/cake/bread cookbooks on your kitchen shelf; if you’re looking to up your baking game, you’ll add this one to the pile.

— Bryn Mooth

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