Southern elements take precedence on the Nashville restaurant Husk: Tennessee trout and greens, South Carolina rice, even Georgia olive oil. That’s why pastry chef Rachel Rathgeb leans on candy potatoes. “We are able to get them year-round from our farmers, they usually’re all the time nice high quality,” Rathgeb says. At present, candy potatoes seem on Rathgeb’s dessert menu in a candy potato bread that’s griddled after which served with peanut toffee sauce.
Technically a fast bread, it eats like a moist cake, Rathgeb says. Like several fast bread, this recipe comes collectively merely and requires neither fuss nor cautious watching. That’s helpful within the restaurant kitchen, but it surely’s a boon for house bakers too, particularly inexperienced persons. “I really feel like this can be a nice entry into baking,” Rathgeb says. In contrast to butter-based truffles, by which temperatures matter extra and may require strategies like creaming, this oil-based bread is extra forgiving.
Candy potatoes, within the type of puree, take up a number of the function that butter would in any other case play by including moisture, taste, and a delightful denseness to the bread. Roasting the candy potatoes earlier than pureeing them ensures that they add a wealthy toasty taste. The important thing to the very best texture is mixing till the batter is simply mixed with no seen dry pockets of flour, Rathgeb notes.
After baking, Rathgeb likes to slice the cake after which brown either side in clarified butter earlier than serving, a alternative impressed by her most popular approach to eat leftover muffins. She then locations the griddled bread over the peanut toffee sauce, which additional boosts its toasty taste. Should you’re fortunate sufficient to have leftover sauce, put it aside in a container within the fridge and heat it as much as drizzle — Rathgeb says it might be nice on high of ice cream.
Candy Potato Bread Recipe
Makes 1 (9×5-inch) loaf
Components:
For the bread:
1 massive (12-ounce) candy potato
1¾ cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (200 grams) sugar
½ cup (118 ml) vegetable oil
2 massive eggs
For the peanut toffee sauce:
⅓ cup unsalted butter
1 ¾ cup (400 grams) brown sugar (evenly packed)
1 cup (237 ml) heavy cream
1 ½ teaspoons high-quality sea salt
⅓ cup (85 grams) creamy peanut butter
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
For serving:
½ cup finely chopped roasted salted peanuts, for garnish
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, for pan frying the sliced bread
Directions:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375 levels. Poke the candy potato with a knife just a few instances and place it on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake till it squishes simply when squeezed with an oven mitt, about 1 hour. Break up the candy potato lengthwise and scoop out the flesh and mash till you may have 1 cup (8 ounces) Put aside to chill. Reserve any remaining candy potato for one more use.
Step 2: Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and line the underside and the lengthy sides with a chunk of parchment.
Step 3: Whisk collectively the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl till nicely mixed. Put aside.
Step 4: Mix the sugar and oil within the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium pace with the paddle attachment for 1 minute.
Step 5: Add the eggs to the bowl one after the other, stopping and scraping the perimeters of the bowl between additions.
Step 6: Add one-third of the flour combination and blend on low till simply blended. Add half of the candy potatoes and blend on low till simply blended. Repeat with one other third of the flour, the remaining candy potatoes. Stir within the remaining flour by hand.
Step 7: Pour the batter into the ready pan and bake till a skewer inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clear with just a few crumbs, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let stand at room temperature till utterly cooled. Wrap in plastic wrap and retailer at room temperature for as much as 4 days.
Step 8: To make the toffee sauce, mix the butter, brown sugar, cream, and salt right into a medium saucepan. Deliver to a boil over excessive warmth, stirring incessantly.
Take away the saucepan from the range and add the peanut butter and vanilla. Whisk till easy.
Step 9: To serve, slice the bread into 8 slices. Soften 2 tablespoons of butter in a big skillet over medium warmth. Add half of the bread slices and prepare dinner till golden brown, 2 to three minutes per facet. Repeat with remaining butter and bread slices.
Step 10: Place the bread slices on dessert plates. Unfold the peanuts generously throughout the highest of the slices. Pour the nice and cozy toffee sauce across the base of the slices and serve.
Dina Ávila is a photographer in Portland, Oregon.
Recipe examined by Ivy Manning