A few months ago I saw a muffin recipe over at a baker’s blog for brandied orange marmalade muffins (shown on the computer screen). The recipe sounded absolutely delicious, except – it was for muffins, something I rarely eat, have never made, and really have no interest in making. However, I do love a good quick bread. So I decided to try making a orange marmalade quick bread using the same recipe. I followed the recipe pretty much to a tee, including preheating the oven to 400° F. That was the only thing I ended up changing. Fifteen minutes into the bake, I noticed that the bread was already starting to brown on top. So I turned the temperature down to 350° F and cooked for another 35 minutes. The bread turned out GREAT! I will definitely be making this again once I have another jar of orange marmalade!
*See Kitchen Notes for more information.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup spelt flour*
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk, regular or low-fat
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup orange marmalade*
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 2 large eggs – at room temperature
- ¾ stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 tablespoons Cognac or brandy
- 2 tablespoons Cointreau
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a bread pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, spelt flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a food processor or blender*, blend the buttermilk, sugar, marmalade and lemon zest until the mixture is smooth (about 20 seconds)
- Add the eggs, melted butter, brandy, and lemon juice. Process until smooth.
Pour the liquid mixture over the flour mixture; stir with a rubber spatula, scraping the sides of the bowl, until the flour is incorporated. Do not over mix.
- Transfer the batter to the bread pan.
Bake for 55 – 60 minutes. or until it passes the toothpick test. (Insert a toothpick into the middle of the loaf. If it comes out clean, the bread is done.)
- Remove from the oven and let sit for 3 to 5 minutes. Run a knife around the sides to loosen, if necessary to get the bread out of the bread. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool. It will be ready to sliced in about 30 minutes if you can wait that long.
Spelt Flour – You can use whole wheat or spelt or both (1/4 cup each).
Orange Marmalade – The first time I made this, I had a failed jar of marmalade in the refrigerator that started to crystallized. Because the marmalade is processed with the wet ingredients “until smooth”, the sugared marmalade worked great and kept me from having to toss it. At other times, I’ve used regular marmalade that is more like a jam than a preserve; either works.
Processor or Blender – I use the blender attachment that comes with my immersion blender and it works great.
If you enjoyed this orange marmalade quick bread then I’m sure you’ll enjoy these other quick breads:
I also prefer quick breads to muffins. This one looks so delicious! I’ll definitely give it a try next time I’ve got some marmalade on hand.
Oh man, how did I miss this? This looks perfect whether it’s during the holidays or not!
Wow, this looks perfect for the holidays!
Lol, why are you against muffins? Thanks for the great recipe; I’ve got a pineapple mango jam that I’ve been debating what to do with and I think with a bit of adaptation this would be perfect!
Marmalade is my favorite jam. Never thought of using it in a bread or muffin. I may have to make this for Christmas. Would be really nice for afternoon tea by the fireplace. 🙂
Sounds wonderful MJ. I love the falvors. I’m not that big into muffins either. Thanks for sharing.
Oooh that looks so puuuuurdy! The flavor combo is amazing! Anuradha has some delicious recipes…love her site!
I love Anu, she has such lovely recipes! Love the flavor combination, AND you know I love me some booze in my treats:-) Delicious, Hugs, Terra
I love recipes that use up jam (basically because I have so much on hand)! I wonder if I could use blackberry and peach james (of which I have a ton!)?
Thanks Debra! I’m not sure about blackberry, but peach should definitely work. Maybe add some orange zest.
It’s quick — AND it has brandy in it? I am soooo there! 😉
Good use of a jam fail! I am keeping a jar of my orange marmalade aside for glazing a ham at Christmas (although I am also contemplating doing a turkey for a change).
thanks Carole! I love the idea of orange marmalade glazed ham. YUM!
Love your bread Peach Lady! I prefer quick breads to muffins too. I only make muffins for my granddaugter. I thought I tried all the quickbreads by now, now I see there is one more.
Beautiful bread MJ! You and I just LOVE our quickbreads! And Anuradha has some amazing recipes for such beautiful baked goods! Brandied orange marmalade…..those words just make me happy! Heading over to bookmark the recipe! : )
thanks Anne! We do love our quick breads don’t we?! One of these days I hope to post your Lemon Tarragon Bread. It’s still my favorite right along side Cranberry Bread!
Love your adaptation of this great recipe! Looks amazing.
Wow,I love orange marmalade and this bread sounds like a great idea for the holidays!!Yumm…
This sounds really nice, I love the combination. And congratulations!
Orange and brandy combo looks delicious.
Oh yeah orange and brandy combination sounds so rich and delicious! I don’t eat muffins as much as bread too. My kids love muffins more though. Congratulations for the nomination!
*hiccup* I neeeeed this bread!
I love booze in anything, so of course I like it in bread. Although I don’t think I’ve ever actually put it in bread! What a terrific idea! I’ve been missing out, big time! There is absolutely no reason for any normal person to have both Cointreau and Grand Mariner in the house at the same time (given a choice, I prefer Cointreau), but if you happen to have some Grand Mariner, it’d probably be super in this — it has a brandy base, so its flavor would be so appropriate. Anyway, good stuff. Thank you.
I would be willing to bet that YOU have both Cointreau and Grand Mariner in you house! But then, would one consider you “normal”? 🙂 I had never really tried Cointreau until I saw it used in one of your drinks so I bought some. I’m with you – I like it better than GM. Thanks for the comments and hope you’re having a great weekend!
Brandy and orange together would have been enough to get me all excited (what a deliriously delicious combination) – but the “quick” in the bread has got me thinking I might actually be able to pull this off!! I’ll head over to Baker Street to check out the recipe… thanks for the idea MJ – yum!
I was thinking about making some quick breads for Christmas this year and this one sounds perfect!
I too never make muffins even though the rest of the family love them. So when I try it I will make your bread version. What I like about this recipe is that you don’t use a lot of heavy spices that mask the flavor of the marmalade and brandy. Sounds devine.
Totally agree Sis! Because of the lack of spices you really get the orange flavor with a hint of Cointreau. It’s really good!
Just in time for the holiday season.,it looks delicious! Will prepare it for the next family meeting.
Anuradha has a lovely blog, doesn’t she? It was a great idea to use the failed marmalade in the recipe, and if you have a glut of marmalade it would help to get ride of some!
This bread takes moist and delicious to a whole new level 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
I must give you credit, MJ. I’m not much of a baker and, when I do bake something, I very rarely stray from the recipe. Make a quick bread instead of muffins? On my own? Just ain’t gonna happen. I’ll let you brave types blaze that trail.
And this trail lead to a great loaf of bread. It sounds wonderful, MJ, and would be perfect with my coffee on a Sunday morning. 🙂
🙂 Thanks John! Yes, I’ve become more daring with all of the inspiration I get from the blogging bakers. Of course, I never was good at follow any recipe to a tee, which is why I’ve never been very successful at baking. If I can’t change “something”, I’m not happy. It made me happy to have a success from changing muffins to quick bread. 🙂
A really quick bread MJ and with all the marmalade….yum yum!
Beautiful quick bread MJ! I really like the addition of the Cointreau to the recipe. This is a must try!
An is such a fantastic baker….she inspires me, too! I love the idea of mixing marmalade into the bread…yum, yum!
This looks like a winner. Baker Street has some amazing looking baked goods and I can see why you wanted to try this one out. I love how you adapted it to a quick bread…. I always play with baking times… so this worked out great for you. 🙂
A gorgeous quick bread.
Congratulations for the nomination!
MJ, you save my life with this recipe! I have had jars of orange marmalades and jams for years and since only one person in my family and among friends likes it, I have problems with getting rid of them. I am really grateful because this bread looks fantastic!
Congratulations for the nomination! I will cross my fingers and hope you win.
thanks Sissi! Sounds like you have some orange marmalade just waiting to be used! Once the oranges become abundant in the market, I’ll probably make a couple of jars – one to eat and one to keep for a couple more loaves of this bread. Hope you’re having a great weekend.
Wow congrats MJ! The bread does indeed sound and look awesome! It sounds like a great holiday bread too!