Saffron Cranberry Bread

This Saffron Cranberry Bread is a unique favorite of my family during the holiday season. The sweetness of the saffron perfectly balances the tartness of the cranberries. This is a double recipe that makes 2 loaves. 1 to enjoy and 1 to freeze for later or give away.

Saffron Cranberry Bread

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups milk
approximately 20 strands of saffron

4 cups unbleached white flour
2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda


6 Tbsp softened butter
2 farm fresh eggs, well beaten

3 1/2 cups cranberries (1 12oz bag)


Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease and flour 2 loaf pans.

Place milk and saffron in a pan on very low heat. Heat until hot, but not to boiling. Remove from heat and let sit to allow saffron to infuse into the milk.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Add butter and mix in. Add eggs and saffron milk, making sure to get saffron strands into bowl, mix well. Stir in cranberries.

Pour into prepared loaf pans. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack 15 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely on rack.

Black Solid Goats in the Red/Black/Brown Pool of Colored Angoras

Black goats in the R/B/B pool:

Black goats can range from true black, to gray to light silver. Solid colored goats are also referred to as "no pattern." Solid black goats can range from true black, to gray to light silver. Usually they are born with a black birth coat and then often fade to a lighter color as their mohair grows in. Goats that keep true black in their mohair as adults are less common. 

Solid black/gray goats are present in both the black/pattern pool and the red/black/brown pool, but each pool gets it's color differently. In the red/black/brown pool, the color is from genes on the Extension locus; black is the most dominant gene on the Extension. If there is a black gene here, black will be expressed. The other genes are red which requires 2 red genes for red to be expressed, and wild which does not express a color, but allows the color on agouti locus to be expressed. in the black/pattern pool it is on the agouti locus. It is impossible to tell what pool they belong to simply by looking at a solid black/gray goat. Looking through the pedigree to see what colors and patterns are present is the easiest way to make an educated guess as to which pool they get their color from. Another way is to breed the animal to a goat from either pool and see what color is produced in the kids.

Breeding black goats with genetics from the red/black/brown pool genetics to any of the colors in the red/black/brown pool should produce color which can be any shade of red, black or brown. Often one twin will be red and the other black. Breeding the same goat to a black/pattern pool goat will likely produce white kids.

A gray doe in the R/B/B pool

Peaches and Cream Scones

I love scones. This is a perfect way to use the peaches that are in abundance at local farmer's markets right now. I like to use the really rich and delicious heavy cream from Calder Dairy, a local dairy with wonderful milk products.

The key to wonderful texture in the scones is gentle mixing of the ingredients. Mix until just combined. Over mixing activates the gluten and changes the texture of the scones.

Scones

4 cups flour
1/2 cup Brown sugar or turbinado sugar
2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter chilled and cut into 1/4" pieces
3 peaches, peeled and diced
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Glaze:

4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or knife until mixture is crumbly. Add peaches and stir until coated. Add cream and mix until ingredients are just combined.

Divide dough in half, set 1/2 aside. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and pat into a circle. Cut into 8 wedges.  Repeat with other 1/2 of dough.

Place scones onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, until scones are just turning golden. Remove from oven.

For Glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla until smooth. Glaze scones and enjoy!