Give Now  »

wfiu logo
WFIU Public Radio

wtiu logo
WTIU Public Television

Choose which station to support!

Indiana Public Media | WFIU - NPR | WTIU - PBS

Midwestern Paw Paw Quick Bread

paw paw bread and butter

Local foragers started bringing paw paws to the backdoor of FARMbloomington in mid-September. "Paw paws have been really great this year," says Chef Daniel Orr.

The squishy yellow flesh tastes like a mango-flavored banana, so he says it pairs well with apples. He also makes cookies with the fruit.

Pulling the flesh out of paw paws is a messy matter -- but gloves are optional. You'll slice the fruit in half and scoop out the yellow flesh; throw the green skins in your compost heap. Then, take care to fish out all the big, black seeds from the flesh before you puree it in a food processor.

This recipe may look familiar if you've made banana or zucchini bread. He calls it a quick bread, which means this loaf doesn't have any yeast. It doesn't require kneading and you don't have to let it rise. It's as easy as it gets. If you'd like to add some bells and whistles, grab a cup each of raisins and walnuts.

This recipe features the Sweet Seasons Spice Blend.

Midwestern Paw Paw Bread

Ingredients

  • 1 cup pureed paw paw
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon Sweet Season Spice Blend (or pumpkin pie spice)
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Butter a 9-inch loaf pan. Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well mixed. Stir in the paw paw puree. Sift together the flour, spices, salt and baking soda and add to papaya mixture; mix well. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about an hour or until tester comes out clean.
  3. Cool in the pan for about five minutes. Run a knife around the edges to loosen the loaf and invert the loaf onto a cooling rack. Cool to room temperature before slicing.


This recipe features the .

Support For Indiana Public Media Comes From

About Earth Eats

Harvest Public Media