The Lighthouse Keepers Rhubarb Bread - Blue Monday

The Lighthouse Keeper's Rhubarb Bread

I have an unapologetic love for covered bridges and lighthouses. The bridges are predictable. The lighthouses, at least the ones I've seen, are unique. Both speak to times now past and both have become redundant. Communities struggle to keep them as monuments to a proud past, but I suspect their days are numbered. Today's recipe comes from a lighthouse keeper. A lighthouse keeper was the person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, its lamps and lenses. The advent of electricity sounded their death kneel and global positioning systems delivered the coup de gras. In an effort to raise funds, while recording snippets of history, lighthouse societies in various parts of the country have collected recipes that capture the meals eaten by the keepers from the 1700's through to today. This recipe comes from the children's book "The Little Traverse Light" by Elizabeth Whitney Williams. The bread is easy and delicious - really delicious. If you don't like rhubarb substitute raspberries. You won't be sorry you tried this one.

The Lighthouse Keeper's Rhubarb Bread

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups brown sugar, packed

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 large egg, beaten

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups finely diced rhubarb

Topping:

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup brown sugar

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour 2 8x4-inch loaf pans.

2) Combine brown sugar and oil in a bowl. Stir until smooth. Add egg, buttermilk, salt, baking soda, vanilla and flour. Blend until moist.

3) Fold in diced rhubarb. Turn batter into prepared loaf pans.

4) For topping, combine walnuts, cinnamon and brown sugar. Sprinkle over batter.

5) Bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean. Turn out onto racks and cool before slicing. Yield: 2 loaves.

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