Strawberry Cream Cheese Swirl Bread-Saturday Sweet

Today’s Saturday Sweet is Strawberry Cream Cheese Swirl Bread.  This is a moist, pinkish bread with swirls of white cream cheese marbled through it.  The recipe makes a large loaf, and it is nice to serve at bridal and baby showers.  It can be made ahead and kept  tightly wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator.  The bread can be frozen and will keep several months if well wrapped.  Since either fresh or individually frozen strawberries can be used in this recipe, I prefer to make the bread up fresh.

I did not include it in the photo, but I like to serve this with Strawberry Spread:  1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened and mixed with 1/4 c. strawberry jam.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Swirl Bread
1 egg
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened (low-fat is OK)
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 3/4 c. flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted
1 egg
1/3 c. water
1 1/2 c. fresh or individually frozen strawberries, mashed by hand or processed in a food chopper
1/2 c. walnuts, toasted

In a medium mixing bowl, beat egg well.  Add cream cheese, sugar and cinnamon.  Beat until smooth with an electric hand mixer or a wire whisk.  Set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, soda and salt.  In a second bowl combine melted butter, egg and water.  Beat well.  Add mashed strawberries.  Mix well.  Mix strawberry mixture into dry ingredients stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.  Stir in walnuts.  The batter will be thick.  Grease and flour a 5x9-inch loaf pan.  Spoon half of batter into the pan.  Pour cream cheese mixture over batter in the pan, smoothing out evenly.  Spoon remaining batter over cream cheese layer, covering it as much as possible.  Bake at 350 degrees about 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, remove from pan and cool completely before slicing, at least 2 hours.  Cut into slices with a thin sharp knife.  Store tightly wrapped in the refrigerator.  Makes 1 loaf, about 16 slices.

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