Earl Grey Honey Whiskey Bread

I guess I'm sort of on a baking surge. Well, if you count the baking I have to do for my class. But, I've also made chocolate pink champagne cupcakes, the mini cakes, some muffins this morning, and now these mini breads. Granted, the muffins were a boxed mix where all I had to do was add water, but still, I've been in the kitchen quite a bit this week. I'll be back in it tomorrow to make a cake for class on Wednesday, and Tuesday I'll be making the icing and icing the cake.

That last (first) paragraph took me 35 minutes to type. I am juggling typing this and watching the new Thor movie. Thor is winning....

Anyways, I stumbled across this recipe last week on Pinterest after talking with my uncle about bread-making. I like easy breads. You know, the ones with wet batters that you mix, pour into a pan and bake. I'm not sure I have the patience for yeast breads, with all the waiting, and kneading, and waiting, and what have you. Then again, my dough hook is the only part of my stand mixer I have yet to use. After coming across 100+ variations on banana bread, this recipe showed up. Just the name of it had me excited. An odd combination of flavors - unique, yet all basic flavors that won't send you searching high and low for rare ingredients. Earl grey tea? Check! Raw honey? Check! (Well almost, my jar was old and not full, so I had to buy a new one). Maple Whiskey? Check! I even found the exact brand used in the original recipe, which I wasn't sure I'd even find. It called for a maple whiskey, and I was already settled that I would just use a honey whiskey since maple whiskey isn't all that common. Low and behold, my local liquor store had the Cabin Fever Maple Whiskey featured in the original recipe. Awesome! Everything else is pantry staples, other than the fact that I forgot to buy an orange. I put my thinking cap on an came up with a solution. No quarter up of fresh orange juice? No problem! I opened a can of mandarin oranges I had and used some of the syrup from that. Worked out just fine for me. As for raw honey, my local Shaws carries two brands. A jar (pictured below) that's the exact amount but $4, and a slightly larger jar that was $11. How people eat entirely organic diets is beyond me. The price alone is mind-boggling. When using the raw honey, put the jar in some warm/hot water to make it a little softer. I also experimented by making mini loaves, which are all packed up, all pretty with silver ribbon and tags to bring to work. Though this recipe is so good I want to keep it all to myself, I thought I'd be nice and share.

This bread is perfect to slice up, drizzle with honey, and enjoy with a cup of tea for breakfast.  Or with a glass of whiskey. Not for breakfast though. I hope none of you are drinking whiskey at breakfast....

Earl Grey Honey Whiskey Bread
slightly adapted from The Baking Bird

3.5 cups flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cardamom
1.5 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground clove
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup raw honey (you can use regular)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup warm, strong Earl Grey infused tea
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup maple whiskey (any whiskey is fine)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Prepare 2 loaf pans or 6-7 mini loaf pans. I use Bake Easy spray, sold by Wilton at Michael's, JoAnn Fabrics etc. It makes releasing baked items from pans a breeze!
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda, salt and all spices.
3. Make a well in the middle and add the oil, honey, sugars, eggs, vanilla, tea, OJ and whiskey.
4. Whisk together on low speed until well combined.
5. Divide amongst the pans and bake. If using regular loaf pans, bake for 40-45 minutes. If using mini pans, bake around 30 minutes. Start checking them between 20-25 minutes, I had two done by then, the rest took about 30 minutes.