Strawberry, pear and vanilla bread

This bread is not only colourful and delicious but is packed with fibre and antioxidants from the strawberries and pear serves / 16 prep / 30 minutes cook / 70 minutes INGREDIENTS 400g strawberries, chopped 2 pears, cored and chopped 1 tbsp caster sugar

1 ½ cups plain flour

1 cup self-raising flour

1 tsp bicarb soda

½ cup milk 1⁄3 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1⁄3 cup honey

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tsp vanilla extract 100g strawberries, sliced

METHOD

1. Place chopped strawberries, pears, sugar and 2 tablespoons of water in a saucepan. Cover, bring to the boil over high heat. Uncover. Reduce heat to medium-low.

2. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10–15 minutes or until strawberries have softened and sauce thickens slightly. Set aside for 20 minutes to cool.

3. Blend fruit mixture until smooth. Set aside to cool completely.

4. Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 7cm deep, 9cm x 25cm loaf pan with 3 layers of baking paper, extending the paper 2cm above the edges of the pan.

5. Sift plain flour, self-raising flour and bicarb soda into a large bowl. Make a well.

6. Add milk, oil, honey, egg, vanilla and fruit mixture. Stir well to combine. Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Level top.

7. Arrange slices of strawberry, overlapping to completely cover top of batter. Bake for about 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean.

8. Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Turn, top-side up, on to a wire rack lined with baking paper. Cool completely. Serve dusted with icing sugar. Recipe courtesy of Cynthia Daniels, Maleny Branch