Our friend Anne Silber surprised us with this sunny strawberry quick bread a few years ago. And when we found ourselves recently with a bonanza of fresh California berries, I thought of her and her recipe. Now I ask, what took me so long? Unusual and yet deliciously familiar, this moist bread has elevated strawberries onto our list of favorite baking fruits (bananas, blueberries, and apples).
Anne is a fine artist known for her serigraphs (gorgeous silkscreens) featuring gentle transparent colors that blend together like crisp watercolors. Hollywood loves her work, and you have probably seen her still lifes, landscapes and cityscapes on hit TV shows like ER and Grey’s Anatomy, as well as in major movies. We play a game we call “Spot the Silber,” and caught one behind Matt Damon in the movie The Departed.
For each serigraph, Anne meticulously cuts a screen for every color by hand. Her care and precision would lead us to imagine she’d like baking fancy pastries and decorating cakes.
But no. She hates being in the kitchen. So you can assume that if she puts on an apron for this strawberry bread, it’s got to be easy to make. No electric mixer or fancy tools. All it takes is strawberries (frozen or fresh), pantry ingredients, and a hankering for something delicious.
Next time you want a novel breakfast or dessert treat, mash up some strawberries and fire up the oven. And for beautiful artwork like what’s hanging in Steve Carell’s character’s lake house in The Four Seasons, check out Anne Silber Serigraphs.
Anne Silber’s Strawberry Bread
- ⅔ cup crushed strawberries (about a half pound of frozen berries)
- 1 cup flour
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional, but preferred)
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Grease an 8.5″ x 4.5″ x 2.5″ loaf pan and line with parchment or wax paper.
- Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in a bowl.
- Add beaten eggs, oil and vanilla. Mix well.
- Add strawberries and nuts. Mix but do not beat.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
- Remove parchment or wax paper. Dust top with powdered sugar (preferably non-melting).
