Valentine’s Bread With Cream Cheese

Want to bring a little love to your Valentine’s lunch break? Skip the sugary sweets and make them delicious, beautiful homemade beet bread instead. This Valentine red bread is made with beet puree and has an herb cream cheese swirl. It’s a feast for the eyes and it can be served for lunch in numerous ways. The main feature of this bread is the beet, which has folate, manganese, fiber, and potassium. Beets can help your blood pressure, reduce your risk of heart disease, and improve your digestion. The beet is also well known for its distinct pink/red color. And it’s the bright color that gives this herb, cream cheese bread a beautiful red/pink hue.

If your Valentine doesn’t have a sweet tooth, this beet bread is a great recipe that they’ll love. Are you ready to amaze valentine? Try Danguole Lekaviciute’s recipe for beet bread with cream cheese and dill swirl.

Beet Bread with Cream Cheese Swirl

(Recipe from 10th Kitchen)

Ingredients

For bread

• 1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 cup of whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 3 beets
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup of milk
• 2 ounces of unsalted butter

For cream cheese swirl

• 4 ounces of cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of fresh chopped dill
• a pinch of salt

  Directions

1. Wrap three washed, trimmed, and dried beets in foil and roast in a 400-degree oven for 40 minutes or so, until they’re pierced easily with a knife. Cool, peel, and puree in a blender or food processor until smooth.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 9×5 loaf pan.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the beet puree with eggs, milk, and melted butter. Stir the mixture into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon just until incorporated.
5. In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, egg, flour, dill, and salt for the swirl. Stir until smooth.
6. Spoon about 2/3 of the beet batter into the prepared pan and spread to the edges to even out. Dollop cream cheese mixture over it, then top with the rest of the beet mixture. Run a butter knife in a swirling motion through the layers to create the swirl pattern. Smooth out the top, then bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (a few moist crumbs are okay).
7. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes or so before removing from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 Serving options

This delicious, brightly colored  beet bread can be served in numerous ways. You can cut a thick slice of bread into cubes and serve it on top of a yummy salad or you can serve a toasted slice of the bread with a bowl of soup. In fact, the cream cheese and dill flavor would taste great with tomato soup or carrot and roasted red pepper soup. If you aren’t in the mood for soup or salad, make an avocado egg salad sandwich with your homemade bread. You can find a tasty avocado egg salad recipe here.