Vanilla Poppy Seed Bread

Recipe from "The Vanilla Chef" written by Patricia Rain (The Vanilla Queen.) You can find this and more at www.vanilla.com. The crunch of the poppy seeds and the less pronounced crunch of the vanilla seeds makes this delicate loaf bread a sensory pleasure. Nice served with lemon curd, maple butter or cherry cream cheese pecan spread.

• Ready In: 1 hr 20 mins
• Yields: 2 loaves

Ingredients

• 2 1⁄2 cups  vanilla sugar
• 2 1⁄2 cups  light  salad oil
• 2 1⁄2 cups  light cream or 2 1⁄2 cups evaporated milk
• 5  eggs
• 1  large vanilla bean, seeds scraped from
• 5  cups unbleached flour
• 4 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 cup poppy seed
• 1  tablespoon pure vanilla extract (2 tablespoons if not using vanilla sugar)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Generously grease 2 bread loaf pans.
3. Combine sugar, oil, cream, eggs, and vanilla seeds in a large bowl, and mix on medium speed of electric mixer until blended.
4. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
5. Blend into egg mixture on low speed.
6. Add poppy seeds and vanilla and beat until smooth.
7. Turn into pans and bake until golden and bread tests done, about 60 minutes.