One hot summer day when I was seven years old, I was bored and couldn’t find anything to amuse myself. My cousin, Alice, who lived in the apartment next to ours came to our door and said, “Come on over. I have something I want you to try.” On her kitchen counter, I found round slices of a bread I had never seen before. Each slice was spread with a thick layer of cream cheese and topped beautifully with sliced stuffed olives.
“What is it?” I asked. “Just try it,” she said. After one bite, I was in a state of rapture. The slightly sweet, soft texture of the bread and the crunch of the nuts harmonized so exquisitely with the cream cheese and olives that I was beside myself with excitement. “What is it?” I pressed on. “It’s Swedish nut bread.”
Although we were a Sicilian family, we reveled in the neighborhood Swedish bakeries, with their intoxicating fragrances of cinnamon, nuts, pastry, and custards. I immediately returned to our apartment and demanded that my mother buy a loaf of this bread. From that time forward, it became a favorite for lunches and after-school snacks.
Not too many years after I left town, the Swedish bakeries of Rockford, Illinois, sadly disappeared, replaced by generic, unappetizing, and mass-produced baked goods offered in the supermarkets. Once I moved to New York, I missed the nut bread so deeply that I began experimenting with various versions over many years. Connie Nelson, a Swedish friend from high school, informed me that slices of this bread with cream cheese and olives were nearly always served at bridal showers.
I’m quite certain that my recipe is vastly different from from that of those bakeries of long ago. However, after many failures, I arrived at a bread that seems to be indistinguishable from that of my childhood—at least if memory serves. The major difference is that I don’t own one of those round, covered baking pans. Instead, I bake it in a regular rectangular pan and go to extra lengths to keep the crust soft..
Nut Bread With Cream Cheese and Stuffed Olives
The bread is delicious on its own or with butter, but I do believe the cream cheese and olives are the perfect accompaniments.
To Print or Download Recipe, Click Here.
