Strawberry Bread with Vanilla Mascarpone

Tomorrow evening I will be hosting my parents for the opening ceremonies of the olympics. To be a bit patriotic, I will be serving something red and white - a delicious strawberry bread with some vanilla mascarpone. Go team Canada!

Ingredients:

• 5 tbsp plus 1 tsp unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pan
• 1 pint strawberries, rinsed, hulled, quartered and mashed with a fork
• 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
• 1 vanilla bean, scraped or 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup icing sugar

Preheat oven to 350F and butter an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan. In a small saucepan, bring strawberries to a boil over medium heat. Cook for about 1 minute while stirring. If you happen to be able to find some fresh local strawberries (the small ones from Quebec are fantastic), these will make an even sweeter and more delicious loaf.

Whisk together flour, wheat germ, baking soda, ground cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.

Cream butter, sugar and eggs until light and fluffy.

With mixer running, alternate between adding flour mixture and milk. Fold in strawberries.

Bake for about an hour. In the meantime, combine mascarpone, vanilla seeds and icing sugar. Cut a nice big slice of the loaf, add a dollop of the vanilla mascarpone and enjoy. Happy olympics everyone!