Fresh Pear-Ginger Quick Bread

I saw a picture of this bread in one of the food blogs that I follow.  It looked really good, and I had a bunch of pears sitting on my counter, waiting to be used.  Seemed like a no-brainer to me.  So off I went!

I am very happy with this bread.  It is super moist, and the fresh ginger gives it a spicy kick.  It also comes together really quickly (minus the hour or so that it bakes).  If you have some pears lying around, make this stuff! 

You can find the original recipe here. 

Fresh Ginger-Pear Quick Bread
Yield: 1 loaf

2 large ripe pears
3 tablespoons 1/8-inch cubes peeled fresh ginger
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 orange
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan with butter, then sprinkle it with all purpose flour. Turn the loaf pan upside down and tap out the excess flour.
2. Peel, core and cut the pears into 1/4-inch cubes.  Stir the pears and ginger together in a medium bowl.
3. Pour the buttermilk into a measuring cup; stir in the vanilla and all the zest.  In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl on medium high speed.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 20 seconds between each addition. Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk mixture, beating on low speed just until combined after each addition. Fold in the ginger-pear mixture.
4. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake about 55 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan for 5 minutes. Invert the bread onto a baking rack. Cool the bread completely before covering it tightly with plastic wrap for storage.  The bread will keep up to 3 days at room temperature, or up to 3 weeks if frozen.  Thaw the bread completely at room temperature and reheat it slowly in a 300 degree oven for about 15 minutes.