Cinnamon Sugar Topped Blackberry Rhubarb Bread

I'm not sure what my favorite part of this bread is, the buttery cinnamon sugar topping or the blackberries and rhubarb nestled in the tender slices.  Possibly it could be the whole package that tempts me.  My original plan was to go with the recipe and make rhubarb bread with chopped walnuts but these blackberries sort of spoke to me at the market this morning, nothing like a talking blackberry to start your day.  I tossed them with the sliced rhubarb in the batter and crossed my fingers.  As you can see from the pictures they made small purple explosions in each slice of bread, which I think adds a splash of excitement as well as a just the right amount of blackberry flavor mingling with the rhubarb in my bread.  I'm not sure that I captured a good angle that shows off the buttery cinnamon sugar topping  but it was a nice sweet slightly crunchy addition to these blackberry rhubarb loaves.

I spent most of Sunday afternoon baking, first these loaves and then on to the chocolate sables for this week's French Fridays with Dorie.  This month marks a year that I have been baking and cooking my way through Around My French Table, a cook book that I thoroughly enjoy and can't praise enough.  I looked back on all the French Friday posts that I've done here and although I've enjoyed everyone of them I do have one regret and that is not being able to share the recipes here, as we (the on-line cooking group) have been asked not to share recipes from the book.  I almost always adapt recipes that I find in cook books and I like to share my own adaptions as I make them in my kitchen not a link from somewhere else.  I made the cheese souffle, which I adapted from Around My French Table, over the weekend and decided not to post it because I couldn't decide on a suitable link or recipe to post with it.  So, this is my dilemma with French Fridays with Dorie, I enjoy cooking and sharing with the group but I also like sharing the recipes I make.  Of course this has nothing to do with my Blackberry rhubarb bread post today but about the direction I want to take here with the sharing of my recipes.

Ingredients and Directions for Blackberry Rhubarb Bread
Adapted from Light & Easy Baking by Beatrice Ojakangas

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/3 vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 cup low fat buttermilk
1  teaspoon vanilla
1  teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup thinly sliced rhubarb
1 cup fresh blackberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Lightly coat two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 loaf pans with baking spray

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt, set aside.  In the bowl of a standing mixer mix together the brown sugar, oil and egg until well blended.  Beat in the buttermilk, vanilla and flour mixture.
Stir in the rhubarb and blackberries.  Spoon the thick batter into the loaf pans.  Blend the melted butter, cinnamon and sugar together and sprinkle in clumps (it will spread while baking) over the top of the batter. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in bread comes out with a few crumbs.  Let cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from pans, continue to cool on a metal rack.

Makes 2 loaves