Jennifer's Bacon Cheddar Bread with Parmesan Crust

My friend Jennifer made this bread at last year's Pork-Off competition, and after I ate it, I begged her for the recipe. One year later, I finally got around to making it! She gave me the recipe handwritten on the most adorable recipe card, and now I am going to digitize it for her.

Ingredients:

3 oz Parmesan, grated on large holes of box grater
5 slices of bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 medium onion, minced
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon table salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
4 oz Gruyere, extra-sharp cheddar, or mild Asiago cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg
3/4 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 5 x 9 inch loaf pan with cooking spray then sprinkle 1/2 cup Parmesan evenly in bottom of pan.

Fry bacon over medium heat until crisp, 8 minutes. Transfer bacon to paper towel and pour off all but 2 tablespoons bacon fat from skillet. Add onion to skillet and cook until softened, 3 minutes. Set aside.

In large bowl whisk flour, baking powder, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Using rubber spatula, mix in cheese cubes, breaking up clumps until cheese is coated with flour. Add bacon and onion, and stir.

In a medium bowl whisk together milk, egg, and sour cream. Using rubber spatula, gently fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined. DO NOT OVER MIX. Scrape batter into prepared loaf pan: level surface. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan evenly over surface.

Bake until deep golden brown and toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, 45-50 minutes. You can broil on high for 3-4 minutes if you want the top to be extra crispy! Cool in pan 5 minutes on wire rack. Invert loaf from pan and continue to cool until warm, about 45 minutes.