impractical bread
November 20, 2009 § 11 Comments
My roommate came downstairs this morning to find me buttering loaf pans. ‘Oh, are you making banana bread?’ That would have been the logical thing to do. My freezer currently contains several black bananas that are crying out to be turned into something delicious. But I refuse to let my baking be dictated by practicality! And it is fall, and I wanted pumpkin bread, so pumpkin bread we shall have.
My craving was set off when I stumbled across a recipe claiming to be the Ultimate Pumpkin Bread. I still felt compelled to make some adjustments, but I present my version here to you today. It does seem entirely possible that this is the best pumpkin bread ever. It’s lightly spiced, which doesn’t overwhelm the pumpkin, and using butter instead of oil (which most pumpkin breads do) really improves the taste. It’s incredibly moist, and if you eat it warm from the oven, the combination of that and the crunchy crust might induce you to eat half the loaf. Also, if we’re going to be technical about it, it really seems like more of a loaf cake than a quick bread, given how sweet and tender it is. Oh, and my house smelled fantastic for hours. I think I made the right decision. I have to go eat more now.
Ultimate Pumpkin Bread – adapted from the Streaming Gourmet
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup butter, melted
3 large eggs
1 15 oz can of pure pumpkin
1 cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350˚F and butter two loaf pans.
In a medium bowl, mix the flour, spices, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and set aside.
In large bowl, beat together sugars and melted butter. Add the eggs. Beat with the whisk attachment of a hand mixer, on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until fluffy (mine didn’t get fluffy). Add the pumpkin and combine well.
In three batches, add the dry ingredients and mix gently until each batch is just incorporated. Scrape the sides between each batch.
Pour batter into two prepared pans. Bake until a tester comes out clean and the top is golden, about one hour. Cool in pan for ten minutes, then run a knife around the sides and turn out onto a wire rack.
Note: I probably should have sifted the dry ingredients, the batter was kinda lumpy. But still delicious, so I haven’t really learned my lesson.
one cake two cake 
Thanks for trying out my recipe! I also considered dividing the sugar between white and brown, but didn’t pull the trigger. I’ll have to try it your way next time. Cheers.
good call on the red table cloth! it’s beautiful and really helps to bring out the vibrant color of the pumpkin loaf! great photos! =)
Amy – This turned out really well but I’m sure there isn’t much difference between the two versions. Thanks for posting it!
Judy – Thank you! I have a bit of a backlog of old photos, but I wanted to put up something with a pretty background first. The next couple posts will have the last of my dark brown photos…
Great photos here! I need to upgrade my photo results, if only to get the food in my kitchen looking more delicious for uploading to the world.
Can you recommend a camera? Thanks!
I’m really not an expert, but I do love the camera that I’m currently using which is a Canon XSi. I’d certainly recommend the Canons if you’re thinking about buying an SLR, and the XS is slightly cheaper and still really good. I bought the 50mm 1.8 lens and it makes a huge difference, and is really affordable, so I’d recommend that also. Hope this is helpful, and to get advice from people more knowledgeable than me you could try this page: http://stilllifewith.com/2006/12/12/my-guide-to-food-photography-gear/ .
I just attempted this in muffin form. Its currently in the oven taunting me to try it. So excitedddd
Yum. Always wanted to try making my own pumpkin bread, but I know how hard it would be to resist the temptation 🙂
As a fellow pumpkin lover, I had to come check out your pumpkin recipes… and guess what, my favorite pumpkin bread recipe uses butter too! It really is the best 🙂
Лучше ездить не в одиночку (или парой), а компанией в 4-7 человек, деля все расходы (на еду, трансфер и т.д.) поровну. Готовить еду в апартаментах (там всегда есть кухня с плитой и холодильником). – стратегии флэш следует закупать в крупных (!) супермаркетах.
I notice no sugar in the muffins WHY????? THANKS
Grace
Revitalized net work:
http://caroline.projects.telrock.org