More pumpkin!

Last night, I had the fine opportunity to make Pumpkin Bread.

Never having made bread of any sort before,  I was definitely nervous. I was somewhat comforted when I found a recipe from Simply Recipes, since simple was at least in the name. And let me tell you, the name of the site couldn’t have been more accurate – it was SO simple, and absolutely delicious!

While mixing all of the ingredients, the kitchen really started to smell like fall; I think it was a combination of the cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. I also, however, was faced yet again (for the third time in the past two weeks) with the not-so-pleasant smell of puree pumpkin. It really reminds me of baby food; and not in the “oh, babies are so cute I love them and want my own one day” kind of way.

I’ve started to wonder if anyone can have too much pumpkin in their diet. I sure hope not, because I’ve ingested enormous amounts of it since the beginning of September. I even managed to work in some Pumpkin Pie Spice coffee that I found at Target over the weekend, on top of mixing it into fudge.

The bread definitely has a ginger-bread taste to it, but it also embraces the pumpkin flavor. This is definitely lower on the pumpkin intensity, which I happen to enjoy a lot. I find that pumpkin is a delicate flavor that needs to be measured meticulously, as too much can be extremely overpowering and unpleasant, while too little bodes the question of “what was the point?”.

I’m definitely going to make my co-workers jealous when I whip this bad boy out for my morning snack. Cue the salivating!

At any rate, here’s the recipe for the Pumpkin Bread. I definitely suggest giving it a try!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups (210g) flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup (200 g) sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (1/4 L) pumpkin purée*
1/2 cup (1 dL) olive oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup (1 dL) chopped walnuts

* To make pumpkin purée, cut a pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff, lie face down on a foil or Silpat lined baking sheet. Bake at 350°F until soft, about 45 min to an hour. Cool, scoop out the flesh. Freeze whatever you don’t use for future use. Or, if you are working with pumpkin pieces, roast or boil them until tender, then remove and discard the skin.

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda.

2 Mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, 1/4 cup of water, and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, but do not mix too thoroughly. Stir in the nuts.

3 Pour into a well-buttered 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes until a thin skewer poked in the very center of the loaf comes out clean. Turn out of the pan and let cool on a rack.

Makes one loaf. Can easily double the recipe.