My friend Cronica Domus' new post reminded me of this adventure when I first came to live on the lake. It also reminded me of Lucy, my Sous Chef who loved to go to the farm.
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| Are we there yet??? |
The pumpkin bread was a cinch and a welcomed addition to my afternoon tea. By the way, it gets better and better every day that goes by.
Before it went in the oven---look at the beautiful orange color!
and the contrast with the blue- gray of the skin
After they came out of the oven
After mashing...look at the water in the bottom!
the end result just after it came out of the oven
Pumpkin Spice Bread
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) vegetable 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 or almonds*
* 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. Drain on top of a colander for a couple of hours. Freeze whatever you don't use for future use.
Procedure
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.
*This time I used almonds
Makes one loaf. Can easily double the recipe.
Oh that is a beautiful fleshy pumpkin and I admire your determination to puree it. You obviously have much more patience than I do with these things.
ReplyDeleteI prepare butternut squash much the same way as your pumpkin when I make soup and always end up having a fight with the knife as all of these beautiful squash are rock hard.
I shall try your delicious pumpkin bread recipe but will employ the contents of my not so secret weapon in a can, Libby's puree. I hope that is agreeable to you?
After this exercise I have never, ever done it from scratch. I sacrificed a knife to boot. I have a secret for you. Squash already comes peeled and cubed! I just used a box of them. Made by Delmonte and purchased where else? Costco. The recipe for the bread originally uses canned puree. It's a cinch to make.
DeleteOh, I do love a good secret, and this may be up there with the best of them, thank you.
DeleteI'm ready for a slice of that pumpkin bread. The almonds look so good in it that I'll have to try that next time in Cleveland--last summer when I was there we got some delicious sliced almonds, but ate them up before they could go into any baking.
ReplyDeleteBetween your and CD's pumpkin posts, I am determined to try making my own pumpkin pulp at least once. Those Jardale pumpkins look like something out of a still-life painting. I know I sound like a broken record about this, but try making this with pecans instead of walnuts--it will be a revelation; pumpkin and pecans are one of the great flavor combinations.
--Jim
You can rest easy, Jim. This year's bread, some of which sits in the freezer, was made with pecans. You would love living in Atlanta. My son's old house sat in the middle of an old pecan orchard. They were all over the place though I don't thinki any of us ever picked one! Those pumpkins ARE beautiful. I have used them on my table and they make a gorgeous centerpiece.
DeleteYou "sacrificed a knife"...! Thanks for being so candid (and so witty, too). I recall my first encounter with an acorn squash and a Sabatier kitchen knife. A scene of horror and carnage ensued. Now I too have caved in and buy the pre-cut squash. It isn't quite as fresh, but worth it to cheat every now and then...
ReplyDeleteYes, but I wasn't that dumb...I picked out the meanest old knife I could find. I have a couple of these "sacrifial knives" lying around in case of an emergency like this. That precut squash has been a savior. Now they have pre cut sweet potatoes, the other enemy of knives!
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