My family and I had a fun Thanksgiving. We traveled to Ridgefield, Connecticut, where we converged on the home of my stepsister, Lisa, her husband, and her two very cute kids. We had a wonderful time! Lisa (that's her checking on the turkey) and her sister, Karyn, did most of the Thanksgiving cooking, but I brought along a few goodies. I'll tell you about my contributions over a few posts.I liked the recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Bread because it made two loaves. I took one to Lisa's house and another to the couple who took care of Charlie while we were gone. When I mixed up the batter, I couldn't figure out what I had done wrong, because it seemed very thick. Then it dawned on me that I had forgotten one key ingredient -- the pumpkin! D'oh.... Luckily, I caught the mistake before I put the batter in the pans, and stirred in the pumpkin at the end. I was worried that putting the pumpkin in at the wrong time would be a problem, but it ended up being one of the best quick breads I've made. We devoured most of the bread in one morning, and my neighbor begged me for the recipe. I'll definitely be making this again!
Spiced Pumpkin BreadFrom Bon Appétit, November 1995
Serve one of these loaves the day you make them. Wrap the other in foil and freeze up to one month so that you'll have it on hand for unexpected company.
Makes 2 loaves.
3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 16-ounce can solid pack pumpkin (I had a large can of pumpkin, and measured out 16 ounces. Smaller cans are 14.5 oz.)
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional - I used)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. Beat sugar and oil in large bowl to blend. Mix in eggs and pumpkin. Sift flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and baking powder into another large bowl. Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions. Mix in walnuts, if desired.
Divide batter equally between prepared pans. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool 10 minutes. Using sharp knife, cut around edge of loaves. Turn loaves out onto racks and cool completely.