Showing posts with label pumpkin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pumpkin. Show all posts
I was wanting to bake something really autumnal for the weekend. We are really having some cozy days here. It's been quite cold chilly in the mornings and in the evenings, but the days are quite pleasant. I love the flavors of pumpkin and spice and ginger in the autumn, they just seem to go with the colors of the leaf change and the cooling temperatures.
I saw this Pumpkin Gingerbread Loaf recipe on a page called The Live In Kitchen the other day and immediately bookmarked it, wanting to bake it. It had all of the autumn feels to it. The smells too. Pumpkin. Ginger. Molasses. Spice. What's not to love!
Gingerbread has always been a favorite thing of mine. I do NOT think you can have any such thing as too many gingerbread recipes.
Pumpkin is also a real favorite. Especially when it is baked into a quick bread loaf/cake. My late Mother in Law's Pumpkin Loaf has been a family favorite for a very long time now. It is something I bake every autumn.
When I saw that this recipe combined my two favorite things, pumpkin loaf and ginger bread, well, I just HAD to bake it.
I can promise you now. It will not disappoint. This is a fabulous loaf, a fabulous loaf indeed. Even the biggest of pumpkin haters will love love LOVE this loaf! I guarantee.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE PUMPKIN GINGERBREAD LOAF
This loaf really only needs a few store cupboard/baking cupboard ingredients. There is nothing really fancy here. No bells and no whistles. It is a rather long list, but most are spices.
- 1 1/2 cups (187g) unbleached plain all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 cup (180g) pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
- 1/2 cup (115g) butter, melted
- 1/2 cup (100g) dark soft brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup (175g) fancy molasses (can use equal amounts of treacle and golden syrup in the U.K.)
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 3 TBS milk
- 1 TBS turbinado sugar (demerara sugar)
This is a lovely mix of spices. That does seem like a lot of ginger, but trust me, it works and works very well. This has a lovely flavor. Nice and spicy. The smell when this is baking is just wow.
You don't really taste the pumpkin in this, but it does give this loaf a special moist quality that is really quite nice. Its dense. Lovely and dense and moist.
Molasses is not the same as dark treacle in the U.K. Dark treacle has far too strong a flavor. To combat that I always suggest using a combination of dark treacle and golden syrup if you are living in the U.K. and cannot get molasses.
I use whole milk and salted butter.
HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN GINGERBREAD LOAF
This is really a very simple loaf to make. It is made as most quick breads are by mixing the dry and wet ingredients together separately and then simply stirring the two together.
Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ ga mark 4. Butter a 9 by 5-inch loaf tin well, and line with baking paper, leaving a bit of an overhang for ease of lifting it out when done. Set aside.
Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and salt together in a large bowl.
Whisk the pumpkin, melted butter, molasses, eggs and milk together in another bowl.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the wet ingredients and stir everything together just until combined and no dry streaks remain. (It is okay if the batter is a bit lumpy. Quick breads batters benefit from not combining everything too well together. A few lumps are actually preferable!)
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing over the top. (This is where I actually recommend that you sprinkle the turbinado (demerara) sugar over top. I think it will give a much better result.)
Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the turbinado sugar over top.
Return to the oven and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before lifting out to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
This was quite simply lovely. I have to say it smells amazing when it is baking, but then again, any kind of gingerbread does. Beautifully sweet and spicy, this is lovely cut into thick slices and served buttered along with a hot drink.
The pumpkin makes for an especially dense and moist loaf. I think you are really going to enjoy this one!
I did find that it was a bit of a waste to sprinkle the turbinado sugar on after the loaf has almost been fully baked. The next time I bake it, I am going to add the turbinado sugar to the top of the loaf before I bake it. Putting it on when the loaf was almost finished baking meant that the sugar only really stuck to the cracky bit down the center of the loaf.
If you are a huge gingerbread fan as I am, you might also love the following really delicious gingerbread types of recipes. (I have never met a gingerbread that I did not enjoy!)
GINGERBREAD MUFFINS - These are the loveliest muffins. Moist and full of lovely spicy gingerbread flavors. These have a lovely rise and a beautiful texture. I do like to sprinkle some coarse sugar on top with gives the finished muffin a lovely bit of a crunch. These go down really well with a nice hot cuppa! They are moist and delicious with a lovely crumb and beautiful ginger/cinnamon flavor.
OLD FASHIONED GINGERBREAD - No bells, no whistles, just good old fashioned gingerbread tastiness. This is a particularly easy gingerbread recipe. Everything just gets measured into a bowl and beaten together. Simple ingredients, simply put together in a most delicious way. I would not add anything else. It has a lovey spicy flavor and a certain amount of smoky robustness from the molasses. This is beautiful served cut into squares with a dollop of whipped cream on top!
Yield: one 9 by 5 inch loaf
Pumpkin Gingerbread Loaf
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 55 MinTotal time: 1 H & 5 M
Sweet, dense and spicy. This smells fabulous when it is baking.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (187g) unbleached plain all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 cup (180g) pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
- 1/2 cup (115g) butter, melted
- 1/2 cup (100g) dark soft brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup (175g) fancy molasses (can use equal amounts of treacle and golden syrup in the U.K.)
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 3 TBS milk
- 1 TBS turbinado sugar (demerara sugar)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ ga mark 4. Butter a 9 by 5-inch loaf tin well, and line with baking paper, leaving a bit of an overhang for ease of lifting it out when done. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and salt together in a large bowl.
- Whisk the pumpkin, melted butter, molasses, eggs and milk together in another bowl.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the wet ingredients and stir everything together just until combined and no dry streaks remain.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing over the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the turbinado sugar over top.
- Return to the oven and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before lifting out to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
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I love homemade bread. Bread is actually one of my many weaknesses. I can remember coming home from school on the days that my mother made bread. You could smell the bread baking before you even opened the front door. You knew then that this was a very good day!
Mom made beautiful bread. Light and fluffy. She would divide the dough for each loaf into two balls and place them into the bread pans to rise. They would puff up and give us a loaf of bread with two humps like a camel. My favorite part was always what we called the fluff. That bit where the two balls touched.
My ex husband also made very good bread. My children only ever very rarely got store bought bread. He made and baked all our bread, about a dozen loaves a week. He used to make our kitchen table dance across the kitchen floor when he was kneading it. His loaves always turned out light and fluffy as well.
I do not make good homemade bread from scratch. I lack the patience and the technique, the power (which is all in the kneading I have decided) to make a good loaf. My loaves from scratch always end up heavy. Great doorstops.
That's why I like my Bread Machine. My bread machine makes up for any lack on my part and produces lovely loaves of bread. I have the Panasonic Automatic Bread Maker Model# SD-RD250. This is the bread machine I have been using for over 20 years. I went through two of them in the UK. My friend Jo, who was the housekeeper at the Manor for a few of the years that I worked there, had this particular model also.
We both swear by them. They are the best machines going. They make beautiful bread and are quite a manageable size. I like the fact that they have a fruit and nut dispenser. I would never have another kind. In my opinion, it is the best, and makes the best bread.
The bread machine recipe I am sharing with you today is for a pumpkin yeast bread that I adapted from The Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook, by Tiffany Dahle of Peanut Blossom. I have the book on Kindle. This is maybe the third recipe I have made from the book and so far every one has turned out perfectly.
I have made plenty of Pumpkin Quick Breads before and shared the recipes on here. My favorite one is the recipe from my late Mother In law. I have been making that one for about 45 years now.
This was my first attempt at a Pumpkin Yeast Bread. I can tell you it won't be my last. This recipe makes one very beautiful loaf of bread!!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE BREAD MACHINE PUMPKIN BREAD
Pretty simple ingredients. You can make your own pumpkin pie spice. I tell you how. Amounts are for two different sized loaves, the 1 1/2 pound and the 2 pound loaf.
For 1 1/2 pound loaf:
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk
- 1/3 cup (82g) pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup (60g) water
- 1 large free range egg
- 1 1/2 TBS (21g) butter, softened and cut into pieces
- 3 cups (411g) bread flour
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp bread machine yeast
- 1 TBS vital wheat gluten (optional)
For 2 pound loaf:
- 2/3 cup (160g) milk
- 1/2 cup (122g) pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup (80g) water
- 1 large free range egg
- 2 TBS (28g) butter, softened and cut into bits
- 4 cups (548g) bread flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 1/4 tsp bread machine yeast
- 1 TBS vital wheat gluten (optional)
Make sure you use Pumpkin Puree and not Pumpkin Pie Filling, the two are not the same thing. The Puree is just pureed pumpkin, quite thick and dry, not overly wet. Pumpkin pie filling has other things (like spices and sugar) added to it to make a pumpkin pie with.
You can make your own Pumpkin Pie Spice for this bread. Its very easily done and lasts for months.
Make Your Own Pumpkin Pie Spice: Mix together 1 TBS ground cinnamon, 2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp ground allspice, 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg and a pinch of ground mace or ground cardamom. Store in an airtight container out of the light for up to 6 months.
HINTS AND TIPS FOR MAKING GOOD BREAD IN THE BREAD MACHINE
1. Measure by weight and not volume. Weight is a much more precise way to measure. You can't go wrong. I have a set of digital scales that I use. I just pop the bread pan onto them and measure away. My scales measure in grams, Kg, pounds and ounces, milliliters, etc. I started baking by weight when I lived in the UK and I would now never bake any other way.
2. Bread machine loaves work best with bread flour. Bread flour can also be labeled "Best for Bread" or "High Gluten flour."
3. You can use regular flour, but if you do I recommend adding Vital Wheat Gluten to the recipe. This helps to boost the protein content of the bread.
4. Measure very carefully. If you don't add enough flour, no matter the type of flour you use, the bread will collapse and is often uncooked in the center. If you add too much flour, you will end up with a dense, hard heavy ball.
5. I add Vital Wheat Gluten to all of my recipes for bread making in a bread machine. You can purchase it online. It helps to yield a much better loaf, helping the loaf to rise higher with a nicer texture than without.
Note -Vital wheat gluten is best stored in the refrigerator (for up to one year), but you can store it on the counter if you think you will use it up within two months (highly unlikely for the home baker.) Vital Wheat Gluten is not the same as Vital Wheat Gluten Flour. Vital Wheat Gluten is much more concentrated and not to be confused with the flour.
HOW TO MAKE WARM & COSY PUMPKIN BREAD
Really making bread in a bread machine is a doddle. If you prefer you can do the dough on the dough cycle and then remove the dough, shape as per a regular loaf and bake it in the oven. Personally I am quite happy with the shape of it as it comes from my bread machine.
Add the ingredients to the bread machine as listed, according to the requirements of your particular model. (My bread machine likes the dry ingredients put in first and the wet second.)
Select the Basic/White program on your machine and then the coordinating setting for your loaf size and press start.
Sit back and relax.
When loaf is done remove it from the bread machine and loaf pan to a wire rack. Leave to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
This is a lovely loaf of bread with a beautiful even texture. It smelled amazing when it was baking, all that pumpkin spice. It came out lovely and light with a nice crust as well. I toasted some under the broiler and added some brown sugar cinnamon spread. Yummy!
This would be great served with stews or soups. You could also use it to make French toast, or even an overnight French toast casserole, or bread pudding. Both would be excellent with a lush caramel sauce drizzled over top.
Some other bread machine recipes which I have shared on here and which I think to be excellent are:
BASIC RUSTIC FRENCH LOAF - This is a basic French style of bread that I have been making for years. It uses a combination of flours and is not totally white. It has a lovely texture and a really nice crisp and chewy crust.
FRENCH SANDWICH PAIN AU LAIT - This is one of my favorite loaves of bread. It makes a great bread for use in sandwiches with a lovely flavor and texture. It is a milk bread with a lovely tight texture. Prepare to fall in love.
Yield: 1 1/2 - 2 pound loaf
Warm & Cozy Pumpkin Bread
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 4 HourTotal time: 4 H & 10 M
A yeasted version of a popular quick bread. This bread machine loaf has a beautiful light texture and is very easy to slice. Easy to fit into the toaster. Delicious toasted and spread with cinnamon sugar, or why not use some to make a really tasty version of French toast! Perfect for the holidays!
Ingredients
For 1 1/2 pound loaf:
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk
- 1/3 cup (82g) pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup (60g) water
- 1 large free range egg
- 1 1/2 TBS (21g) butter, softened and cut into pieces
- 3 cups (411g) bread flour
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp bread machine yeast
- 1 TBS vital wheat gluten (optional)
For 2 pound loaf:
- 2/3 cup (160g) milk
- 1/2 cup (122g) pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup (80g) water
- 1 large free range egg
- 2 TBS (28g) butter, softened and cut into bits
- 4 cups (548g) bread flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 1/4 tsp bread machine yeast
- 1 TBS vital wheat gluten (optional)
Instructions
- Add the ingredients to the bread machine as listed, according to the requirements of your particular model. (My bread machine likes the dry ingredients put in first and the wet second.)
- Select the Basic/White program on your machine and then the coordinating setting for your loaf size and press start.
- Sit back and relax.
- When loaf is done remove it from the bread machine and loaf pan to a wire rack. Leave to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
Notes
Make Your Own Pumpkin Pie Spice: Mix together 1 TBS ground cinnamon, 2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp ground allspice, 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg and a pinch of ground mace or ground cardamom. Store in an airtight container out of the light for up to 6 months.
Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again!
I was looking for a delicious dessert to make for this weekend's Thanksgiving celebrations here in Canada. Not everyone in my family is fond of Pumpkin Pie, so I was looking for something a bit different than that.
Pumpkin Pie is certainly quite traditional when it comes to the holidays, and nothing says Autumn better than pumpkin. I stumbled onto this tasty looking recipe on the Delish site and decided to give it a go and see if it might be a possibility!
This dessert ended up being so delicious I don't think even the most ardent of pumpkin pie lovers will be missing the pumpkin pie! This is one very tasty pumpkin dessert recipe!
What you have here is a rich and tasty pumpkin custard base, flavored with the warm baking spices and vanilla, topped with a buttery, nutty, crisp and sweet crumble topping. What could be better than that!
Not much I don't think. It went together very quickly and ended up being delicious. I baked only half the recipe for this trial, so that means this version today is perfect for the smaller family, but I plan on making the full recipe for the actual holiday dinner.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE PUMPKIN CRISP
A bit of this and a bit of that. I keep canned pumpkin in my larder all the time so that I can whip up tasty things like this!
For the pumpkin custard:
- 1 large free range egg, plus 1 large egg yolk (freeze the white for another day)
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 (15 oz/398g) tin of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) (about 1 cup)
- 1/3 cup (80ml) heavy or whipping cream
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
For the topping:
- 3/4 cup (95g) plain all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup (150g) dark soft brown sugar
- pinch salt
- 6 TBS (85g) cold butter, cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup (75g) chopped toasted pecans
Here in Canada you can get pumpkin in small (2 cup sized) and larger (4 cup sized) tins. You will need half of the smaller one. In the UK you can now buy pumpkin in the baking sections of many of the grocery stores. You can also buy pumpkin puree on Amazon.
Make sure you buy the pumpkin puree and not the pumpkin pie filling. They are not the same thing. You can also use pureed sweet potatoes or butternut squash in the place of pumpkin, but do note that the mixture needs to be drained really really well and have an almost dry consistency.
You can use one teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice in the place of the spices I have mentioned.
HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN CRISP
I was surprised at just how easily and quickly this went together! It was certainly a lot less trouble than making a pie!
Preheat the oven to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5. Butter an 8-inch round baking dish that is at least 2 inches deep.
Put the flour, salt, and brown sugar into a food processor. Blitz to combine. Drop in the butter and blitz a couple of times until crumbs form. Stir in the pecans.
Whisk the eggs and sugar together to combine. Whisk in the remaining ingredients for the filling until well combined. Pour into the prepared baking dish.
Squeezing the crumble topping together in your hands to make clumps, scatter it over top of the pumpkin mixture in the baking dish. (You may not need it all.)
Place onto a baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes until the custard has set and the topping is golden brown. If you think it is browning too quickly, cover lightly with a sheet of tinfoil.
Serve warm, spooned into bowls along with lashings of cream or custard, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Whipped cream is also nice.
I was really pleased with how this turned out. Some of the topping sinks down into the custard and adds a bit of depth to it. It was rich and sweet and nicely spiced.
That topping was incredibly moreish. Butter, crisp and loaded with plenty of toasted pecans. Altogether this was one really delicious dessert! I hope you will give it a go!
If you are looking for some more ways to use up your tin of pumpkin why not consider the following:
PUMPKIN, ORANGE & CRANBERRY BREAD - A delicious moist and moreish pumpkin tea bread recipe. I got the original recipe from my mother in law some 40 plus years ago now and have slowly adapted it through the years to create the fabulous loaf that this recipe makes now. Moist, dense and beautifully flavored with orange and spice, and studded with plenty of dried cranberries. This is beautiful sliced thin and spread with softened butter. Its even nicer lightly toasted.
PUMPKIN MOLASSES CAKE - Dense and moist with plenty of pumpkin, buttermilk and soft light brown sugar, not to mention delicious warmth of molasses and of course the sweet baking spices . . . ginger and cinnamon. This delicious cake is like a pumpkin gingerbread. I serve it simply dusted with some icing sugar with a dollop of whipped cream on top.
Yield: 3
Pumpkin Crisp
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 55 Min
This is the perfect holiday dessert. Quick and easy to make as well, with a creamy pumpkin custard base and a sweet crisp buttery nutty topping.
Ingredients
For the pumpkin custard:
- 1 large free range egg, plus 1 large egg yolk (freeze the white for another day)
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 (15 oz/398g) tin of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) (about 1 cup)
- 1/3 cup (80ml) heavy or whipping cream
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
for the topping:
- 3/4 cup (95g) plain all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup (150g) dark soft brown sugar
- pinch salt
- 6 TBS (85g) cold butter, cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup (75g) chopped toasted pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5. Butter an 8-inch round baking dish that is at least 2 inches deep.
- Put the flour, salt, and brown sugar into a food processor. Blitz to combine. Drop in the butter and blitz a couple of times until crumbs form. Stir in the pecans.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar together to combine. Whisk in the remaining ingredients for the filling until well combined. Pour into the prepared baking dish.
- Squeezing the crumble topping together in your hands to make clumps, scatter it over top of the pumpkin mixture in the baking dish. (You may not need it all.)
- Place onto a baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes until the custard has set and the topping is golden brown. If you think it is browning too quickly, cover lightly with a sheet of tinfoil.
- Serve warm, spooned into bowls along with lashings of cream or custard, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Whipped cream is also nice.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again!
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