Perfect PumpAt the first site of the cooler weather and right about the same time you can purchase fresh pumpkins, it is time for pumpkin bread! This recipe is one of my mother’s It has been updated (not by much) for today’s bakers. This recipe will make a fool proof sweet pumpkin bread every time.
The Perfect Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients & What They Do:
- Pumpkin – There is A LOT of pumpkin in this recipe and this will give it moisture and richness when combined with the holiday spices. We used fresh baked pumpkin for this recipe but often use 1 – 15 ounce can pf pumpkin for quick baking.
- Oil vs. Butter – You can use either coconut oil or butter in this recipe. Both work very nicely.
- Holiday Spices – We use a handful of spices to give this pumpkin bread its flavor. Cinnamon, Cloves, Allspice and a pinch of Cardamom for a lift, all these spices together bring out that yummy flavor in this perfect pumpkin bread.
- Brown Sugar with Granulated Sugar – Brown sugar can give more moisture and a hint more flavor. Brown sugar can also weigh a cake down or increase bake times.
- All Purpose Flour – We use All Purpose Flour for this recipe. For folks who love to use cake flour (which is All Purpose Flour with a finer grind) you can get a super light and smooth cake feel to this recipe.
Canned or Fresh Baked Pumpkin
What to use fresh baked pumpkin or canned pumpkin, and does it make a difference?
Canned Pumpkin
Canned Pumpkin is perfect for quick results and a less mess experience. Canned pumpkin is also reliable and easy to find at just about any Grocery store.
Fresh Baked Pumpkin
Fresh Baked Pumpkin also makes tasty pumpkin breads. Choose your pumpkin well. Some pumpkins are made for pies and baking. These are usually smaller and rounder than your jack-o-lantern pumpkins. Some of the larger pumpkins bake very well and yield a great deal of the meat which become pies, cakes etc. Heirloom pumpkins are a wonderful choice for fresh baked pumpkin and are often dense with brightly colored meats inside.
Pumpkin Bread Measurements
Included in this recipe are key ingredients in both weights (grams) and in cups/tablespoons etc. Try something new and bake with weighed ingredients. There are a number of schools of thought in the cooking world as to which is better and why. Most home bakers, like us were brought up with measured baking to discover later the ability to scale and adjust with weighed baking.
Blending Wet & Dry Ingredients
For this recipe to have a smooth, moist cake texture we use the Wet & Dry Method.
Plain and simple we blend together the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients separately and then fold in the mixtures together. Then you will have a super smooth cake like texture with your pumpkin breads.
For this recipe we blended the wet ingredients with a high speed food processor to cream all of the pumpkin chunks. This blends the butter/oil, sugar and the spices beautifully. Folding the wet ingredients in with the dry is super easy is all the wet ingredients have been buzzed up.
When it comes to pans and baking options this recipe will make 2 – 8 inch pans or one 9 inch square pan. The square pan will take longer to bake through and we recommend baking at 325 degrees.
No-Stick Pans
We feel there really is no such thing as a true no-stick pan but, there are some great options out there.
Our favorite is to oil the loaf pans and dust with a spoon of flour. The cakes come out very easily and the pans clean easily.
Perfect Pumpkin Bread
- Prep Time: 30-40 minutes
- Cook Time: 15-17 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minute
- Yield: 1-9 inch pan or 2 4 inch loaves 1x
- Category: cakes
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: cakes
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 15 ounces (1 1/2 cups or 340 grams) of canned or baked pumpkin.
- 2 cups (220 grams) of all purpose flour (leveled)
- 1 stick of room temp butter (or 3/4 cup of coconut oil) (120 ml)
- 2 eggs (room temp)
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) of dark brown sugar
- 3/4 cup (100 grams) of granular sugar
- 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. cardamom
- 1/2 tsp. cloves
- 1/2 tsp. allspice
- 2 TBSP – Demara or Thick Granulated Sugar (to sprinkle along the top of the loaves prior to baking
Instructions
Blending
Blend the wet ingredients with sugar and spices with a blender until creamy and smooth1. butter or oil2. eggs3. sugar4. pumpkin5. vanilla
Fold in flour until creamy.
Baking:
Preheat the oven to 330 degrees. Bake at 330 for 35-45 minute depending on the toothpick test to see if they are done.
I use a little of the butter in the pans and then a spoon of flour to line the sides of the pans so the breads will come out of the pans easily.
Pass the Toothpick Test
Often called the toothpick test but you can use any long thin skewer or toothpick for this. Poke the cake when it starts to golden around the edges as the baking time comes close to the end and you are not quite sure if you should take the cake out. If there is dough on the toothpick then leave it in the oven. NO dough on the toothpick then it is ready to come out
Pumpkin bread tends to be a more moist cake so depending on the oven it may need more time. Convection ovens tend to need shorter bake times but, you know your oven.
We baked this in a convection oven.
Keywords: pumpkin bread, spice cakes,holiday breads
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