Pumpkin Bread with Raisins

With all these pumpkins, where’s the bread?

Fact is, I always buy a medium size “show pumpkin” and a couple of small sugar pumpkins before Hallowe’en, just as tokens to the season. I no longer carve the pumpkins (nor do I have Hallowe’en hot chocolate for after trick-or-treating) — my kids are grown up and in homes of their own. I just like having the pumpkins until it’s time to use them.

I do use those pumpkins.

I cut them, bake the pieces and use the flesh for all sorts of pumpkin items.

Muffins. Pie. Soup. Cake. Coffee Cake. Even Ice Cream.

This coming week will be pumpkin bread time. I have lots of recipes for pumpkin bread. The one here is just the latest version.

Pumpkin Bread with Raisins 

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

• 1 cup mashed or pureed pumpkin

• 1/3 cup milk, dairy or nondairy

• 2 large eggs

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/2 cup raisins (or use dried cranberries or cherries)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9”x5”x3”loaf pan. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the white and brown sugars, vegetable oil, pumpkin and milk until thoroughly blended. whisk in the eggs. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg and whisk until evenly blended. Stir in the pumpkin mixture until the batter is smooth and uniform. Fold in the raisins. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about one hour or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

Makes one loaf

Pumpkin Sour Cream Coffee Cake

I used to bake a fresh pumpkin when it was time to make the usual seasonal pumpkin pies and cakes. I'd buy one of those small, round, sweet "sugar" pumpkins, carve it up, sprinkle the pieces with salt and give it a roast until the flesh was tender.

It was all good. The house smelled like autumn, the pumpkin was nice and dry -- perfect for baked goods.

But.

I got busy. And sometimes I couldn't find the right variety of pumpkin.

So I switched to canned.

You know what? We didn't even notice the difference when it came to my favorite pumpkin coffee cake.

So, make it easy on yourself. Use canned pumpkin if you wish (but not pumpkin pie mix, which is pre-seasoned). Or fresh baked pumpkin of course, if you can find a good variety and have the time to roast it. 

Either way, this cake is rich and gently fragrant. It has a wonderful salty-sweet balance.

You can freeze it too.

PUMPKIN SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE

STREUSEL TOPPING:

• 1/3 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons cold butter

CAKE:

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup mashed pumpkin (canned is fine; not pumpkin pie mix)
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated orange peel
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease an 8" square cake pan. Make the streusel: place the oats, flour, brown sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the butter and work it into the dry ingredients with your fingers, a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture is crumbly. Set the streusel aside.

Make the cake batter: beat the sugar and butter together with a hand mixer or electric mixer set at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the pumpkin, sour cream, egg and orange peel and beat the ingredients for 1-2 minutes or until they are smooth. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in a bowl. Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat the ingredients until they are blended. Add 1/2 of the milk and beat this in until it is well blended. Repeat this process again until all the flour and milk have been used up. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Sprinkle the streusel over the batter. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes then carefully invert the cake onto a cake rack, carefully flip it right side up. Let cool completely.

Makes one cake serving 8-10 people

Pumpkin Sour Cream Coffee Cake

I used to bake a fresh pumpkin when it was time to make the usual seasonal pumpkin pies and cakes. I'd buy one of those small, round, sweet "sugar" pumpkins, carve it up, sprinkle the pieces with salt and give it a roast until the flesh was tender.

It was all good. The house smelled like autumn, the pumpkin was nice and dry -- perfect for baked goods.

But.

I got busy. And sometimes I couldn't find the right variety of pumpkin.

So I switched to canned.

You know what? We didn't even notice the difference when it came to my favorite pumpkin coffee cake.

So, make it easy on yourself. Use canned pumpkin if you wish (but not pumpkin pie mix, which is pre-seasoned). Or fresh baked pumpkin of course, if you can find a good variety and have the time to roast it. 

Either way, this cake is rich and gently fragrant. It has a wonderful salty-sweet balance.

You can freeze it too.

Pumpkin Sour Cream Coffee Cake

STREUSEL TOPPING:

• 1/3 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons cold butter

cake:

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup mashed pumpkin (canned is fine; not pumpkin pie mix)
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated orange peel
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease an 8" square cake pan. Make the streusel: place the oats, flour, brown sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the butter and work it into the dry ingredients with your fingers, a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture is crumbly. Set the streusel aside.

Make the cake batter: beat the sugar and butter together with a hand mixer or electric mixer set at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the pumpkin, sour cream, egg and orange peel and beat the ingredients for 1-2 minutes or until they are smooth. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in a bowl. Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat the ingredients until they are blended. Add 1/2 of the milk and beat this in until it is well blended. Repeat this process again until all the flour and milk have been used up. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Sprinkle the streusel over the batter. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes then carefully invert the cake onto a cake rack, carefully flip it right side up. Let cool completely.

Makes one cake serving 8-10 people

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Already thinking about what to do with the pumpkin?

Cook it, mash it and try this cake, which is tender, gently spicy and not too sweet. It also serves lots of people. It’s the kind of cake you can dress up with vanilla ice cream or poached fruit for a classy but simple dessert, or smear with cream cheese to make a sandwich, or eat plain as an afternoon snack.

Pumpkin Spice Cake

• 3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups mashed, cooked pumpkin or 15-ounce can pumpkin purée (not pie filling)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 10-cup Bundt pan, sprinkle with flour and tap out any excess. Place the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and allspice in a large bowl and whisk to blend them completely; set aside. Place the sugar, vegetable oil and coconut oil in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium speed for about one minute to blend ingredients thoroughly. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the mashed pumpkin and blend thoroughly. Add the reserved flour mixture and beat the mixture at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until the batter is smooth and even. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 60-70 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the pan to a cake rack to cool for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack and cool completely. Makes one cake serving 16-18

Pumpkin Muffins with Kefir and Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin Muffins with Kefir and Pepitas 

As soon as I see that pumpkins have replaced the corn and tomatoes at the market I start hungering for food that’s autumn-like. Mostly pumpkin bread and muffins to snack on when I need a little something in the late afternoon with my last cup of coffee for the day. 

I don’t make pumpkin muffins as often as I do banana bread, but almost. This is my latest version, which has kefir because I happened to have some in the fridge. But buttermilk is fine too. 

Reheat leftovers in a toaster oven for a few minutes if you need a quick breakfast. 

Btw, I used to bake and mash the pumpkin insides to get the puree, but most of the time I use canned pumpkin or squash. NOT pumpkin pie mix. I want to mix in the spices of my choice, not theirs.

Pumpkin Muffins with Kefir and Pumpkin Seeds

• 3  tablespoons butter

• 1-3/4 cups flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

• 1 cup mashed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

• 3/4 cup kefir

• 1/4 cup molasses

• 1 large egg

• 2-3 tablespoons crushed pumpkin seeds 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 9 muffin tin cups. Melt the butter and set it aside to cool. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and brown sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the pumpkin, kefir, molasses, egg and cooled, melted butter. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ones and mix only long enough to combine. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin cups. Scatter the pumpkin seeds evenly on top of each muffin. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Makes 9

Pumpkin Spice Cake

I accomplished “three birds with one stone” over the weekend (I say accomplished because I hate the expression killing two or three birds with one stone because I could never kill a bird with a stone or anything else).

But here’s what I accomplished: a tasty cake that satisfied three things I had to do. I needed to develop recipes that use coconut oil. I needed to bake a cake for our local Hadassah’s bi-monthly Tea for cancer patients and their caregivers at Stamford Hospital. And I wanted to use up canned food that I bought at the beginning of the fall (not that the cans of food couldn’t last longer, I just like to do a “winter” cleaning as well as a spring cleaning). 

The result was this tender, warm and spicy cake. It’s a nice nosh on a cold day. It’s good for dunking. It’s good plain, just as is, but you can dress it up with ice cream or some sort of sugary-caramel sauce (that’s way too sweet for me).

Remember this for next Thanksgiving. Or make it now. You can freeze it too, and have a piece now and then over the coming weeks. You can use canned pumpkin or squash or about 1-3/4 cups mashed fresh cooked squash.

Pumpkin Spice Cake

3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt


2 teaspoons baking powder


1/2 teaspoon baking soda


2 teaspoons ground cinnamon


1 teaspoon ground cloves


1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg


1/2 teaspoon ground allspice


2 cups granulated sugar


1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup coconut oil

4 large eggs


1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée (not pie filling)



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 10-cup Bundt pan, sprinkle with flour and tap out any excess. Place the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and allspice in a large bowl and whisk to blend them completely; set aside. Place the sugar, vegetable oil and coconut oil in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium speed for about one minute to blend ingredients thoroughly. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the pumpkin and blend thoroughly. Add the reserved flour mixture and beat the mixture at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until the batter is smooth and even. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 60-70 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the pan to a cake rack to cool for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack and cool completely. Makes one cake serving 12-16 

Quick Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream

Pumpkin spice is the seasoning of the season. Not just for pie and cake. You see the words “pumpkin spice” everywhere, even for things like tea and coffee. Of course you really don’t get the pumpkin, just the spices that go with the pumpkin if you were making a pie.

So for all those pumpkin spice lovers, here’s a REALLY QUICK recipe you can make even an hour before Thanksgiving dinner or anytime at all. It’s for ice cream with all the fresh, warm spices we associate with the season.

This recipe takes about 5 minutes. The only thing you have to do ahead is remember to take the ice cream out of the freezer for about 15-20 minutes to soften.

If you are ambitious and have a few minutes more, spoon it into a graham cracker crust and you’ll have a pie. If you’re even more ambitious, grind up some gingerbread cookie crumbs (1-1/2 cups) mix them with 5 tablespoons of melted butter and press them into a 9-inch pie pan. Refrigerate the crust for an hour, then spoon the ice cream inside and freeze.

Quick Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream

1 quart vanilla ice cream, softened

1 cup mashed pumpkin (canned is fine)

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Place ingredients in a bowl and mix ingredients thoroughly to blend them completely until smooth and uniform in color. Return to the freezer until chilled completely. Makes slightly more than one quart

Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Bread

My camera must have been knocked unconscious yesterday. I dropped it taking a photo of pumpkin bread. I couldn’t see anything in the frame and the camera wouldn’t turn off.

I started to research new cameras. Several hours later though I looked again and the light was off, I pressed the button and — a miracle — the thing was working again. So here’s what the pumpkin bread looks like. It is so fabulously moist and nicely spicy. Great with coffee or tea as a snack or even for breakfast. Give it a try. I’ve reprinted the recipe.

If you don’t have yogurt use buttermilk or milk plus a tablespoon of lemon juice. You can add raisins or dried cranberries and/or chopped nuts if you like (half cup of each).

Pumpkin Bread

• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• finely grated rind of one orange (about 1-1/2 teaspoons orange part only)

• 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

• 1/4 cup orange marmalade

• 2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9”x5” loaf pan. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer (or use a hand mixer or sturdy whisk) combine the sugar, brown sugar, orange rind and pumpkin puree and beat at medium speed for about 1/2 minute to combine ingredients thoroughly. Add the yogurt, vegetable oil, marmalade and eggs and beat at medium speed for about 1/2 minute or until well blended. Add the dry ingredients and blend them in thoroughly, beating until smooth, about 1/2 minute. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto a cake rack to cool completely. Slice with a serrated knife.

Makes one loaf

Pumpkin Yogurt Bread with Orange and Spices

I spent the entire day inside, writing in between baking pumpkin breads. I tried several different recipes basing each one on an original recipe for applesauce spice bread. Changed stuff here and there. Had no applesauce so used pumpkin. Had no buttermilk so used yogurt. Tried different spices and seasoning combinations until I got it right.

I love pumpkin bread. It’s moist, spicy and makes my tongue tingle. Great with coffee or mint tea. Or milk I guess. Here’s the version I liked best. I wanted to take a photo but my camera fell and it broke. Now I can’t turn it off. Or on. Anyway, the bread is a soft amber color and looks lovely.

Pumpkin Yogurt Bread with Orange and Spices

• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• finely grated rind of one orange (about 1-1/2 teaspoons orange part only)

• 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

• 1/4 cup orange marmalade

• 2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9”x5” loaf pan. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer (or use a hand mixer or sturdy whisk) combine the sugar, brown sugar, orange rind and pumpkin puree and beat at medium speed for about 1/2 minute to combine ingredients thoroughly. Add the yogurt, vegetable oil, marmalade and eggs and beat at medium speed for about 1/2 minute or until well blended. Add the dry ingredients and blend them in thoroughly, beating until smooth, about 1/2 minute. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto a cake rack to cool completely. Slice with a serrated knife.

Makes one loaf

Which is better, the food or the memory of the food?

Was your mother really a good cook? Was that chocolate cake or those hash browns you had 20 years ago at that restaurant really fabulous?

Food memories can be funny. Our tastes change. Maybe Mom’s chocolate chip cookies weren’t really that good, maybe those hash browns were actually a bit too greasy and if we ate these foods today in someone else’s kitchen or in a different restaurant we wouldn’t rave.

But we remember them so fondly that we think we’ll never find the ultimate recipe for whatever it is we thought was so wonderful.

I have that feeling about a lot of foods. My Mom’s Nut Roll. The Apple Tart at L’Orangerie in Los Angeles. My grandmother’s baked blintzes. The Hot and Sour Soup at Temple Garden in New York’s Chinatown.

When autumn comes and I see the trees turning orange and gold, my food memory turns to pumpkin pie and that makes me remember the Automat. It went out of business when I was a little girl, but I still remember my Aunt Roz and Uncle Mac taking me there for lunch or dinner when we went into Manhattan to go ice skating or to see a show. They were the kind of aunt and uncle that took their nieces and nephews to places and we all loved them so much that the food that came with the day would of course be wonderful no matter where or what it was.

At the Automat, if it was autumn, there was pumpkin pie.

It was the very best pumpkin pie. In my memory. I have been trying to duplicate its flavor and texture since I started cooking. But food memories linger so no matter what I come up with, it’s never “the one” even if the results are fabulous. Someone once gave me a recipe that was supposed to be the Automat authentic version and I made one. Of course I didn’t remember the pie tasting like my pie did.

So which is better, the food or the memory of the food?

Both really, for different reasons. We can savor the memory and eat something delicious even if it isn’t quite the version you remember.

Here’s a terrific recipe for Pumpkin Pie. Not too spicy and with a hint of molasses. Don’t use pumpkin pie “mix”, use plain pumpkin puree or fresh mashed pumpkin (press fresh mashed pumpkin to extract excess liquid).

Pumpkin Pie

• 1-1/2 cups mashed pumpkin (canned is fine)

• 1/3 cup brown sugar (any kind)

• 1/4 cup white sugar

• 3 tablespoons molasses

• 3 large eggs

• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 3/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1-1/2 cups half and half cream or evaporated milk

• 1 9-inch single pie crust, unbaked

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Spoon the pumpkin, brown sugar, white sugar and molasses into a bowl and blend ingredients thoroughly. Beat in the eggs. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cream. Blend ingredients thoroughly. Pour the mixture into the crust. Bake for 8 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F and continue baking for 55-60 minutes or until set. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Makes one pie

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