pumpkin bread
Posted: September 29, 2019 Filed under: desserts | Tags: allspice, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, eggs, flour, nutmeg, pumpkin, salad oil, salt, sugar, water Leave a comment
Fall Is In The Air
It’s hard to image Halloween without enjoying the time-tested taste of pumpkin.
Nowadays the season is ushered in with the arrival of anything pumpkin spice. Back in my younger days, however, pumpkin was simple, usually in the form of pie, flan, or bread.
Before we break into this bread recipe let’s have a look and some laughs at some vintage family Halloween pics from the good ol’ years! And before we watch the Hallo-slideshow, please click and listen to The Great Pumpkin Waltz by Vince Guaraldi. It sets the mood for pumpkin bread perfectly!
Foodie Tips
❤ I often get stumped on the material differences between baking powder and baking soda. This Bon Appetit article explores the yin and yang of these two essential baking ingredients.
❤ Fancy pumpkin? Take your tastebuds on a spin with my Mom’s other pumpkin bread that’s a kissing Cousin to this recipe… it includes raisins and pecans!
i. Time
Total prep: About 75 minutes
ii. Ingredients
4 | cage free eggs, beaten
3 cups | sugar
1 cup | salad oil
20-ounce can (2 ½ cups) | pumpkin
3 ½ cups | all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon | baking powder
2 teaspoons | baking soda
2 teaspoons | salt
½ teaspoon | ground cloves
1 teaspoon | ground allspice
1 teaspoon | ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon | ground nutmeg
⅔ cup | water
iii. What to do
0. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
1. In a large bowl mix together well the eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin.
2. In a separate medium-sized bowl combine the 8 dry ingredients and add to the pumpkin mixture. Add the water and mix well.
3. Pour the batter into 3 greased 8-inch loaf pans. You may have noticed that I snuck in some nuts (a.k.a Texas pecans) on top of two of the loaves. Just to keep me an honest Texan.
4. Place the loaf pans in the oven and bake for at 350°F for 45-50 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Yield: 3 loaves. Each loaf will yield about 8-10 slices each!
Betty’s Son
Founder and “Nostalgic Food Blogger” of Betty’s Cook Nook
Fancy Retro Halloween Decorations?
You’re not alone! Revisiting some of my old family photos has me wishing we still had our old decorations! You can still find some online at Vintage Beistle. Great stuff!
pumpkin bread
Posted: November 11, 2018 Filed under: desserts, other stuff, sides | Tags: baking soda, cinnamon, eggs, flour, nutmeg, nuts, oil, pecans, pumpkin, raisins, salt, sugar, water Leave a comment
The Best Of Fall
It’s the most wonderful time of the year – when wearing flannel and smelling like patchouli is top of mind. Also top of mind? PUMPKINS! 🎃 There’s no better way to ring in fall’s greatness other than watching the fall favorite It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
The Peanuts gang were probably my best friends growing up. In a time before you could record TV I never missed a show. I remember sketching Snoopy on top of his doghouse… and funny, I never thought it was odd that Snoopy slept *on top* of his doghouse rather than in it. Childhood innocence.
While your pumpkin bread is baking, come back and watch the movie below – share it with your family and friends and celebrate the way we were… and the way we are with the best of fall!
Foodie Tips
❤ I halved this recipe and made 2 medium-sized loaves. If you’re gift-giving or a lover of loaves, go all the way!
❤ One small can pumpkin? I presumed it was a 15 ounce can.
❤ The recipe didn’t note it but I greased my loaf pans before adding the batter.
❤ This bread is most great served sliced and toasted with a schmear of Phildelphia Whipped Cream Cheese.
i. Time
Total prep: About 75 minutes (minus resting)
ii. Ingredients
3-⅓ cups | flour
3 cups | sugar
1 teaspoon | cinnamon
2 teaspoons | nutmeg
2 teaspoons | baking soda
1 teaspoon | salt
4 | cage free eggs, beaten
1 cup | oil
⅔ cup | water
15 ounces | canned pumpkin
¾ cup (2 small boxes) | raisins
¾ cup | chopped nuts (a.k.a. “pecans,” here in Texas)
to top | more pecans (optional)
iii. What to do
1. Measure the dry ingredients into a large bowl.
2. Add the eggs, oil, water, and pumpkin. Mix everything well.
3. Fold in the raisins and the pecans.
4. Pour the batter into two large or four small loaf pans at 325°F until the bread tests done.
ENJOY
Betty’s Son
Founder and “Nostalgic Food Blogger” of Betty’s Cook Nook
One of my most cherished childhood items is this Peanuts cookbook. Originally printed in 1970 it still remains in my kitchen today, almost 50 years later!
This cookbook was not mine, originally… but at the magical age of 10 I was such a fanatic about The Peanuts Gang I was able to smooth talk this cookbook out of my neighborhood friend’s kitchen and into mine!
A Scan Of Mom’s Pumpkin Bread Recipe
Sous Chef Note: While acquainting myself with this recipe I noticed a credit to “Barbara Harris” and took to the internet to see if I could find out who she was. Turns out Barbara was a San Antonio restauranteur who ran some popular food establishments in San Antonio and Dallas.
I found reference to Barbara’s Pecan Pie Muffins in Karen Haram’s 50 Favorite “Good Taste” Recipes – these muffins are surely a culinary cousin to the Pumpkin Bread recipe above. Karen was a food author for the San Antonio Express-News for more than 30 years so you know these recipes have gotta be tasty… I have Karen’s Good Taste cookbook printed out for my culinary archives and you can score a digital copy of her fifty favorites here > Karen Haram’s 50 Favorite Recipes.
brandied pumpkin flan
Posted: January 23, 2013 Filed under: desserts | Tags: brandy, cream, eggs, milk, pumpkin, sugar, vanilla Leave a comment
This recipe is dedicated to my foster family in Italy ~ the hospitality
they shared was bigger than Texas! I’ll never forget us uniting over this dish
during “Tex Mex Night” in Tuscany.
~ ♥ ~
a flan on fire?
You betcha! This is one of the most amazing recipes that made my Mom look more magician than chef.
When I was growing up this flan was typically served at Thanksgiving. When it was time for dessert the lights would be dimmed and Mom placed the flan in the middle of the table and lit the brandy. Widening eyes were aglow. Pure deliciousness on many levels!
I was on holiday in Italy when I made this recipe for the very first time; it was something that we had for dessert for “Tex Mex Night.” A memory for a lifetime.
i. ingredients
¾ cup | sugar
1 cup | canned or cooked pumpkin
1 cup | milk
1 cup | light cream
6 | cage free eggs
½ cup | sugar
½ teaspoon | salt
2 teaspoons | vanilla extract
⅓ cup | brandy
boiling water
2 tablespoons | brandy (more brandy!)
ii. what to do
0. Preheat oven to 325°F. Place a 8 ¼” round, shallow baking dish into the oven. See my Texas twist on the dish shape below!
1. In a large, heavy skillet over medium heat, cook ¾ cup sugar until it melts and forms a light-brown syrup. Stir to blend and do not overcook!
2. Immediately pour syrup into the warmed baking dish. Holding the dish with pot holders, quickly rotate it back and forth, to cover bottom and side completely. Set aside.
3. To make the pumpkin custard: In a medium saucepan, combine pumpkin, milk and cream, stirring until well blended. Heat over low heat until bubbles form around the edge of the pan.
4. In a large bowl with a rotary beater, add eggs and beat them slightly. Add sugar, salt and vanilla. Gradually stir in the hot pumpkin-milk mixture and ⅓ cup brandy. Pour into the prepared baking dish.
5. Set the baking dish into a shallow aluminum pan. Pour boiling water to a ½-inch level around the dish. Put the dish/pan into the preheated oven.
6. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the flan comes out clean. Remove the custard from the oven, let cool and refrigerate overnight.
7. To serve, run a small spatula around the edge of the dish to loosen the flan. Invert the dish onto a shallow serving dish and shake gently to release. The caramel acts as a tasty sauce. Lower the lights in the room, gather your foodies, and at the table ignite 2 tablespoons of warm brandy and quickly pour it over the flan. It was at this point back when I was in Italy that our Italian host “Fausto” grabbed a pitcher of water in case things got fiery. Oh, they did, but only in pure awesomeness. We were all impressed. Me? I was simultaneously surprised and proud. At this step you can whisper some magic chant or a funny limerick for full effect. Your foodies will admire you! Or at least fear you. :)
Serves: 8
foodie tips ~
♥ In step 4 above, make sure and slowly add the hot pumpkin-milk mixture into the egg mixture to prevent cooking of the eggs! This step works great with two people; a “stirrer” and a “pourer.”
♥ Stumped with your limerick? Try making your own with a little help from the limerick factory!
Here’s a picture of my special Texas-shaped casserole dish of Step 2 (above).
I guess this makes this the Texas Two Step. (Ba Dum Tss!)
A Scan Of Mom’s Recipe For Brandied Pumpkin Flan
