By Barbara Collins
You probably have a pumpkin in the house at the moment, hollowed out with a tealight in it, but don’t waste the delicious flesh. This recipe is from a new book by Averie Sunshine called Cooking with Pumpkin. It’s chock-full of sweet and savoury offerings, but I like this one best because it’s so easy. Five minutes to mix everything in a bowl and chuck it into the oven for 55 minutes. An hour to yumminess. Even better when you slather cream cheese on top. Make the pumpkin puree with roasted pumpkin mashed up. These are American cup measurements but you can get those cups easily now.
Ingredients
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree (you can buy this in tins, too)
Half a cup vegetable oil
1 and a quarter cups granulated sugar
Quarter cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon mixed spice
Half teaspoon ground cloves
Quarter teaspoon ground ginger
1 and three quarter cups self-raising flour
1 and a half teaspoons baking soda
Method
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 1lb loaf pan and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, pumpkin, oil, sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice.
Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, if using, to taste, and stir until just combined; don’t overmix. Turn the batter out into the tin, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.
Bake for about 55 minutes, or until top is set, domed, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs dangling, but no batter. If the loaf is browning before the centre has cooked through, tent with foil for the last 15 minutes of baking.
Allow bread to cool in pan for 10 to 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. The bread will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Tip
Cooking with Pumpkin by Averie Sunshine is published by Countryman Press. It costs £11.99. ISBN 9781581572681.
Contact Barbara @thegoodchinaset or on collib40@googlemail.com.
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