Friday 30 October 2015

FOOD FRIDAY - PUMPKIN BREAD

“I love the scents of winter! For me, it’s all about the feeling you get when you smell pumpkin spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, gingerbread and spruce.” - Taylor Swift

We are seeing more and more merchandising and brou-ha-ha about Halloween in the last few years in Australia. Twenty years ago, one hardly heard anything about it. Now, it is getting a great deal of air time and children especially are getting into it. The last couple of years we have had the great big orange pumpkins for carving sold by supermarket chains. Here is my contribution to Halloween, with this delicious recipe:

PUMPKIN BREAD
Ingredients
650g butternut pumpkin, peeled, deseeded
110g butter, softened
1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
1/2 cup of chopped dates

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease base and sides of a 6cm deep, 10.5cm x 20.5cm (base) loaf pan. Line with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang at both long ends.
Wash and cut pumpkin into 4cm pieces. With water clinging, place pumpkin in a single layer on a microwave-safe plate. Cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on high power (100%) for 3 to 4 minutes or until pumpkin is tender. Set aside to cool. Drain and place cooled pumpkin in a food processor. Process until smooth (you should have 1 cup).
Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and beat until well combined. Stir in pumpkin.
Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves over pumpkin mixture. Add walnuts and dates, stirring gently to combine. Spoon into prepared pan. Smooth surface. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Lift onto a wire rack. Serve warm or cold.

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1 comment:

  1. This is a slight twist from the usual verses. That's great Nicholas!

    Hank

    ReplyDelete