Everyone, or almost everyone, has their own favorite recipe for pumpkin bread. This is the one I'm thankful for every Thanksgiving, or sometimes sooner {just because I've finally seen those orange cans in the supermarket}. It's borrowed from a recipe published in The Boston Globe years and years ago; the original recipe called for adding walnuts (1 1/2 cups) and golden raisins (1/2 cup). I should really try it that way someday - it does sound good. But there's something about the perfect velvety texture of this bread that makes me want to keep it smooth ... at least for Thanksgiving.
There's something else I've changed. The original recipe called for baking this amount of batter in a 9x5 inch loaf pan. I found that the loaf was too large and the middle didn't always bake through, so I bake this now in an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 loaf pan, filled about 3/4ths full, and put the rest of the batter in a mini loaf pan (mine are about 3x6 inches). Doing it this way, the bread comes out perfectly {it rises and domes beautifully; that's why I don't fill the pans to the top}, and there's a loaf for the holiday or the present and a little one for the baker's breakfast. That's a nice tradition in itself!
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Pumpkin Bread
adapted from a recipe in The Boston Globe
for one large (8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch) loaf and one mini loaf (see note above)
three eggs
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
one 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
a generous grating of fresh nutmeg (I don't measure it...)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf pan and a mini loaf pan {even if they're nonstick), line the bottoms with parchment paper, and grease the paper. Dust the pans with flour, tapping out the excess.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar for one minute. Add the vegetable oil, water, and pumpkin puree and mix just to combine. In another bowl (or on a waxed paper 'sling') combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.
With the mixer set on its lowest speed {you'll be adding a lot of dry ingredients!} add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and mix just until it forms a smooth batter. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand, give it a gentle turn with a rubber spatula to make sure there any patches of flour, {fold in the walnuts and raisins if you're adding them}, and transfer the batter to the pans, filling them about 3/4ths full.
Bake the breads for about 1 1/4 hours {check the little one after about 45-50 minutes and take it out when it's done}. If the loaves are browning too quickly on the top, cover them loosely with foil, shiny side down. When the bread is ready, it should feel firm (not squishy) if you gently touch it with your finger, and a cake tester inserted in the center should come out clean.
Let the bread cool in the pans on a rack for 10 or 15 minutes, then turn them out and set them right up. Cover them with a clean dish towel and let them stand overnight to mellow (really!).