It's been a dream of mine to bake... and bake with anything pumpkin flavored. We don't have pumpkin varieties here in the Philippines that look like Jack-o-Lantern however, we do have squash. Loads and loads of squash. I did some Googling and found out that there are really not much difference between the two. Dream come true! I'm making Pumpkin Spice Bread!
I found this recipe from thefreshloaf.com and I'm pretty happy I found it because they're using chocolate chips in their recipe and I have leftover chocolate chips! Sign from the heavens above!
Here's the recipe:
1 3/4 cup pumpkin puree (or in my case, squash)
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips (the recipe called for 2 cups nuts or chocolate chips..i lessened it because I want it to be a pumpkin loaf not a choco chip loaf)
As I Googled, I found that most Pumpkin Bread recipes call for canned pumpkin puree but since we don't have those here and I'm slightly against not making anything from scratch in my baking journey... I did it myself by following the steps from chefinyou.com
The steps are so simple, it would kind of be a sin to buy the canned version.
When the squash finished roasting in the oven for a bit less than 60 minutes, it looked like this. Tender and easily poked. Haha
Just used 1/4 section of a whole squash.. It's pretty cool because I'll never look at squash the same way. I mean, no longer labeled as pinakbet..
I forked the squash meat out.
And then I mashed it like how you normally do mashed potatoes. In the site, you can actually make it more pureed like the store-bought kind, but then I think it would have a more interesting texture if it's not too fine.
Simple ingredients, nothing complicated.
And so I was slightly surprised how the mixing of this particular bread is different from the Banana one I made. This one mixes all the wet ingredients together first together with the sugar. I used dark brown sugar.
In the recipe, it said, "mix until creamy". I don't think I achieved it coz I microwaved the butter coz it was taking forever to soften. I am not sure if that's like a baking mortal sin or something.
This is my best try at "creamy consistency". I think the reason why it didn't become creamy is coz I didn't soften the butter...I melted it. Tsk tsk..
On a separate bowl I mixed all the powder ingredients together. So the only thing left out is the chocolate.
I mixed the powder mixture into the wet mixture part by part.
According to the recipe, the end batter should be able to hold a spoon upright. I think I succeeded except I didn't actually test it with a spoon.
Lastly I added the chocolate chips.. Folded those in.
I distributed the batter into 2 loaf pans just I can share it with more people.
They look pretty chill and ready to go into the preheated oven.. 350 F, 177 C.
After about 45 minutes they appeared to be ready for poking... And that I did. I found out it was just perfect.
I love the non stick pan I got. The bread just really slides out of it even if it hasn't fully cooled. I think this looks pretty delicious and amazing. I can't believe I nailed my second attempt.
This is the best part of my baking experience. Getting the kids to eat my stuff!
Tala seems to really like this bread. I'm so happy!
That said, the verdict is I PASSED this Pumpkin Spice Bread with flying colors!
On to my next recipe... Healthier recipes, most probably.
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