Spiced Pumpkin Bread (Pumpkin Loaf)

Name: Spiced Pumpkin Bread (Pumpkin Loaf)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 100 min
Total time: 180 min
Yield: 10 servings
Cuisine: Argentine
Ingredients: 1/2 butternut or kabocha squash (for about 250 g of purée); 220 g of all-purpose flour; 1 teaspoon of baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon of salt; 2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice (or 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1/2 of ginger powder, 1/4 of nutmeg, and 1 pinch of ground cloves); 2 eggs; 100 g of muscovado or brown sugar; 80 g of white sugar; 120 ml of neutral oil; 60 ml of milk; Optional: 60 g of chopped walnuts; Optional: 2 tablespoons of toasted pumpkin seeds, for the top

⏱ 3 h in total🔪 20 min prep🍳 1 h 40 min cooking🧊 60 min resting🍽 10 servingsEasy

Sliced pumpkin loaf with orange crumb and toasted pumpkin seeds on the crust

Pumpkin bread is an autumn classic in the United States, and because of its shape and crumb, in Argentina it would be called a budín (loaf cake): it is made in a loaf pan, leavened with baking soda, and requires no yeast or kneading. Pumpkin purée gives it a moist crumb and an orange color, and the spices—cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves, the pumpkin spice—provide the aroma. It is made with oil instead of butter, which keeps it moist for several days, and it tastes better the next day, when the moisture is distributed and the spices settle.

🔎 What is winter squash? — where it comes from, what goes in it and how it differs.

🔎 What is pumpkin spice? — where it comes from, what goes in it and how it differs.

Ingredients

Measurements

🍽 10 servings

1/2 butternut or kabocha squash (for about 250 g of purée)
220 g of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice (or 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1/2 of ginger powder, 1/4 of nutmeg, and 1 pinch of ground cloves)
2 eggs
100 g of muscovado or brown sugar
80 g of white sugar
120 ml of neutral oil
60 ml of milk
Optional: 60 g of chopped walnuts
Optional: 2 tablespoons of toasted pumpkin seeds, for the top

Method

1
Preheat the oven to 200 °C and bake the squash in halves, without seeds and with the cut side facing up, about 40 minutes, until tender. Remove the pulp, mash it into a purée, and measure 250 g. Let it cool. If you already have purée from another recipe, skip this step: it freezes very well.
2
Lower the oven to 175 °C. Grease and flour a 25 x 11 cm loaf pan (tin), or line it with parchment paper.
3
In a bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin spice.
4
In another bowl, whisk the eggs with both sugars until dissolved. Add the purée, oil, and milk, and whisk until combined. The muscovado sugar is not just for flavor: its acidity, along with that of the pumpkin, is what makes the baking soda react.
5
Pour the dry ingredients over the wet ones and mix with a spatula only until no dry flour is visible. If adding walnuts, add them now. Overmixing develops the gluten, and the loaf will come out tough and with tunnels inside.
6
Pour the mixture into the loaf pan, smooth the top, and, if you like, sprinkle the toasted pumpkin seeds on top.
7
Bake between 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If it browns too much before being cooked, cover it with aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes.
8
Leave it for 10 minutes in the mold and then unmold it onto a wire rack until it cools completely. Wrapped, it lasts 4 days at room temperature, and it is better on the second day than freshly made.