Although I am still making ice cream, I have cut down my flavor experimentation and consumption considerably since the fall started. I toyed with the idea of creating a pumpkin ice cream because every major manufacturer of ice cream has a limited edition seasonal pumpkin flavor of some sort. I could add a new flavor to my ice cream collection! I did some research and perused a ton of recipes in the hopes to spark a craving and motivate me but in the end, pumpkin flavored ice cream no matter what the recipe, just did not sound that appealing to me.
I have been making banana bread in its various forms pretty much once a week for as long as I can remember so this week I decided to forgo the banana and create a pumpkin quick bread instead. The results were surprisingly tasty. The bread came out moist with a delicate flavor of pumpkin enhanced with notes of cinnamon and nutmeg. Seasonally appropriate. It goes great with a cup of coffee or tea and a scoop of my homemade apple pie ice cream!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
1 cup of pumpkin puree
1 2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup raisins ( I omitted since I do not like raisins, especially in my quick breads)
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan with shortening or cooking spray
2. In a large bowl, stir pumpkin, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs until well mixed. Stir in the nuts and raisins.
3. Bake 1 hour 10 minutes - 1 hour 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
4. Cool completely before slicing. Wrap tightly. Will store up to four days at room temperature or up to 10 days in the refrigerator.
