There are few things I love more than when someone shares a recipe that has been in their family for years. It’s like being welcomed into their kitchen and handed a cup of tea. The gesture sits you right down at their kitchen table.
I am forever sharing my family’s recipes so I am pleased to offer a family favourite from another’s home.
This is Liz’s spicy pumpkin bread…
“I’ve been making this for years and years for my family, and we all really like it.” Liz told me in an email. “It’s much like a gingerbread in consistency, but I find it is moister than most gingerbreads. The original recipe called for light or golden corn syrup, but I have always used Grandma Molasses molasses instead.”
I don’t know if it’s the spice blend, or the texture (or both) that makes this bread so comforting.
May be it’s the fact that the recipe has roots, like an old piece of furniture it connects the past with the present and has a story to tell.
Below is the recipe as Liz shared it with me.
When I made it I substituted ½ cup of the flour for whole wheat pastry flour, omitted the raisins and substituted pumpkin seeds for the walnuts. I also made three little loaves so adjusted the cooking time accordingly.
Liz’s spicy pumpkin bread with molasses recipe
Ingredients:
- 1-1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
- 3/4 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup Grandma Fancy Molasses
- 1/2 cup cooking oil
- 1 cup canned pumpkin (be sure to use pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Method:
- Preheat oven to 325 F. Oil and line the bottom (and sides if you wish) of a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan with parchment paper. (Or prepare three small loaf pans).
- Sift together the first 8 ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until light.
- Add the sugar, molasses, oil and pumpkin and beat until thoroughly combined.
- Make a well in the dry ingredients; add the liquid ingredients all at once and stir gently until combined.
- Fold in the raisins and nuts.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for about 80 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then remove from the pan, peel off the parchment, and cool completely on a wire cake rack.
Note: Wrap closely to store. This loaf (like most others) will slice more easily if it has been stored for at least 8 hours. For those who prefer to bake in bulk, I have doubled and tripled this recipe without encountering any problems.
Try our pumpkin loaf with molasses and ginger:
