By request - a recipe for Pumpkin Bread (more like a dense pumpkin cake)

[Jacksmania]

It was suggested I should post this here in Recipes as well as on another thread.
I'min Canada and we cook and bake using liquid measures, I hope that won't give too much trouble - if it does please let me know which part and I will try to figure out the conversion.

Anyway, this is a really yummy recipe. Here when we say "bread" we don't always mean the yeast and wheat kind. There's banana bread, zucchini bread, pumpkin bread... but they're all more like dense, sometimes chewy cake.
I love Pumpkin Bread.

You can put cream cheese frosting on it, or put the chewy topping on that I do, or leave it plain.
Enjoy!

Liquid measures:
1 cup = 250 mL or 8 fl. oz.
1 tsp = 5 mL
1 tbsp = 15 mL

Butter or spray a 9" x 5" loaf pan.
Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).

Whisk together: 1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 to 2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
(If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, you can omit this - it will be sweeter - or substitute a combination of cardamom, nutmeg and a tiny bit of anise.)

Combine in a small bowl: 1/3 cup water or milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Beat in a large bowl: 6 tbsp or 3/4 of a stick of butter
1/2 cup white sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar

Beat in one at a time: 2 eggs

Add and beat on low speed just until blended: 1 to 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin)

Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk mixture.

Fold in 1/2 (or more) cups chopped pecans or walnuts.

Pour into pan and bake at 350 F/ 175 C for an hour or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

My variation: after spraying the loaf pan, I sprinkle the pan with lots of chopped pecans/walnuts and toffee bits, then I pour the batter on top. This makes a yummy chewy nutty toffee topping on the pumpkin bread. Mmmmm!!!

Or you can do Cream Cheese Frosting:

8oz/250 g cream cheese (regular full-fat Philly)
1/4 cup butter (60 mL or 6 tablespoons)
2 1/2 cups (600 mL in liquid measure) icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence

Soften cream cheese (leave it out on the counter for a while), cream butter and cream cheese together, add vanilla, slowly add icing sugar. Spread on cake using a knife, on top and sides.

I got all excited when I saw your post, but then see that it requires tinned pumpkin! (it was all sounding really yummy up to that point!)

I am struggling to find a recipe to use up the inside of a carved pumpkin - mught have to try using a carrot cake recipe.

Oh, it's easy enough to use fresh pumpkin! :)

If you have the scooped-out inside guts of a pumpkin, put it in a baking dish and bake/roast at 375F/190C for 45 mins. That's if the skin isn't still attached. Then scoop it out of the baking dish and bout it in a sieve and let any excess liquid drain out for an hour.

If you have a whole pumpkin, cut it, place it flesh-side up on a baking tray and bake/roast at above temp for 60-90 mins. Then scrape off the skin and let it drain in a sieve, as above.

Canned pumpkin tends to be firmer and a bit sweeter, fresh gives baked goods a fluffier texture. You may have to add a bit more sugar - just taste the batter and adjust. I'd add more brown sugar, rather than white, but that's my personal preference.

Hope that helps!

Thanks Jack but that is a lot of faffing! (lazy chef)

but is seems that all the recipes using fresh pumpkin that I have found involve some loooong pre-cooking ritual.

Might just have to blitz it into soup and forget the baking.