With Thanksgiving just around the corner, gardeners have been carefully monitoring the pumpkin patch in search of pumpkins ready to be turned into sweet treats for family and guests.
This week’s pumpkin recipes come from A World of Baking Cookbook, a favourite source of timely baking ideas.
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Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk
1/2 cup mashed pumpkin
1/2 cup light molasses
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
Cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat in until well blended.
Combine the milk, pumpkin and molasses and stir to blend.
Sift the flour with the baking soda, salt and spices.
Add the liquid mixture and flour mixture, alternately, into the creamed butter mixture. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. Stir to ensure ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.
Turn mixture into a greased 9 inch square pan. Bake at 325 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until cake shrinks away from the sides of the pan and tests done with a toothpick or cake tester.
Note: If the pumpkin is freshly cooked, whirl it in a blender until smooth before adding to the milk.
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Pumpkin Muffins
2 cups sifted flour
2 tsps. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tbsps. brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup cold milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup cooked and mashed pumpkin
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped pecans, optional
Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl. Add the liquid ingredients and stir until the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened but the batter is still lumpy and rough.
Fill buttered muffin tins or paper liners 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Best served hot with butter and jam. May be frozen.
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Pumpkin Nut Bread
4 cups sugar
1 cup butter
6 large eggs
3 cups cooked, mashed pumpkin
1 cup water
5 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. each baking powder and soda
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 cup chopped raisins
Cream sugar and butter until light. Add eggs and beat thoroughly. Stir in pumpkin and water and blend.
Sift dry ingredients together and carefully fold them into the liquid ingredients, mixing just until dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened. Add nuts and raisins and blend.
Pour into three well-buttered loaf pans and set aside for 15 minutes.
Bake at 350 degrees F for one hour or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool on racks, remove, cover loosely with a tea towel and cool completely. Loaves may be double wrapped and frozen for later use.
Joyce Walter can be reached at [email protected]
