Carving Pumpkin, Carving Out Tradition | Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin carving is a tradition worth having and when you are done, you can turn your handiwork into something worth eating. So long soggy pumpkin bread that’s decidedly un-pumpkiny. I’ve figured out how to bake pumpkin into the kind of bread that would make even the scariest Halloween pumpkin smile.

This Halloween, like so much of this year, is a one-off.  How are you handling it?  Thanks to the pandemic, we’ll all be masked. Going out without one is what’s really scary. I’m still not sure what to do about trick or treaters. Stand in the doorway and slingshot candy at the kids from a safe social distance?

I love Halloween. I don’t go for elaborate, spooky decorations like many neighbors do, but carving a jack o’ lantern — albeit poorly — is a tradition.  It began as a father-daughter thing when I was a little girl, and I’ve refused to let go of it. My carving artistry hasn’t improved over the years. I don’t care. It’s the doing that matters.

I foisted carving jack o’ lanterns on our niece. As a little girl, she shrieked and balked at sticking her hand inside the pumpkin to scoop out the yuck, the guts, the slimy strings and seeds. This part is essential. It is a coming to terms with your jack o’ lantern, acceptance, solidarity. It shows that you’re not just in it for a little fun; you’re there to do the work. It’s about respecting your pumpkin.

Our niece is now 16. Therefore, she balks at everything. That’s her right as a teenager. It’s in the handbook — look it up. It’s my right as an adult to indulge in a ridiculous Halloween custom. I love assessing and choosing my pumpkin, getting up to my elbow in its sweet-smelling yuck, admiring the jack lantern’s face as it emerges from under the knife. I love lighting it and enjoying the golden glow from its eyes and snaggle-toothed grin. I even love when it starts to decay, turning soft and fuzzy, which happens mighty fast in Miami. Pitching the pumpkin into the compost is part of the process, too, marking the end of another holiday ritual.

Maybe I love it because it’s ritual because it’s continuity, something normal to hold on to in this most abnormal time. What holiday traditions matter to you?  Carve out a way to keep them alive any way you can. May your holiday be like my ideal Halloween pumpkin — seasonal, sweet, golden and enjoyed with everyone you love.

Pumpkin Bread

Even if you’re not into carving pumpkins, they sure do make some tasty treats. Pumpkin bread is a delicious use, but sometimes the flavor of the pumpkin gets lost. In this recipe, it’s baked into the kind of bread to make a pumpkin proud.

Pumpkin Bread

I have tried so many pumpkin bread recipes, mine, other people’s, and have been disappointed with the results. Pumpkin’s quiet charms can become even more hushed when mixed in with batter. Pumpkin bread can be dry. Or soggy. Or heavy. Or oily. But rarely is it pumpkiny. So one day, I took an Ikea furniture assembly approach to pumpkin bread, trying this technique, that ingredient, a different proportion, and added a few weird tweaks of my own. It baked into the kind of bread to make a pumpkin proud. I did not, of course, write it down. For the sake of the pumpkin and you, I had another go, recording as I went, and voila. The orange juice does not announce itself in the least, but adds a little sparkle of acidity. Think of that and the almond extract as accesorizing your pumpkin.

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Ingredients

  

• 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1 cup pureed pumpkin homemade and fresh or canned*
• 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/3 cup vegan butter
• 1 cup evaporated cane sugar
• 2 tablespoons aquafaba
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup raisins

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil loaf pan 9 X 5 loaf pan.
• In a large bowl, sift together flours, baking soda, baking powder and spices. Set aside.
• In a smaller separate bowl, stir together pumpkin puree, orange juice, aquafaba and molasses.
• In another large bowl, beat vegan butter and sugar until light. Add about half the flour and spice mixture, then stir in half the pumpkin mixture. Repeat with the remaining flour and pumpkin. Keep it light. Stir in the raisins.
• Spoon batter into loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour, or until fragrant and firm. It should spring back with a gentle poke.
• This is a fine-textured bread that slices well, keeps several days and is good with anything.

Notes

* If using canned, make sure it’s pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling. Organic, as always is preferable.

Thank you for reading my vegan stories and plant-based recipes. I sincerely love to connect with listeners and would like to hear your feedback, takeaways, “ah-ha!” moments, etc in the comments.

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