Pumpkin Spice Bread; sweet and super moist pumpkin spice loaf cake, laced with festive cinnamon, perfect for Autumn and Winter snacking!
[THIS RECIPE WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED IN 2014]
Autumn and Winter are my favourite seasons.
I’ve never been one for wearing shorts or basking in the sun, even when I was little I always preferred the comfort of hot chocolate, gloves and horrendously puffy Winter jackets.
Summer has its perks of course – ice cream and strawberries come to mind – but for me, nothing compares to coming into a warm house from the snow with the smell of something delicious in the oven. Whether it be a rich casserole, roasted seasonal vegetables or even better, a wonderful spiced sweet treat ready to be devoured as soon as the main meal is done. Hot apple pie and custard just wouldn’t be the same after a Summer barbecue!
This particular bake pays homage to my love for Autumn, it is laced with seasonal flavours and one particular ingredient that the Americans have mastered but us Brits haven’t quite managed to perfect yet, despite our best efforts: pumpkin.
For those who’ve never tasted pumpkin or who have only ever consumed it in the form of some dismal soup or over-sweetened drink, I can assure you that this loaf cake, with its seasonal spices, is to die for.
Just as with carrot cake, the pumpkin adds a whole new depth of flavour, sweet and mellow, without any obvious flavour of soily vegetables that you might expect!
You can use roasted fresh pumpkin for this cake, or you can buy some tinned pumpkin puree like I did. I always keep some in the cupboard for when I need some sweet Autumnal flavour in my life!
This loaf can cut into anything from 8-14 slices depending on how greedy you’re feeling!
First, preheat your oven and grease/line a 2lb loaf tin. This could probably be made into a traybake or a regular round cake but I haven’t had a chance to try it yet so I can’t vouch for the results!
Weigh your flour, baking powder, cinnamon, mixed spice and dried fruit into a large bowl and set aside.
Using either a food mixer or just a regular wooden spoon, beat the softened butter/margarine, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy, this should only take a few minutes.
Add in your eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition, and your pumpkin puree until well incorporated. Don’t worry if the mixture looks a little separated, this is normal and will be resolved when the dry ingredients are added!
Tip the dry ingredients you set aside earlier into your pumpkin mixture and gently fold everything together until just combined, take care not to mix it too much or the cake may not rise well. Nobody wants flat cake!
As this stage the mixture should be very thick, tip it into your prepared tin and level the surface. At this stage you can sprinkle the mixture with some pumpkin seeds if you like, it adds a lovely crunch to the finished cake. Pop the tin into the oven to bake.
The pumpkin spice bread should be springy to the touch when ready and a skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean.
Once baked, cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes before removing and cooling completely on a wire rack, resist the temptation to take a huge bite out of it while it’s still warm!
When your pumpkin spice bread has cooled, you can simply dust it with icing sugar, or you can mix some water into icing sugar and drizzle the mixture over the top as I have. Though to be honest, this cake is so damn tasty it doesn’t need to be dressed up, leave the loaf naked if you please!
This pumpkin spice bread lasts up to 4 days in an airtight container, and gets better as time goes on and the flavours develop.
It is delicious when sliced thickly and stuffed into your mouth when still slightly warm. It is delicious when spread with melting butter, sweet Biscoff or salty peanut butter. It is delicious no matter how you eat it, k?
You will not be disappointed. Promise.
Want to save this Pumpkin Spice Bread for later? Pin the image below!
To make this lovely Pumpkin Spice Bread, simply follow the recipe below!
Pumpkin Spice Loaf
Ingredients
- 75g (5 tbsp) softened butter or margarine
- 160g (1 ½ cups) soft light brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 300g (1 cup) pumpkin puree
- 250g (2 cups) wholemeal self-raising flour (you can use white, I just love the darker taste that wholemeal adds!)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 80g (½ cup) dried fruit (I usually use dates, raisins or cranberries) (optional)
- Sprinkling of pumpkin seeds or walnuts (optional)
- 150g (1 cup) icing sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven – 180°C / 160°C fan / 350°F / gas mark 3.
- Grease and line a regular loaf tin.
- Weigh your flour, baking powder, cinnamon, mixed spice and dried fruit into a large bowl and set aside.
- Beat the softened butter/margarine, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy, this should only take a few minutes.
- Add in your eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition, and your pumpkin puree until well incorporated.
- Tip the dry ingredients you set aside earlier into your pumpkin mixture and gently fold everything together until just combined, take care not to mix it too much or the cake may not rise well.
- As this stage the mixture should be very thick, tip it into your prepared tin and level the surface. At this stage you can sprinkle the mixture with some nuts or pumpkin seeds if you like.
- Pop the tin into the oven for around 50 minutes.
- The loaf should be springy to the touch when ready and a skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean. If after 50 minutes your loaf doesn’t seem quite ready, cover the top with some foil and pop it back into the oven for 5-10 more minutes until fully baked.
- Cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes before removing and cooling completely on a wire rack.
- When your loaf cake has cooled, you can simply dust it with icing sugar, or you can mix some water into icing sugar and drizzle the mixture over the top as I have.
- Enjoy!
