Perfect Pumpkin Bread

This is the pumpkin bread recipe you need. Sweet and moist, but not too sweet, spicy, but not overbearingly so–this irresistible pumpkin bread has been winning accolades for my mom. She made it for Thanksgiving, and it was a huge success. So much so that my mom decided to bake it for other occasions.  Now, she is asked to bring it all the time and it is rapidly becoming a signature dessert.

The recipe comes from Lunch ‘Til Four, a cookbook put together by the sisterhood of Young Israel of West Hempstead. This cookbook, incidentally, is full of wonderful recipes. One of the recipe contributors is Michele Friedman, the author of Chef’s Confidential.

This pumpkin bread is almost exactly the same as Irene’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread, except that Irene uses allspice instead of nutmeg and 12 ounces of chocolate chips instead of nuts and raisins. Plus, Irene uses a slightly different mixing method, adding the sugar to the dry ingredients.

Shulamit’s Pumpkin Bread
Adapted from Lunch ‘Til Four. The recipe makes three loaves, which makes it handy when you need to make dessert for yourself and also want something to bring to someone else.

Beat together in a mixing bowl:
1 cup oil
3 cups sugar

Add and mix well:
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
2 cups canned pumpkin

In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients and then stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in the first bowl:
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg (my mother goes with a scant tsp.)

Fold in the raisins and nuts:
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Pour the batter into three greased and floured loaf pans (my mother uses the 8×4 pans). Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Tags: cake, pumpkin, pumpkin bread, Thanksgiving