I will be the first to admit that I’m usually not a huge fan of pumpkin. The pumpkin spiced everything craze is very much not my thing, so I was surprised to find a can of pumpkin in my pantry a few weekends ago when I was looking for something to make for my book club. I found an easy pumpkin bread recipe, and I had everything but the spices – so I tweaked it and made it my own. The more traditional pumpkin pie spices have been replaced with ginger and orange, and with this much butter and sugar we might as well be honest and call this a cake rather than a bread.
Let’s get cooking! First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Butter a loaf pan and get your mixer (or mixing arm) ready.
Mix these dry ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Combine these two in another small bowl:
1/3 cup of water
1 teaspoon vanilla
In a large bowl, beat the following together until creamy:
6 tablespoons room temperature unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger root
Add in two eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the sides of your bowl and add 1 cup pumpkin puree. Mix on low until just combined.
Add in half of the flour and mix on low. Add in the water and vanilla mix, then add in the rest of the flour.
Pour the batter into the loaf pan and spread it out evenly in the pan. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let the pan cool on a rack for about 10 minutes before unmolding the bread. Let it cool before glazing.
While your bread cools, let’s make the glaze.
Combine these three things in a large bowl:
2 tablespoons room-temperature butter
The juice of one orange
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
You might be thinking, “why do I need a big bowl for three little things?” Because when you turn on your mixer, that powdered sugar is going to send a cloud into the air even on low speed, and if you use a small bowl you’re going to be wiping powdered sugar off of everything. Beat until the glaze is smooth and set it aside until your cake is cooled.
When the cake is cool, pour the glaze over the top and use a knife to spread it over the top of the entire cake. Do yourself a favor and slide a plate under the rack to catch the dribbles.
Enjoy!
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Allison writes about life at home in the Maryland suburbs at Home and Never Alone. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.
