Flavors of Fall

Written by Chloe

Summer days are long and busy with all those extra hours that the sun shines, and I eagerly anticipate the break that comes with cooler temperatures and earlier sunsets.This year, though, Autumn has given my neck of the woods a rain delay. The equinox has come and gone. Mother Nature seems to have missed the memo.

Even the early mornings have been thick with humidity and unseasonably warm. Apple picking has been rained out. Kale and cabbage are planted along my front walk, but which plants are really happy with the weather?

Whenever it arrives, autumn will go by even more quickly than normal in my house. Any day now, my family will be launched into parenthood with the arrival of our first baby. I know a birthday this time of year will only make our subsequent autumns sweeter, but it's warm and wet now and I found myself desperate to have a little (manufactured) fall of my own.

Enter pumpkin bread. A sweet bread is a pretty rare treat for us. After a little indulgence while still warm from the oven, I froze individual slices.

Spiced Pumpkin Bread 
(modified from Tammy’s Recipes)

Bread Ingredients:

3⁄4 C demerara sugar or sucanat 
1⁄4 butter, softened 
1 egg 
3⁄4 cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree 
Juice of 1 orange 
Zest of 1 orange 
1 1⁄2 cups white whole wheat flour 
3⁄4 teaspoon baking powder 
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda 
1⁄2 teaspoon ground cloves 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1⁄2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1⁄2 teaspoon salt

Glaze Ingredients:

1⁄4 cup powdered sugar 
1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
2 Tablespoons maple syrup

Instructions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, beat sugar, butter, egg, pumpkin, orange juice, and orange zest. Set aside. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining dry ingredients. Pour pumpkin mixture into bowl with dry ingredients, and stir until no lumps remain. 
3. Lightly grease and flour a loaf pan. (This recipe makes one 8x4 loaf) 
4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Check with a toothpick or fork (should come out clean) 5. Remove bread from pan and place on a wire rack to cool. While cooling, mix powdered sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add just enough maple syrup to make a glaze. Poke tops of bread with a fork or toothpick, and drizzle the glaze over the warm bread.

Is your Autumn coming along slowly, too? 


Once we get those cool, crisp mornings I think a piece of spicy, toasted bread with hot coffee or tea will be the perfect way to greet the newly changed leaves.