Ragazzi, if you have clicked on this blog entry, you have just participated in an experiment which Annalena is conducting. She is trying to confirm something she thinks is the truth, and if she is right, as she always is, it is time we all 'fessed up.
She does not think there is a one of us out there who does not claim to want to eat healthier, and/or to eat more fruits and vegetables. To be more adventurous in our cooking. Is she right?
Well... it is an interesting bit of information that, without question, the heaviest "hits" on this blog, are for desserts. There are a few exceptions. For example, every week, there are well over 50 hits on the blog for braciole. But Annalena's last blog entries, on kohlrabi and quinces, are both in the single figures.
And if you've clicked on this, you've probably been part of the two dozen or so who will read it. A sweet bread recipe (as compared to sweetbreads).
Hmmm. What does that say about us collectively? Discuss
Well, nonetheless, we go foward. The temperature has dropped substantially, to the point where even Annalena's hot blood is cold, and she is pulling out sweaters and long sleeve turtlenecks. And the hard skin squash - of which pumpkin a member - abound.
You DID know that pumpkin is a squash, didn't you? Yes, indeed it is. And this is important to know because, ragazzi , it means that you can substitute the pulp of pumpkin with any of the winter squash, and vice versa (spaghetti squash may be an exception, but it is pretty much true).
This is of value to you, because pumpkin is a horror to cook. It is difficult to cut, it is very wet and throws off tons of liquid when it cooks, and because the flesh is stringy, you usually have to puree it to use it in other things. Yes, it is better than the canned stuff, but not THAT much better. So if you are a stickler for doing things from scratch, a pumpkin can be daunting. In this case, Annalena is giving you her cucinallean blessing to use the canned stuff.
Pumpkin bread is, like most of the breads which are based on vegetables (think zucchini, for example), an oil bread. We will be using neutral oil to make this, rather than butter.
This should NOT be taken as a signal that pumpkin bread is healthy. It IS better for you than, say, an Oreo, but it is NOT to be taken as permission to not eat your vegetables, because you are getting them in your dessert.
See? Annalena knows all of these tricks. She's tried them, too. But it is a good thing to make, and to have around. And as we will see it admits of a tremendous amount of variation.
Cominciamo.
You will need a cup of vegetable oil: canola, corn, soy, anything like that which has no flavor to it. No olive oil here, please. And 2.5 heaping cups of white sugar (so much for healthy, ragazzi). Now, Annalena is going to use "heaping" again later for the flour. That is because the recipe, as originally written, calls for 2 2/3 cup of sugar, and 3 1/3 cups of flour. Most of us do not have measuring cups in the thirds; however, 2 2/3 cups of sugar is 2.67, while 2.5 is, well, 2.5. So, you are looking at about .12 difference. If you heap the sugar in your measuring cup (so that you have a small mountain), you will have what you need for both.
You may want to use the blender for this, as the batter is going to be heavy. Mix up the sugar and oil together until they are well combined. It is going to look a lot like heavy sand. Not promising. And it will not get moreso when you add four large eggs, one at a time until they are combined well.
Things begin to look more promising when you add the one pound can of pumpkin. NOW things will begin to smooth out and look more even. Could this work?
Well, yes, it can. Now, turn off your mixer and add the 3 heaping cups of flour, together with half a teaspoon of baking soda, and 2 full teaspoons of baking powder. Also, it's time to spice your cake. What do you like? Annalena's original recipe called for nutmeg. Annalena likes nutmeg, but with pumpkin, prefers ginger. So a teaspoon of dried ginger here, and then, for fun, half a teaspoon of Chinese five spice powder. She emphasizes, however, that you should use what you like: cinnamon, nutmeg, even curry powder are good. Cardamom? Perhaps. And so on.
Combine all of this together until the flour disappears. Now, it's GOODIES time. You can add, up to 2.5 additional cups of "goodies" to this recipe. The orignal called for a cup of nuts and 1.5 cups of chocolate chips. Fine, but Annalena likes the taste of pumpkin. Too much stuff will kill the taste. But she does like crunch. So this recipe contains 1 cup of chopped pecans (Annalena's walnuts had gone rancid. TIP: ALWAYS TASTE NUTS BEFORE YOU ADD THEM TO SOMETHING YOU ARE COOKING, JUST IN CASE...). Again, add what you like, but keep in mind that the more you add, the heavier the batter, and the less it will rise.
Preheat your oven to 350, and then grease two 8x4 pans. These are bread pans, but not quick bread pans, which are 9x5. The reason for the switch is to let the stuff rise more. Divide the batter betwixt the two pans, put them in an oven, and wait. This is going to take at least an hour, so do something else while you are waiting. (Annalena made another cake, and did some Italian homework. An hour should give you plenty of time to...).
The cake is ready when it kind of cracks at the top, and when you insert a knife, you do not get what is clearly unbaked cake on the edge. If an hour is not sufficient, let it bake for longer.
Oil based cakes keep well, and are better tasting if you let them sit a day. So do so.
Note that if you prefer, you can make tons of muffins with this recipe. Just keep an eye and know that they will be ready in twenty minutes. Or, make two 9 or 8 inch layer cakes, and fill them with something like maple cream.
Fall has "fallen." Take advantage. We will be working with the produce of the autumn in days to come. Use them, because winter is not too far away, and here, where the ground freezes, local will be a memory all too soon
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