Claire Schmitt - Pumpkin Bread

Claire Schmitt

Pumpkin Bread

Recipe 

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off, plus more for greasing the pan
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 cups sugar
• 1-1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the pan
• 2 large eggs
• 1 15-ounce can 100% pure pumpkin (I use Libby's)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously grease two 8 ½” x 4 ½” loaf pans with butter and dust with flour (or use a baking spray with flour).
2. Combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices in a bowl; use a whisk to mix well and set aside.
3. In large bowl of an electric mixer, at medium speed, beat butter and sugar until just blended. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until very light and fluffy, a few minutes. Beat in pumpkin. The mixture might look grainy and curdled at this point -- that's ok.
4. At low speed, beat in flour mixture until well combined.
5. Turn batter into prepared pans, dividing evenly, and bake for 65 – 75 minutes, or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Let loaves cool in pan about 10 minutes, then turn out on wire rack to cool completely. (If the loaves stick, run a plastic knife around the edges of the pan to loosen them.)
6. Fresh out of the oven,the loaves have a deliciously crisp crust. If they last beyond a day, you can toast individual slices to get the same fresh-baked effect.
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8. Preparation Method
9. The method this recipe used was the muffin method. The muffin method is when the idea is to mix the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry in another. You then pour the wet over the dry and combine, mixing as little as possible. It is perfectly fine to have a lumpy mixture before baking, because over mixing will cause air bubbles to form and make larger air pockets rather than small ones like this bread is supposed to have. You don't want to over develop that gluten!!! You see this in this recipe because when you mix the wet and dry together, you only want to mix the two until they are just combined, and no more than that.
10. I did not really change this recipe much. If anything I used a fork to wish together the dry ingredients because our whisk was in the dishwasher and I have no patience to wait. Another thing I did was spray the inside of the pan with pam instead of with butter, and I didn't notice any difference than the picture that the author pictured and mine, which was a good observation.  The reason I did this was because my dad was all up in my business and didn't want me to open up a new box of butter. Oh dad. 
11. Basically, I followed this recipe almost exact. It baked for about 68 minutes total before I tested it and the tooth pick came out clean. And trust me, this recipe is definitely worth trying! :)
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13. Critique
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15. Appearance- The pumpkin bread was a brownish orange color. It had uniform small holes when you sliced it and a dark crust. It looked moist and dense also. Another thing was the crust was cracked (split open) and glossy looking. All in all, the appearance was AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS!!!
16. Taste- The taste of this pumpkin bread was spiced and sweet. It definitely tasted sugary with hints of buttery goodness. This pumpkin bread also had a savory note along with the sweet one. Along with this, it tasted pumpkin-y and fresh. The taste was very pungent and strong (and delicious!(; ) 
17. Texture- The texture of this bread was soft and dense. It was very moist, too. It had a textured inside with the air bubbles (small and uniform) and the thickness of the bread. Also, the top was sort of slimy because of all the tasty moisture this bread had.  
18. Aroma- The aroma of this bread basically filled my entire house with a spiced and sweet scent. It was so strong that you could almost taste the deliciousness. Also, the aroma was savory, not too salty and not too sweet, just in the middle. 
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20. All in all, I really enjoyed this baked good and already have sent the link to my grandma because i'm certain she will love it as much as we did at my house. I definitely recommend this recipe also and want to see if other peoples will turn out as good as mine did! This is for sure a new Schmitt favorite!