A neighbor with a splendidly productive seaside vegetable garden gave me a squash in early October.  She told me it’d probably be sweeter if I left it outside to ripen in the sun until I baked it.  I brought it inside before the first frost and finally roasted it yesterday in the oven (halved, cut side down, for an hour at 350 in an inch of water) thinking I’d use it for a risotto dish.  Instead I decided to bake Pumpkin Bread, adapting a favorite recipe from a favorite childhood friend.  Karen and I used to cover it with a penuche icing, but the GF version is so rich and moist (and the sun soaked squash was SO sweet) that icing the bread/cake would have been too much.  Instead I wanted whipped cream with Blood Orange Marmalade folded into it….

Pumpkin Bread

Makes 18 muffins or two 5 x 9 loaves.

Ingredients

DRY

2 ¾ cups (15 oz.) GF Flour Mix

1 ½ cups (12 oz.) brown sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon xantham gum

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon nutmeg (Freshly grated is nice; it’s easier /more rewarding than one expects!)

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

WET

3 eggs

2/3 cup oil

1½ cups mashed pumpkin or other like squash

1/3 cup water

Optional: ½ cup chopped raisins and/or ½ cup chopped pecans.

Directions:

Preset oven to Bake at 350 F. Grease and flour a tube pan.

1. Measure the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir to blend.
2. Combine the wet ingredients in another bowl and whisk to blend.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing to blend, take care not to over beat.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s).
5. Bake the cake (tube pan) for 1 hour or until lightly cracked and firm to the touch. Loaves: 45 – 55 minutes.  Muffins: 20 – 25 minutes.
6. Cool the cake completely before removing from the pan.  Cool the loaves for 10-15 minutes before removing.  Cool the muffins for 5 minutes before removing.

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