Pumpkin Bread

Wet

• 1 1/2 cups Pumpkin purée — plain purée, not pie filling
• 1/2 cup Neutral oil
• 3/4 cup Granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup Brown sugar, packed
• 3 Eggs

Spices

• 2 tsp Ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp Ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp Ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp Ground cloves

Dry

• 2 cups All-purpose flour
• 1 tsp Baking soda
• 3/4 tsp Salt

Finish

• 2 tbsp Coarse or granulated sugar, for the top

Prep

1. Heat the oven to 165°C (330°F) and line a 9x5 loaf pan. (Tip: Lower than most quick breads on purpose — this loaf needs a long bake to drive off the purée's water, and a hotter oven burns the top before that happens.)

Spices

1. Warm the oil gently with the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves for about a minute, until fragrant, then take it off the heat. (Tip: Spice aromatics are fat-soluble. A minute in warm oil pulls out far more flavour than stirring the same spices into the flour.)

Wet

1. Whisk the spiced oil with both sugars, the eggs, and the pumpkin purée until smooth.

Dry

1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.

Combine

1. Fold the dry into the wet just until combined.

Bake

1. Scrape into the pan, sprinkle the top with coarse sugar if using, and bake until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool

1. Cool in the pan 20 minutes, then turn out onto a rack.