A Very BreadLust Holiday (plus a holiday gift guide no one asked for!)
This year for the office charity bake sale I made a new tasty treat - pumpkin ribbon bread. Well, new for me to make but I've been enjoying this desserty bread around the holidays for as long as I can remember. What makes this bread different from others is a delicious center of citrus cream cheese. Making the bread isn't hard but it is more effort than pouring batter in. However, that extra step and a smidge more work is worth it.
Ingredients
For Cream Cheese Filling:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese (room temperature)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 large egg1 tablespoon finely-grated orange zest (or lemon..which is all I had)
For the Cake:
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup pumpkin puree (canned or homemade)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup pecans or walnuts (chopped)
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 F
Lightly grease and flour two loaf pans
Start with making the filling. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, granulated sugar, flour, egg, and the orange zest; beat until well blended and creamy. Set aside.
Next make the pumpkin batter. Into another smallish bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg; set aside.
Then put the pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, eggs, and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl; beat well.
Add flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture; fold in nuts if you're using them.
Spread half of the pumpkin bread batter evenly into the two prepared loaf pans.
Spoon the cream cheese mixture on top of pumpkin batter layer, then spoon the remaining pumpkin batter evenly over the cream cheese layer in each pan. Gently spread the batter over the cream cheese layer.
Bake for 60 - 70 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes,then remove to cool completely.
And now here it is folks - the holiday gift guide no one asked for!
For the... Bakers and Bread Aficionados
Tartine - the book that all my bread is from or starts from if I'm going off script.
Flour sack towels - to line your bowl or baton these are perfect
Flour shakers - using this with a 50/50 mixture of AP flour and rice flour helps keep your countertops and towels well coated for kneading and rising.
For the... YouTube Lovers
Epicurious series Price Point on ice cream is a favorite, and in the spirit get your loved one a Jeni's Ice Cream Pint Club or pick a few pints for doorstep delivery.
All the Bon Appetit channel love can be channeled into anything from their shop. Might I suggest a "Are you going to temper your chocolate" shirt, a "WOURDER" Yeti flask or a year of Bon Appetit subscription.
Get that hot person in your life the Hot Ones sauces or a set. Maybe just skip getting Da Bomb, unless they've been really bad.
For the...On the Go-ers
Trtl Neck Pillow - I'm not a huge fan of the U neck pillows. Mainly because of the sheer space they take up. On a lark I bought this Trtlr neck pillow. The slender size was really appealing.
Packing cubes - I have hodgepodge mix of ones from Amazon and TJ Maxx that work okay for me now. Maybe in 2020 I'll leave up to these nice ones with more size variety and uniformity.
Anyone who likes to travel, they're always planing or dreaming of their next trip. I like Afar magazine and think it's the best blend of bougie, local and creative travel. It might surprise you, but I have no non-work travel planned for 2020.. yet.
It's rainy here today which matches my mood pretty well. That and the Sufjan Stevens christmas album on repeat giving me all the cozy feels. All that is missing is some twinkle lights at my desk.
Amy, 🎄
