Mini Pumpkin and Pecan Loaves

I love the autumn – don’t you? I love the colours of the remaining leaves on the trees, the cosy nights in with the curtains shut and most importantly, the flavours of the season.
I always think comfort food at this time of year. Crumbles, pies, breads, that sort of thing. Lots of spices too like cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, all conjure up the ‘fall’ for me.
Another food I associate with the autumn is that vibrant orange squash. Pumpkin is getting to be more of a popular ingredient to use in baking, here in the UK, but sadly the canned puree variety still isn’t readily available on the supermarket shelves. Sometimes Tesco has it in their US food section and I grab tins when I can. Thankfully they do last a long time.
I decided to make a pumpkin and pecan loaf with some pumpkin I had left over from last year and was languishing in the back of my freezer. I worried it may not have been unusable, but it was fine when it was defrosted.

I had cute cardboard mini loaf trays which I got a while back from dotcomgiftshop and decided to use these. But you could use one big loaf tin, or even turn these into individual muffins. You would need to adjust the cooking time however.

The loaves were moist and delicious, flavoured with those spices I mentioned at the top, and pieces of pecan throughout. As an accompaniment I had some plain whipped cream. I actually used a new gadget I had received from an on-line catering company called Nisbets. They supply all sorts of catering equipment and have next-day delivery.

The cream whipper, is so easy. Place chilled cream into the contraption, add gas to the canister (I was also sent some gas cartridges) and pull the trigger. You have instant whipped cream. Brilliant!
Here’s the recipe;
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Mini Pumpkin and Pecan Loavesby Stuart Vettese October-6-2014Moist, spiced pumpkin loaf cake with pecans.Ingredients

• 340 grams granulated sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 125 ml vegetable oil
• 225 grams pureed pumpkin
• 175 grams self-raising flour
• half teaspoon ground cinnamon
• half teaspoon ground nutmeg
• half teaspoon ground allspice
• 70 grams chopped pecans

InstructionsPreheat the oven to 180C and have your loaf pans on stand-by. In a bowl add the oil and sugar and mix until combined. Add the eggs and stir these until combined. Add the pumpkin and blend that in too. Sift in the flour and spices and stir, just until the dry ingredients have been absorbed. Split the batter into the loaf pans and place in the oven to bake. Around 20 minutes or when a toothpick comes out clean from the center. Let the loaves cool before removing them from their baking case and serve with a little whipped cream.DetailsPrep time: 20 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 40 mins Yield: 3 mini loaves
Disclosure Statement: I was sent the cream whipper free to review. I Was also sent the card loaf cases free. Any opinion expressed are entirely my own.