Who loves fall? Who loves fall flavors? Pumpkin spice lattes anyone? I love fall. I love fall flavors. I’m not the biggest fan of pumpkin spice lattes. But I am a fan of pumpkin everything else. Pumpkins, apples, maple, cinnamon, caramel….all the fall things.
I am so proud of myself. This year I waited until the weekend before the first day of fall to decorate my house instead of weeks before ;). Andy and I always go to Door County, WI in October to drench ourselves in the beautiful, crisp, northern fall air and colors. We also got married the end of October, so aside from the weather, flavors, and décor of the season, I have many reasons to love this time of year. As I am writing this Andy is sitting across from me looking at campsites in Door County for 2022. Must reserve way in advance people; those things go fast. Anyways, baking, that’s why we are all here right, not just to express our love of the season? Last week I decided that despite not putting my fall decorations up, it was definitely time to start testing some fall baked goods. I love all things caramel, but I have already made the perfect caramel popover. We have seen popovers in a previous post; I just added caramel to the dough, as well as in the middle so you never take a bite without getting some of that divine taste in your mouth. I didn’t go for caramel last week, maybe next week. What I did bake was pumpkin spice. Go figure!
I really, really enjoy a pumpkin loaf. You guys this is not the best thing for me, really not the healthiest for anyone, but I’m allergic to Cinnamon!!! Not in a life threatening way, but in a way that makes me stay away from it; otherwise, my face breaks out for literally months! And that is not a good way to spend holidays. If I’m dedicated, I can have cinnamon and drink lots of water to flush it out of my system, and I’m usually ok. But with my love of all things fall, it is so hard not to get cinnamon in there somewhere.
I tested out a Half Baked Harvest pumpkin loaf recipe. The farmers market I have been selling at, infrequently I might add, runs through October. I decided I should make my products seasonal. I wanted to replace the lemon blueberry loaf, that we all know and love, with a pumpkin loaf. I also plan to replace the lemon popovers with the caramel. Maybe I’ll try out some caramel apple muffins, but that is TBD.
For the pumpkin loaf, we need cream cheese because pumpkin and cream cheese in bread form are an excellent pairing. I was hoping for a swirl loaf, but this recipe tops the loaf with cream cheese. I could modify it to accomplish the swirl, but that is something for a full test day, not just a test afternoon. This recipe called for bananas, which I didn’t have, but there is a substitute at the bottom of the page, I opted for extra pumpkin :)
This loaf is so simple and straight forward. The hardest part was making sure I had true pumpkin spice seasoning, and if I hadn’t I would’ve made it up ;). How hard could it be, a little nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, etc.? All you do with this recipe is mix all your ingredients together, minus the cream cheese, and pour the batter into a loaf pan. This recipe adds maple syrup, and that is an extra treat.
Then put your softened cream cheese in a Ziploc bag, snip off that corner, and squeeze the cheese out on top of the dough. Swirl as desired into the dough with a toothpick, pop her in the oven and wait, letting that fall aroma fill your house making your mouth water, literally. The only thing I will do differently when I make this again, when not if, is to put the cream cheese in the middle of the loaf instead of on top. Or try to make it a true swirl loaf, which it is not intended to be; I just want it to be one. Half Baked Harvest has a recipe for a maple butter to add to your warm slice of bread once it’s done baking. This is a wonderful fall recipe that all bakers should have some form of in their home. Novice bakers, this recipe is for you also. It is a one bowl recipe. I have it linked below for those who are looking for that first fall flavor to try out. And again, the smell fills your house, you don’t even need a pumpkin spice candle ;).
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