I cut this recipe out of a magazine probably back in the '80s. It's been one of my Christmas favorites, light and buttery with a mild pumpkin flavor. The original recipe makes two loaves; I've cut the recipe in half here.
1¾ cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons pecan halves
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (one-quarter of 15-ounce can)
2 tablespoons apple cider (see note)
In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, and allspice. Coarsely chop the 1/2 cup pecans and add to the flour mixture along with the raisins and sugar; stir to combine. In another bowl, combine thoroughly the eggs, butter, pumpkin, and apple cider; add to the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Pour batter into a greased 8¼ x 4½ x 2½-inch loaf pan. Decorate with remaining 2 tablespoons of pecan halves and bake at 350 degrees for 50 -- 55 minutes until wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on rack. Serve with lemon-honey butter.
Lemon-honey butter
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Note: I've always made this with cider, but I didn't have any this year.
I've never thought that small amount of cider makes a difference in
flavor, so any liquid would probably work fine, so I used orange juice.
This baked up fine in a 7⅜ x 3⅝ x 2¼-inch loaf pan. In fact, I might even like it better than in a larger pan. However, I'm not sure what happened this time, but the batter was super thick, which produced a denser crumb. The flavor was off as well--- it was missing that delicate, buttery flavor I've loved. It tasted wheaty, like it was made with whole wheat flour. The only other change I made this time was to leave off the extra 2 tablespoons of sugar; they're needed.
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