The Magic Pumpkin: It’s a Bread, It’s a Cake

If you want to “eat your cake and have it too,” at least for several days, bake this pumpkin bread/cake. It is easily made in large quantities that can then be turned into several different dishes.

Plain, it’s pumpkin bread. If you serve it with butterscotch sauce (or butterscotch icing, which is the same thing with the addition of powdered sugar), it can become a Christmas cake. Toasted and served with ginger cream cheese, it’s a wonderful holiday breakfast. Baked in miniature loaf pans it’s a Christmas gift. You can even sprinkle the crumbs, buttered and toasted, over sliced Fuyu persimmons with cream.

If you plan ahead, you can bake half the batter in loaf pans and the rest as cupcakes. It freezes well double-wrapped in plastic wrap.

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Don’t feel guilty if you use canned pumpkin. Unlike peas or beans, pumpkin loses little flavor when canned, and in any case this is an assertively spiced recipe. But if you are a purist and have a sugar pumpkin, the quickest way to prepare it is to cut the pumpkin in half, remove strings and seeds, slice into 1 1/2-inch slices and steam 30 minutes. Remove and trim off the rind, and it is ready.

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This cake-like quick bread can also be baked in an eight-inch round cake pan plus six standard cupcake or muffin pans.

PUMPKIN BREAD

3 1/3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

2/3 cup shortening

2 cups mashed or pureed pumpkin

4 eggs, lightly beaten

2 1/4 cups sugar

2/3 cup milk

In large mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Stir well with fork or whisk.

In another large bowl combine shortening, pumpkin, eggs and sugar. Mix briskly. There will be some little lumps that will disappear when baked. Stir in milk. Mix again. Add dry ingredients. Mix well.

Spread batter evenly in buttered and floured 9x13-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees about 40 minutes, but test at 30 minutes by inserting wood pick into center of bread. Pick should come out dry and clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan. Cut and wrap bread in several parts to use later as needed. Double-wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. Makes 12 servings.

Each serving contains about:

408 calories; 245 mg sodium; 78 mg cholesterol; 14 grams fat; 66 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 0.76 gram fiber.

BUTTERSCOTCH FROSTING

1/3 to 1/2 cup Butterscotch Sauce

1 cup, or more, powdered sugar

In bowl beat together Butterscotch Sauce and powdered sugar until thick, smooth and spreadable. Add little more sauce if frosting is too thick to comfortably spread, and add more sugar if frosting is runny or too thin. Makes about 1 cup.

Each 1-tablespoon serving contains about:

93 calories; 36 mg sodium; 14 mg cholesterol; 5 grams fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0 fiber.

Butterscotch Sauce

1 cup light-brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

Combine sugar, butter and cream in small, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is well blended, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk quickly to blend again thoroughly. Makes 1 1/2 cups.

Each 1-tablespoon serving contains about:

85 calories; 44 mg sodium; 17 mg cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 9 grams carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0 fiber.

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This salad recipe is a gift from Sharon Kramis in Seattle. Red grapefruit sections, green avocado slices, pomegranate seeds on lettuces are just what that golden plump turkey needs.

AVOCADO, GRAPEFRUIT AND POMEGRANATE SALAD

About 6 cups mixed lettuces

1 large avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced

2 ruby red grapefruit, peeled and sectioned

Dressing

4 green onions, coarse green tops removed, finely chopped

1 pomegranate, seeds removed and reserved

Divide lettuces among 4 salad plates. Make lettuce bed on each. Arrange avocado slices and grapefruit sections over lettuces. Drizzle Dressing over salads. Garnish with green onions and pomegranate seeds. Serve cold. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

385 calories; 167 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 27 grams fat; 40 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams protein; 2.06 grams fiber.

Note : To remove seeds from pomegranate, cut into about 6 pieces, fill bowl with cold water, and drop pieces into bowl. Separate membranes from seeds and let float to top of water.

Dressing

1/3 cup cider vinegar

1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon celery seeds

In jar with lid, combine cider vinegar, oil, sugar, salt and celery seeds. Shake until well blended and mixed. Refrigerate until needed. Makes 1 cup.

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