Pumpkin Loaf

I love October. Fall and pumpkins and Halloween. How great are those three things? Plus, by best friend's birthday is at the end of it, giving me an excuse to make the red velvet cupcakes she's been dying to try and I've been dying to make. :)

One of my friends suggested I go pumpkin crazy for October and told me I should start with a pumpkin loaf. So I checked it out, found a recipe I really liked, and made an amazing dense, moist loaf packed with pumpkin flavour.

The recipe makes two loaves, but our second loaf pan mysteriously went missing, so I made the rest into muffins. Like the snickerdoodle cupcakes, my friends at school loved them. One friend who had bought a book for me said instead of money for it, she wanted two more muffins.

Pumpkin Loaf
via. Recipezaar

2 cups pumpkin puree
2 cups white sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
2 cups raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 2 loaf pans.

Mix together well the pumpkin, sugar, oil, and eggs.

Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and raisins, and mix well.

Pour into loaf pans and bake for 60-65 minutes or until inserted knife comes out clean.

First Post + Muffins!

I love baking, but I don't have a lot of time for it, being a high school student and not having control of the kitchen (still my mum's domain). Plus I have no job, so I basically have to beg my mum to buy me baking ingredients. So the likelihood of this blog being updated frequently is slim.

Nonetheless, the Blueberry Fiend is going to document my adventures into the world of baking!

First recipe: muffins! Specifically bran muffins I stumbled across on David Lebovitz's blog.

They're unbelievable! Super moist and barely sweet, with tons of raisins and a hint of orange. My sister and I adored them, and tomorrow I'm heading to my best friends to share the muffin love ♥

Bran Muffins

makes 12 muffins
recipe from David Lebovitz

2 cup (125g) wheat bran
1 cup, plus 1/2 cup (190g total) dark raisins
1 cup, plus 1/2 (370ml total) cup water
1/2 cup (120g) buttermilk or plain low- or non-fat yogurt
a few swipes of fresh orange zest (unsprayed)
1/2 cup (105g) packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (125ml) vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1/2 cup (65g) flour
1/4 cup (35g) whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin (with 1/2-cup indentations) with paper liners.

2. Spread the wheat bran on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for six to eight minutes, stirring a few times so it cooks evenly. Let cool.

3. While the bran is toasting, heat 1 cup (135g) of the raisins with 1/2 cup (120ml) of the water. Simmer for ten minutes, or until the water is all absorbed. Puree the raisins in a food processor or blender until smooth.

4. In a large bowl, mix together the toasted bran, buttermilk or yogurt, 1 cup (250ml) water, then mix in the raisin puree, orange zest, and brown sugar.

5. Stir in the oil, egg and egg white.

6. Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and sift directly into the wet ingredients. Stir until the ingredients are just combined, then mix in the remaining 1/2 cup (55g) raisins.

7. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, making sure the batter is mounded slightly in each one. Because muffin tins can very in size, if your tins are larger, make fewer muffins.

8. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the muffins feel set in the center.