Ladyface Blog: Clementine Pumpkin Bread with Cardamom

Today I'm super excited to share a guest post from amazing DIY blogger, Marlene from Jade and Fern. Not only does she create gorgeous DIY projects, she also makes delicious treats; and today Marlene is here to share her recipe for Clementine Pumpkin Bread with Cardamom. Yum! Drool over her post here and then be sure to pop over to Jade and Fern to check out Marlene's fantastic DIY projects and skills!

Like so many squash lovers, I crave pumpkin this time of year. Pumpkin cookies. Pumpkin beer. Pumpkin donuts. Grande pumpkin double latte with pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin drizzle. And today— pumpkin bread.

I’m so excited to share this recipe with Ladyface Blog and all you wonderful readers! It’s a simple quick bread that comes together fast for a weeknight treat, yet is elegant enough to serve to your dinner party guests. Flecks of clementine zest add zing, and ground cardamom rounds out the complexity. Can you tell I’m writing this when I’m hungry? Plus—it’s vegan!

Clementine Pumpkin Bread with Cardamom

Ingredients:

1 ½ C. flour

½ tsp. salt

¾ C. sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 C. pumpkin puree*

½ C. vegetable or canola oil

½ C. applesauce

¼ C. water

¼ tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. allspice

¼ tsp. cloves

2 T. clementine zest (or zest from your favorite orange)

1 ¼ tsp. ground cardamom

*Depending on the moisture content of the pumpkin puree, the bread may turn out super dense, but don’t be alarmed; it will still taste awesome.

Directions:

Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan, and preheat the oven to 350° F.

Sift the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda into a large bowl and set aside.

Add the pumpkin, oil, applesauce, water, spices, and clementine zest into a medium bowl and stir to combine. Use a whisk to beat out larger pumpkin lumps (some small lumps are ok).

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. You should keep mixing until you don’t see any more white flour, then stop— overdoing it will make the bread tough.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and use your spoon to spread the batter evenly into the corners.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the bread comes out clean. If it’s not done at 50 minutes, check it every 2 minutes thereafter, as the sides can get brown quickly at this point.

Allow the bread to cool in the pan for no more than 5 minutes, then gently remove and transfer to a cooling rack.

Enjoy with a schmear of cream cheese or on its own. It’s a perfect snack to keep you energized during the upcoming holiday bustle. If you’re serving it to guests, you’d better make two—this bread never lasts long!