Pumpkin Molasses Tea Bread

Oh how I wish it would get cool and stay cool.  I want to make soup....I want to bake...I enjoy curling up in the evening with my book and a glass of wine or just to watch something on TV.  Alas, we are being teased.   It cools down for a few days.  I gear up and the temperature jumps back to three digits. There isn't supposed to be three-digit weather in October.  It is supposed to be cool and crisp outside. I should be able to wear long sleeves.  It is hard to enjoy the season when you don't have one!

Mr. T and I tried to think "fall", we took a trip last week to the apple farms.  We came home with apples and I had visions of pie and applesauce and sauerkraut....I know, that is a weird combination....but apples go in each.  I bought pumpkins for the courtyard, too...guess I was thinking that if I have pumpkins, I will have cool weather...I am still waiting.

Pumpkins made me think of baking and so, that is what I am doing...hot or not...I am baking...bring on the air conditioning....

I recently came across a compilation of recipes from 2002...it had a section for fall which I read through a number of times.  The recipe for Pumpkin Molasses Tea Bread stood out as interesting if not odd.  I kept looking at it trying to envision molasses and pumpkin together.  Finally, I decided to give it a try.

I am not going to say that it is my favorite pumpkin bread recipe because it is not.  And, just as I thought, the molasses dominates.  It isn't a bad thing unless you really wanted to taste pumpkin.  It is a moist bread and one you can enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea.  The nuts and the cranberries in the recipe are very nice....  I think you will have to be the judge....

Pumpkin Molasses Tea Bread

adapted from Martha Stewart Living Annual Recipes, 2002

Yield:  1 nine-inch loaf pan

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature and slightly beaten
1 cup canned Pumpkin Purée. (not pie mix)
2 Tbsp apple juice
1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried cranberries
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup honey
1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven:  350° F.
Butter and flour a 5 X 9 inch loaf pan.  Set aside.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.

In a mixer bowl, using a paddle attachment, beat the molasses, sugar, oil, eggs, pumpkin, and apple juice.  Set the mixer to slow and add the flour mixture, mix until combined.  Fold in the walnuts and the cranberries.

Pour into the prepared loaf pan,  The bread is done when the tester comes our clean, about one hour. Remove from the oven.  Let the bread rest for 10 minutes.  Turn the bread out on a wire rack to cool completely.

In the mixer, prepare the frosting by combining the cream cheese, powdered sugar and honey.  Beat until smooth and well combined.  Spread the frosting on the bread when it is completely cool.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Fall is my very favorite time of year.  I love the colors, the crisp air, and the relief I feel when the heat is gone...I love the foods that ripen in the fall...football games with sweaters and the chill in the air.  I have loved this season since I was a child. Maybe it is because my birthday is in the fall and I was always filled with the anticipation of being another year older.  That isn't the case right now....
I think I will stick with loving it for the other reasons!