The following is a recipe from Karen DeMasco’s book, The Craft of Baking. Karen is the pastry chef at Locanda Verde, a big foodie haunt in NYC which I had the pleasure of visiting on my last trip (more on that later daaahlings). I tried the pumpkin spice bread first hand, and so I wanted to see how the recipe in the book would compare with the one I had at the restaurant. Well, taste wise, it tasted exactly the same. It is a very pleasant cake to go along with a nice hot tea, and I am pretty sure it would be a great crowd pleaser. For my taste, although I found the cake to be perfectly lovely, for me it lacked the magical ingredient of the “wow factor.” That’s just me. I think I expected every baked good at Locanda Verde to be a revelation, as the hype that follows the restaurant is absolutely massive. Also, truth be told, I have become quite the food snob LOL. I like really strong and punchy flavours, so for my taste, to make this cake a 10/10, I think I’d increases most of the spices– I’d definitely double up on the cinnamon and the pepper. I actually loved the subtle note of the white pepper, but I’d like it to be a little more present than it was. I guess that’s what happens when you marry into an Indian family, you begin to crave a spicy kick in everything (sometimes even in sweets!).
Anyways, something really amazing happened when I cut the cake. The texture was kinda crazy, but when I say crazy, I mean crazy cool. The texture at the restaurant was great, nice and soft (as oil cakes normally are), with an even and moist crumb… but what I ended up with was way different, and somewhat spectacular. Check this out:
Okay, first of all, you might be thinking that this isn’t cooked. I used the tester and it came out clean. The cake was most definitely cooked. Inside was this honey comb, custardy (but not wet) texture much like the inside of of a French pastry known as a cannele! Like a cannele, it also has very clearly defined edges (and by the way, the top of each slice has a great crispy crunch from the Demerara sugar). Somewhere, I must have made a mistake– although I have no idea what it could have been, to cause such an unusual texture. It was a mistake which I would gladly make again, as I thought it added a lot of textural and visual interest. It was most definitely a surprise!
Here is the recipe I used. Please let me know what your results are if you try making this cake. I’d love to know if you end up with a similar texture to mine.
Pumpkin Spice Bread
Ingredients:
- unsalted butter at room temperature for the pan
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sour cream
- 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of ground cloves
- pinch of freshly ground white pepper
- 1 tablespoon Demerara sugar
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Line the bottom of an 8.5 X 4.4 inch loaf pan with parchment, and grease the bottom and the sides with butter.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg, egg yolk, and oil. Add the pumpkin, sour cream, and vanilla and whisk well to combine. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and white pepper. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet. Then whisk together gently to just combine.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the top with Demerara sugar.
Bake, rotating the pan once, until the bread is firm to the touch, well browned, and slightly cracked on top, about 55 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let it sand for 5 minutes. Then turn out the loaf onto the rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.
The bread will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
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I would love a bit of this! The texture might have been caused by your oven in any case it looks very moist and yummy; would try it soon and let you know Dahling!
Delicious! I made pumpkin chai bread some time ago and spices just seem to go so well with pumpkin! This looks incredibly moist!
Looks absolutely delicious and yummy!
I love all things pumpkin and this bread looks fabulous. I love the scent the house gets when it bakes in the oven.
HH, this looks amazing! I love pumpkin especially at this time of year. I love the texture of this too. Looks gorgeous!
I’ve never made a bread with a texture like this before, but it looks moist and delicious and you never can go wrong with pumpkin
Thanks for sharing!
So. It’s like a fudge!! Double YAY!
I made sweet potato bread today. With yeast. And it turned out kind of moist, too. I think it’s just the pumpkin/sweet potato thing that makes the dough wetter?
There is no kitchen mistakes only great invention and your pumpkin cake is absolute delish. I would love to have a bite!
HH I am just a door bell away to join you with all those hot spicy stories ……so when can I come dear……. haha!
Love Always
It looks fantastic! All I need is a cup of coffee and big slice of this!
wow! this is something I definitely must make, I’m such a sucker for the spiced pumpkin flavor
and the texture here looks so amazing and moist…delicious!
Waw!! Your pumpkin spice bread looks just wonderful, my friend!! I also love the more moister texture!!
Yummie & lovely food!
Kisses from Brussels to you!!
Yummy as always darliiinnk HH!
Have a great Thanksgiving!
Hugs
XOXO Lola:)
PS Marrakech’s a great destination – just watch out for muggers! Lost my handbag(L Vuitton!!) there and some faith in human nature! XX
that cake looks GORGEOUS. i’m not sure what you did to create that texture either, but i reckon it was accidental genius.
I am like you. I haven’t been to Locanda Verde, but given the amount of press, the wait list, and numerous people oogling about this place, every item they put in front of you had better be a revelation.
It’s interesting how this cake turned out. I like the honeycomb pattern that resulted, it sounds like the texture of bread pudding.
I would like to have a bite of this, please!
This spiced pumpkin bread looks lovely. It’s got the color of the pumpkin. You get the nutitrion of the bread and at the same time you get your dose of vegetable..cool!