Goldie's Back!

Well, I meant to start my baking last Monday, but old Goldie had different plans. I preheated her to 375 per the recipe for Pumpkin Bread, but then noticed that the fiber seal that goes around the inside of the door was melting off into the oven. Party foul, Goldie. However, I suspect that the oven cleaner I sprayed her down with the week before (probably the first used on this oven in several years) somehow compromised the fibers in that seal. Luckily I had only gotten as far as the dry ingredients, so I just covered the bowl and set it aside until YESTERDAY, when Goldie has been refurbished. SO here's the recipe report:

Pumpkin Bread, from Baking at Home with the Culinary Institute of America.

I was so excited about this recipe. What says October-Fall is here-cool crisp air-leave your windows open like Pumpkin Bread?! And, as a "quick bread" (meaning no yeast), I figured it would be a good, simple bread to begin my self-taught baking journey.

When I had finished combining the wet and dry ingredients, I was a little worried about the consistency of the batter. I was expecting it to be a bit more viscous but instead it seemed rather stiff. More like a choc. chip cookie dough and less like a cake batter. The only moisture in this recipe were the pumpkin puree, eggs, and vegetable oil, so I guess that's how it was supposed to look. Also, the recipe was supposed to go into two 8 1/2 inch loaf pans, but I only had one and that filled just fine, so I left it at that.

My oven also did not want to behave. Goldie was set at 375, but when I checked her before putting in the bread, she was all the way around 425. UGH. So we waited while I set her a bit lower and left the door open for a while. Finally got the bread in, and set the timer for 50 minutes. After the timer went off, guess what? The oven was too cool now. And when I checked for doneness, I didn't observe any of the "few moist crumbs" noted in the recipe, but the crust looked good, so I only put it back in for 5 more minutes.


Upon the taste test, I was a little disappointed. I think I expected it to be much sweeter, but it does only have 3/4 cups sugar. However, the inner texture and crust were good. If I made this recipe again, I think I would add another 1/4 cup sugar, and maybe even experiment with using butter instead of vegetable oil. Mmmm.... butter.