Camille’s Cooking: Pumpkin walnut bread

BY CAMILLE ORRICHIO LOCCISANO

Home is where the heart is, and for me, that home is the Bay Ridge/Dyker Heights area of Brooklyn. Our little neighborhood sits like a jewel under the Verrazano Bridge, and I honestly believe it is the most unique and comforting place on this earth. We are certainly akin to Small Town, USA, yet we are nestled right near Manhattan via a simple train ride. What could be better?

Although our community is a year-round place to be, there is nothing like Bay Ridge in the autumn. When my sons were little boys, I would often tell them, “No matter where you go in life and no matter how far you roam, always come back to Bay Ridge in the fall.”

Apple-picking, pumpkin carving and Halloween costumes all marked this time of year with joy for me and my sons. I especially loved baking pumpkin flavored treats for them, and a favorite in our home was pumpkin walnut bread. I suggest serving this bread warm. The harvest flavors will make you feel very in spirit with the season!

 

PUMPKIN WALNUT BREAD

 

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla.

1 cup chopped walnuts

Confectioner’s sugar

 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch loaf pan. In a bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground ginger. In a separate bowl, mix brown sugar, pumpkin and butter.

Add the eggs, one at a time and mix in well. Stir in vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until well blended. Mix in walnuts.

Spread batter into the loaf pan and bake for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let loaf cool. Dust with confectioner’s sugar before cutting.

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