In the Kitchen: A Seasonal Recipe with Purpose

Fall is when I want to open the windows and turn on the oven. It is also a time when I feel closest to my Grandma Ruth, who helped instill in me my love of cooking and baking — which makes sense because the Veil is thinner this time of year and I always seem to conjure her memories most often when I’m in the kitchen.

I’m not a big sweets person but my Grandma always made a Lemon Bundt Cake that was a personal and family favorite. I’ve learned to perfect over the years and the recipe for Cinnamon Crunch Pumpkin Bread by the Foul-Mouthed Gourmet evokes the same feelings as Grandma’s Lemon Bundt Cake but with a decidedly more fall-appropriate vibe. I suppose it’s the cinnamon crunch which is a common thread in both recipes, and I do love anything with cinnamon! This recipe is so fantastic on its own, I don’t feel the need to alter it in any way, but I suppose you could top it with some pumpkin seeds before baking to give it a little extra crunch, but you really don’t need to.

I said this is a seasonal recipe with purpose and for me, the purpose — any time I enter my kitchen to bake — is to connect with my ancestors, so you can make the baking of this bread an exercise in ancestral connection. It is also a perfect food to leave on your Samhain altar as an offering to your ancestors or to the gods of the harvest. If anything, it will keep your house spirits happy and satiated for the season.

So without further ado, here is The Foul-Mouthed Gourmet’s Cinnamon Crunch Pumpkin Bread.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil

  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar

  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature

  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract

  • 1 cup pumpkin puree

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

  • 1 tsp baking powder

  • 1/2 tsp baking soda

  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt

  • 2 tsp cinnamon

  • 1 tsp ginger

  • 1/2 tsp cloves

cinnamon crunch topping

  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar

  • 1/4 cup sugar

  • 1 tbsp cinnamon

  • 1 tbsp all purpose flour

  • 4 tbsp butter, melted

Ingredients 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan with butter or oil.

  • In a bowl, beat the vegetable oil and both sugars until combined. Whip in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla and pumpkin puree. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Mix until just combined.

  • In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, flour, and butter.

  • Pour half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle half of the crunch mixture overtop. Finish with the remaining batter and top wit the rest of the crunch.

  • Bake the loaf for 55-65 minutes. Start checking with a toothpick after 50 minutes. When an inserted toothpick emerges with just a few moist crumbs, the bread is ready! Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the loaf and invert onto a wire rack, then flip back upright. Cool at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Erin Sagadin