Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Spiced Pumpkin Chocolate Bread

This is a simple quick bread made using pumpkin and chocolate and spiced with cardamom.I wanted to make something for BBD#16:Quickbreads and thought of making a desert bread and since I had pumpkin in the fridge,I thought I would go for it and found a simple yet delicious pumpkin quickbread recipe at SimplyRecipes.But I must add I experimented a lot with it and the end reslt though delicious is nothing to be compared with the original.

Ingredients:
Dry Mix:
White whole wheat flour:1.5 cups
Baking Soda: 1.5 tsp
Brown Sugar: 3/4cup (Can use white sugar as well)
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Powdered Ginger + Cinnamon + Cardamom: 1/2 tsp each(optional)

Wet Mix:
Pumpkin Puree: 1 cup
Water: 1/4 cup
Thick Curd: 1/2 cup (to replace 2 eggs )
Vegetable /Olive Oil: 1/2 cup
Cardamom: 2 tsp

Other items:
Chocolate chips/Chunks:I simply chopped chocolate into small pieces
Walnuts: handful: I did not use them

Preparation:
In a big bowl,mix the dry items together.In another small bowl,mix the wet items and keep aside.Chop the nuts and chocolate into small pieces.

The recipe used All Purpose flour which I substituted with white whole wheat flour which is a good replacer for APF in cookies and quickbreads.Another substitute is whole wheat pastry flour,but not whole wheat flour.Also the spices in the dry mix is optional.My main spice was cardamom which I added in the wet mix and powdered ginger and cinnamon I added just to enhance the flavour.You can use pumpkin pie spice instead of these spices (2 tsp pumpkin pie spice = 1 tsp cinnamon,1/2 tsp powdered ginger,1/4 tsp each nutmeg and allspice).

Also to make pumpin puree,roast or steam or boil the pumpkin pieces.I steamed them and then simply mashed the soft cubes.You can also puree in a blender.Also the original recipe had 2 eggs which I replaced with 1/2 cup thick curds(1 egg replaced with 1/4 cup of curd/buttermilk).Normally buttermilk (thinned curd) works fine.But the original recipe had used 1/4 cup water and so I decided to go for thick dahi /curd available.Incase you are using buttermilk,avoid/reduce the water.Curds/Yogurt can be used to substitute eggs in quickbreads especially.You can also use olive oil instead of vegetable .I also added additional half tsp of baking soda than specified.

Pour the wet mix into the dry mix bowl and stir just until combined.Stir in chocolate chunks and nuts.Pour into a well greased standard (9 x 5 x 3 inch) loaf pan and top with more chocolate chunks.Bake in a pre heated oven at 350F/180C for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick /skewer /tester inserted at the centre comes out clean . Serve as a dessert or anytime bread.


The bread turned out yellow with a brown crust and moist, soft,delicious,similar to banana bread.The addition of cardamom adds Indian touch and chocolate makes it all the more better.I simply chopped chocolate into chunks and added it.The picture does not look that nice as it was taken in a hurry.I will not say this is a perfect recipe as I played a lot with ingredients ,but tastewise it was perfect.
  1. This quick bread is my entry to BBD#18:Quickbread by Mansi of Fun and Food,an event by Zorra and also HomeMade:Bread by Ben of Whatscooking
  2. Since wheat is a main ingredient ,a small loaf also goes to JFI:Wheat hosted by Roma,an event started by Indira of Mahanandi
  3. And Last but Not Least,a delicious loaf is off to Madhuram for the Egg Replacement Event(ERE):Buttermilk/Curd .Only after she announced buttermilk as a replacer,I was tempted to use curd/buttermilk in this recipe.A quick research revealed that curd/buttermilk works better as an egg replacer in quickbreads .Thus the experiment started and it was very easy also.

34 Comments:

Finla said...

The bread looks really flavourfull and so yum.

FH said...

Moist and great looking bread. Pumpkin and chocolate, both makes the bread moist, good one! :)

Trupti said...

pumpkin & chocolate ..what a combination ...bread looks perfect

Cham said...

Very flavorful with the spice u used! Gorgeous!

Priya Suresh said...

Prefect bread, lovely combination with pumpkin n chocolate..

Mangala Bhat said...

wow ! looks soo moist and perfect ...Thanks for the recipe :)

Anonymous said...

Yummy yum !!

Astra Libris said...

Oooh, how gorgeous!! I love the combo of cardamom and chocolate!

Manju said...

sadly, i am allergic to the canned pumpkin purees..i realised it when i made mini pies last year and had a pumpkin soup for a halloween dinner!! :(

but im defenitely gonna try again with fresh pumpkins! this one looks really moist and delicious!

Malar Gandhi said...

Looks so moist and nice to me...love pumpkin flavour!:)

Lo said...

Mmm. Pumpkin, chocolate, and cardamom. Nice combination.

Really have to try this!

Beyond Curries said...

The bread looks very good Sweatha. I have not tried the pumpking and chocolate combination. But hear a lot that it's a lovely combo.

Uj said...

Bread looks really moist.. I am yet to try baking breads :D

jayasree said...

Bread looks moist and flavorful. With chocolate in it, what more one can ask for.

Pooja said...

Bread is looking perfect and yumm..

Uma said...

Looks perfect and yummy.

Unknown said...

wow looks so moist and pumpkin chocolate and cardamom mmmmmm i can smell the flavor looks so yum yum sweatha

Anonymous said...

This is truly unique. Looks dense and delicious.

Thanks a lot for participating in JFI-Wheat.

Meenal Mehta said...

Hi there,

first time on your blog , the spiced pumpkin chocolate bread looks delish:)

-Meenal @ Meenal's kitchen

Deepthi Shankar said...

lovely bread there .. looks nice & moist

Unknown said...

Quite an interesting combination of flavors. I've never cooked with pumpkin but maybe I should

Kitchen Chronicles said...

Perfect, Tempting and moist bread. Lovely combo.

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

wow.. great looking bread. love chocolate. when can i drop by your house to taste these?

Vaishali said...

Hey Curry, lovely bread, and lovely idea to replace the eggs with yogurt. I find yogurt (I use soy yogurt) adds a great, tender texture to baked goods.

Sanghi said...

Mmmm.. Lovely cake.. You can send this to Poornima's 'For the love of chocolate' event - http://poornimastastytreats.blogspot.com/2009/03/announcing-for-love-of-chocolate_15.html too. Also send some tomatish dishes for my FIL-Tomato event by 31st..!:)

Raaga said...

I made pumpkin cake once. This also looks very nice. I will try the combination :)

Usha said...

Pumpkin bread looks moist and delicious !

Red Chillies said...

Looks rich and delicious. Happy Ugadi wishes to you.

Sia said...

so moist and spongy! gorgeous bread!!!

wishing u and ur loved ones a very happy Ugadi :)

Unknown said...

wow, that looks lovely, and really filling!Thanks for sending it in Sweatha!

Preety said...

the bread looks gr8

Sunshinemom said...

Oh! Wow! This looks good. Somehow reminds me of dumrot:)

Rajee said...

Moist and perfect. I came to know from wheat event

Supriya said...

Hi, I made pumpkin bread yesterday using your recipe. It was absolutely awesome. Thanks.

Thanks for visiting my Blog

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