Cardamom-Pumpkin Spice Bread

Inspired by a recipe in The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco and Mindy Fox (2009, Clarkson Potter), this moist and irresistible pumpkin bread is wonderful for breakfast, or with an afternoon cup of coffee or tea. We wrote about it in December 2020.

DeMasco wrote in her headnote that she likes it toasted and spread with “a thick pat of nice salty butter,” but we’ve never gotten that far — once we cut a slice, it’s impossible not to gobble it up directly. DeMasco, in case you don’t know her, was the James Beard Award-winning pastry chef overseeing desserts at Tom Colicchio’s Craft, Craftbar and ’wichcraft from 2001 to 2008.

We swapped out half of the all-purpose flour in DeMasco’s recipe for whole wheat flour, cut the white sugar by half and added freshly ground cardamom to the spice mix. We’ve also tested the recipe with half rye flour, and that works great, too. Feel free to use all AP flour, double the white sugar and omit the cardamom if you’d rather try DeMasco’s original recipe. As DeMasco noted in her headnote, the flavors deepen as the bread sits, so it’s an ideal cakey bread to give as a gift or make in advance for the next day.

Makes one 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch loaf.

Ingredients

Butter for greasing the pan

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1/2 cup canola or other neutral oil

3/4 cup canned pumpkin purée

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sour cream

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole wheat or rye flour

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 - 10 green cardamom pods, seeds removed from the pods and ground in a mortar and pestle and pods discarded

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch of ground cloves (or 4 - 5 whole cloves ground in a mortar)

Pinch of freshly ground white pepper

2 teaspoons turbinado or demerara sugar

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F, with a rack in the middle of the oven. Line the bottom of loaf pan (8 1/2 by 4/12 inches) with a piece of parchment, and grease the bottom and sides with butter.

2. Place the brown sugar, white sugar, egg, egg yolk and canola oil in a medium bowl and whisk it together. Add the pumpkin purée, sour cream and vanilla, and whisk it well to combine. Set aside.

3. Sift together into a separate medium bowl the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and white pepper. Give it a whisk to make sure they’re mixed well, then use a rubber spatula to fold the dry mixture into the wet ingredients. Give it a quick gentle whisk to just combine.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, and sprinkle the top with the turbinado or demerara sugar.

5. Bake 25 minutes, then rotate the pan. Continue baking for about another 30 minutes, until the bread is well browned, cracking on top and firm to the touch. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes, then run a thin knife around the edge and carefully turn the loaf onto the rack to continue cooling. Serve warm or at room temperature. It keeps beautifully in an airtight container or zipper bag for at least 3 days.