Honey Pumpkin Bread

The honey not only lends flavor to this bread, but also draws water to the bread, keeping it moist longer! Fresh pumpkin also creates a better flavor - directions for preparing fresh pumpkin are at the bottom of this page.

I like using dark amber honeys with a rich flavor, something reminiscent of the harvest.  Pumpkin Honey is perfect, but is rarely available.  Brazilian Pepper Honey, with its full flavor, is a good substitute for Pumpkin.  Southern Belle Honey has a bit of brown sugar taste that complements instead of overpowers.  The rootiness of Carrot Honey complements the starchy gourd of the pumpkin.  

Makes 1 loaf.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 Cup Flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 cup honey
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients well.
2. Pour into greased 9x5 bread pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hour, or until a knife placed in the center comes out clean.
4. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, then remove from pan.

Preparing Fresh Pumpkin

There are many different ways to prepare pumpkin, but this is the easiest and quickest method we have found yet. When cooked right, the hard outer shell peels off practically by itself!

Sugar pumpkins (the small pumpkins the size of a volleyball) are recommended, but we have used jack-o-lantern sized pumpkins, and even giant 50-100 pound pumpkins, with good results. In general, the smaller the pumpkin, the sweeter the meat. You may need to add more honey with a larger pumpkin (taste before baking).

Use fresh pumpkins, not carved pumpkins. Any pulp not used immediately in recipes can be stored for up to 2 days in the refridgerator, or can be stored in the freezer indefinitely. If you store in the freezer, place a 1 cup portion in a plastic bag - this is the amount required by most recipes.

Ingredients

• one fresh pumpkin
• small amount of oil or Pam

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