Power Outage and Pumpkin Bread: A Taste of Jinja
[bl]T[/bl]he power went out. And I was taken back. Back to Uganda. To my cement house. To my frustrations over not being able to do laundry. To my gratitude for those hours of candlelight. To the moments lost because of no electricity. To the moments embraced because of no electricity. To the people whose dark hours were opposite of mine so we gathered in each others homes often. To the pounds of meat I would have to cook so it didn’t defrost and spoil. To the cold showers I despised. To the quietness that was first uncomfortable, but later treasured. To the reality that no electricity can create a very hospitable environment….or a very hostile environment. And the power is in our response. This is true of almost anything.
And when my mind travels to Uganda, it takes me back to Janet, and her laugh. And to Bonnie, and her pumpkin bread.
It’s the smell of pumpkin and cinnamon that welcome people to my home this season.
Pumpkin Bread
3 ½ Cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg)*
4 large eggs
2 Cups granulated sugar (I use 1 c coconut sugar, 1 c organic white)
1 Cup oil (I use coconut oil)
15 ounces of pureed pumpkin
½ Cup water
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
* If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can add a tsp of any combination of those spices but I would not add 1 tsp of a single spice. For example, if you only have cinnamon and nutmeg, I would increase the cinnamon to 1 ½ tsp and only use ½ tsp nutmeg.
Grease and flour two 8 inch loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in one bowl. In another bowl mix together eggs, sugar, pumpkin, water and vanilla. Stir the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture but only use a few strokes. Whenever you are making bread or muffins it’s important not to over mix because it makes the bread tough and dense, rather than moist and fluffy.
Pour batter evenly into the two loaf pans. Sprinkle a generous layer of granulated sugar on the top of the batter before placing the loaves in the oven to bake. This will make a crystallized glazed topping to the bread that adds to the appearance and taste.
Bake for up to 50 minutes or until the center is firm.
We love to serve this bread with honey butter. Vigorously stir together a 1:2 portion of room temperature butter and honey (ex. 2 T butter with 4 T honey).
