Soft pumpkin bread with brown sugar streusel crust

I remembered the soft and airy pumpkin loaf with pepita crust I had from Patisfrance. Then I thought it'd be so nice to eat pumpkin bread again. But I am not THAT ambitious to go and search hi and lo for the exact same bread recipe. So this soft pumpkin bread/cake would do. I love the streusel crust, and picked up every single crumb off the plate.

Soft pumpkin bread with brown sugar streusel crust

Streusel crust:
2 tbsp unsalted butter, slightly softened
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
about 1/4 all purpose flour, plus additional if needed

Bread:
3/4 pumpkin puree
3/4 light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup plain yoghurt, preferably at room temperature
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
3/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger, grated
Pinch of salt
1 cup plus 2 tbsp all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 190 C. Grease and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan (or a 12-cup muffin tin). Set aside.
2.  Streusel crust - In a medium bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, 1/4 cup of flour and toss with fork until mixture combines and clumps form. If the streusel seems very moist and paste-like, add more flour as needed until it dry out. Set aside.

Add more flour to the streusel to dry it out. 

 
3. Bread - In a large mixing bowl, combine pumpkin puree, brown sugar, oil, yoghurt, honey, vanilla extract, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, ginger and salt. Whisk to combine.
4. Stir in the flour and baking powder until just combined. Don't overmix.
5. Turn batter out into prepared pan. Evenly sprinkle the streusel crust over the top.

6. Bake for about 40 to 44 minutes (in a pan) or 15 to 20 minutes (in muffin tin), until the center is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Allow bread to cool in pan, on top of a wire rack, for at least 30 minutes before turning out on to the rack to finish cooling completely. Bread will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Original recipe by Averie

Remarks: It tastes so good and very moist.

Pepitas (Roasted pumpkin seeds)

Normally I would simply discard the innards of the pumpkin. But I recalled the bread I had once, which had this layer of crunchy pepitas on top and it was yum. I did not add the pepitas to any bread though. We ate them as snack. They are delicious and easy to make. Although I did follow Ree Drummond's recipe and really thought it'd take an hour of baking in the oven.

Pepitas

Innards of one pumpkin
Salt
2 tsp vegetable oil

1. Rinse the innards in a colander, pulling away the chunks of pulp as you go.

2. Spread the rinsed seeds out on a baking sheet.

3. Allow the seeds to dry for several hours. Don't use paper towels to dry them as they are slimy. Just leave them to dry on the baking sheet.
4. When the seeds are dry, preheat the oven at 120°C.
5. Drizzle the seeds with the vegetable oil. Toss the seeds around to coat.
6. Salt the seeds to taste. Bake for about 15 minutes until they turn light golden brown.

Remarks: I thought they really need an hour in the oven, so I was not going to look at them until halfway through or so. Luckily they started to pop like popcorn, after about 15 minutes in the oven and some already started to get darker than light golden. Thank God for the popping sound.

Bingka labu

I love all sorts of Malay kueh, and this is one of them. Bingka is basically a traditional cake made from flour, eggs and coconut milk. Different ingredients are added to turn it into a different variety. You can add in grated tapioca (Bingka ubi), sweet corn (Bingka jagung) or maybe banana cubes (Bingka pisang). There are many other types, of course.

Bingka labu

1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
Pinch of salt
3 eggs
1 tbsp butter
Yellow food coloring
1 tbsp sesame seeds

1. Preheat the oven to 170 C.
2. In a blender, blend the flour, sugar, coconut milk, evaporated milk, pumpkin puree, salt, eggs, butter and a few drops of the food coloring.
3. Pour into a greased pan. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds.
4. Bake for about an hour. Increase the baking time if you want the crust to have a darker brown color.

Recipe shared by ladyofleisure2101