Glazed pumpkin bread ideal for gift-giving during time when gatherings are impossible
Mary Bodney enjoys a variety of hobbies, including cooking, machine embroidery and crafts. She’s also has a successful music career. She started as a high school choral director, and now she stays busy consulting and judging choral contests. Mary and her husband, Vic Bodney, live in Leawood. They raised a son who also enjoys gourmet cooking and now lives in New Jersey.
Q: How did you learn to cook?
A: I am self-taught and really did not start cooking until after college, when I was out on my own. My mom wanted me to learn on my own. To learn, I read a lot of cookbooks. While I still refer to a Betty Crocker cookbook like my mom did, I especially consult cookbooks by Ina Garten, Steven Raichlen, Lidia Bastianich and America’s Test Kitchen. I love to cook and before the COVID virus, we entertained often.
My husband enjoys cooking and often grills and smokes meat. He is Jewish and cooks many of the delicious traditional Jewish foods.
Q: Do you have tips for meal planning and grocery shopping?
A: I have always cooked a lot, but even more often during the pandemic. We are careful to avoid the virus and grocery shop only once every 10 days or so.
I keep the pantry stocked and rely on my freezer. I try to be a wise grocery shopper and shop for bargains. I find you must plan meals ahead yet adjust based on what is available.
For the freezer, I often make chili, then freeze portions so we can serve it another evening. I enjoy making pies, freezing them, then baking the pies before serving them so they taste freshly made. I often make cookie dough, shape the dough into a log and place it in the refrigerator. I slice and bake the cookies, so we enjoy warm, freshly baked cookies every night.
Q: Do you entertain often?
A: I enjoy preparing delicious meals at home and inviting friends to come for dinner, and before the pandemic, we would entertain often. One of the harder things about socially distancing during the pandemic has been that we cannot entertain and spend time with our friends. When the weather was warmer, we could invite a couple of friends to share our patio and socially distance. Now that the weather is cooler, I miss that. This Thanksgiving will be just the two of us.
Q: What tips do you have for others who are learning to cook?
A: Read cookbooks, then keep trying and learning. You must keep at it, realizing you will make some mistakes. I was fortunate I had a good partner who ate what I prepared, even when I was learning, and still complimented me.
Q: What recipe are you sharing?
A: This Pumpkin Bread is a favorite and I make it at least five or six times each fall. I started making it years ago when my son was in kindergarten and he brought the recipe home from school. It is soft and cakey, and looks festive when glazed. Before the pandemic I often had a holiday open house and I served this bread, but this year, there won’t be an open house. I will still make it and give it as gifts.
When making it, I sift the flour with the sugar and spices as it directs. Sifting helps distribute the spices evenly.
Pumpkin Bread
Makes 2 loaves
Nonstick cooking spray
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon baking powder
4 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
Caramel Glaze (recipe below) optional
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line the bottom of two 8 ½-by-4 ½-inch loaf pans with parchment paper. Spray the pans with nonstick cooking spray.
Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and baking powder in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, using a stand mixer, beat together the eggs, oil, water and pumpkin.
Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture. Beat at medium speed until thoroughly mixed. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pans.
Bake about 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out barely clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.
Caramel Glaze
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
½ cup confectioners sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch salt
Combine the butter, brown sugar, sugar, and cream in a small, heavy saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the mixture boils; boil 1 minute. Remove from the heat and cool 20 minutes. Blend in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, blending until smooth. Spread over the cooled loaves.
Tip: Decorate with pecans and a maraschino cherry half as a garnish for gift giving.
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Roxanne Wyss and Kathy Moore are cookbook authors and food consultants that make up The Electrified Cooks. They have published over fourteen cookbooks and thousands of recipes. They are members of Les Dames d’Escoffier and blog at pluggedintocooking.com.