My sister used to bake. Every school vacation, especially around the holidays, she would be in the kitchen making some kind of cake or bread. While the finished products often showed the importance of trial and error (and the very important difference between cake flour and all-purpose flour), my family supported her anyway, hoping that eventually our faith would be rewarded in the form of a delicious (or at least edible) dessert.

Though the only cake recipe that ever came out of our kitchen (and continues to come out of our kitchen) was my dad’s carrot cake recipe, we did manage to find one recipe that nobody could screw up: pumpkin bread.

Every fall, as grocery stores and restaurants market every type of pumpkin-flavored concoction imaginable (really? Pumpkin spice gum?), this simple recipe has become a family tradition. Practically impossible to mess up, this pumpkin bread is quick to make (especially with the help of a KitchenAid) and loved by everybody who tries it.

Admittedly, its moist, sweet taste makes it more of a cake than bread, but the two most important things in any baked good are moisture and sugar. Don’t be afraid to add an extra spoonful of pumpkin or another dash of sugar to the mixture. Yes, this is one of the unhealthiest “breads” you’ll ever have. It doesn’t help that a warm slice goes great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. But hey, at least pumpkin is a vegetable (and very high in vitamin A).

Pumpkin Bread

• ½ cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 ½ eggs
• 1 ½ cups flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• Dash salt
• 3/4 cup pumpkin

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
2. Blend the butter and sugar together until well combined. Add the eggs. Mix well.
3. Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
4. Add the dry ingredients, stir until just moistened. Stir in the pumpkin.
5. Pour into prepared pan.
6. Bake 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean.