Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Awesome Pumpkin Bread


Last night I baked an incredible Pumpkin Bread; it was moist and sweet and the kids loved it!  I packed some for their lunches today, along with some homemade bone broth chicken soup.  I just love that feeling of sending a bit of home and my love with them to school.  It may sound corny, buy I bet they have a better day (energetically speaking) just by having all those good vibes pouring out of their lunch boxes.   I don't always pack a lunch with so much homemade effort as today, but today's lunch got it right.

My Pumpkin Bread is made without yeast, by the way.   It is made by leaving spelt flour and yogurt (Seven Stars brand is organic, all natural, and full fat) in my warming draw, which has a proof setting, overnight.  Leaving a dough in a warm place overnight helps to make the bread more digestible; grains are a tough one for our bodies if not treated this way.  Not only does it make the bread  more digestible by leaving energy for our bodies to attend to other things, like thinking and staying healthy, it allows the nutrients in the flour (especially if it is freshly ground flour) to be absorbed more easily.

The next day you simply add the rest of the ingredients and bake--easy!  Then I spread on some homemade cream cheese and raw honey and kissed my fingers in that French kind of gesture.

Homemade cream cheese is procured by taking raw milk and leaving it out of refrigeration for a day or so until the milk divides itself into whey (the yellowish liquid) and curd (the cream cheese solid).  The whey I use for fermenting veggies, like pickles and sauerkraut, and the curd/cream cheese is what I spread on the Pumpkin Bread.  The cream cheese from raw milk can be a bit bitter, for my taste, but by adding just a bit of honey, it was delicious.

Making your own food the traditional way is a bit like science.  That alone can be beneficial for the kids, plus they are getting the best food on the planet.  Enjoy the recipe, and leave me a comment!

3 c           Spelt Four
2 c           Yogurt, Kefir, or Buttermilk  (keep them full fat for better results and taste)
3              Eggs
1/2 c        Maple Syrup
1 tsp        Sea Salt
2 tsp        Baking Soda
2 tsp        Allspice
2 tsp        Cinnamon
1 tsp        Ginger
3/4 can    Pumpkin
4 T          Melted Butter

Mix and soak flour and yogurt in warm place atleast 24 hours.  Blend in remaining ingredients after soaking and pour in buttered/floured casserole pan.  Bake at 350 approx. an hour.  Test with fork or toothpick.

Use your own judgement on spices--more or less to your liking.  Enjoy!

4 comments:

Tracy said...

I am definetly gonna try this recipe...tomorrow perhaps.

But first, a few questions.
I've been reading a bit about soaking grains before eating them. When you are adding yogurt to the grain at the beginning of the recipe is that actually soaking it? Don't you need water?

About the cream cheese? Funny, but although I grew up on a dairy farm and own one now, I feel grossed out about leaving milk on the counter. In the past whenever my kids would forget to put the raw whole milk back in the fridge, I would dump it out. YOur telling me that it's O.K. to leave it out and then make cream cheese and whey out of it!?! Wow! Had I only known...now...do I dare try it?

Thanks so much for this post. I'll try to let you know how the bread turned out...and I'll try making my own creamcheese too. Yippee

Nourishing Nancy said...

Absolutely love your comments, Tracy! First of all, how cool that you're a dairy farmer. Interestingly, one that is unaware of the gifts you actually possess. I'd be willing to bet that somewhere in your heritage is a grandma that knew all of what I write about.... and more. We have lost so much of our food heritage in this country, and, slowly now, throughout the world. Now to answer your questions: All of my recipes are, either directly or slightly varied, versions of Sally Fallon's recipes from "Nourishing Traditions". Can't recommend this book enough! And check out westonaprice.org to fill in the blanks of what you read here. So, yes, yogurt is what you need for soaking. What it is doing is breaking down something called phytic acid in the grains. By breaking those little guys down, we have ourselves a grain product (bread) that our bodies can really use. Now for the cream cheese, I think I mentioned that, for my taste, it's a rather bitter. I put raw honey in it to sweeten it and then spread on some bread. My kids don't like it. I do, however, use the whey for fermenting lots of things. I got a great recipe, from Sally's book, that ferments raisins and spices....awesome. Then I use it for sauerkraut, which will blow your mind, it's so good! The kids LOVE this! Amazing seeing kids devour sauerkraut, of all things. So amazingly great for our immune system, though; all fermented foods are full of enzymes (which aid digestion and break down sugars) and minerals. Probiotics, too.
Good luck with the recipe. That bread is my kids favorite. Just remember to keep anything your fermenting or separating (like the whey from milk) in a warm spot. I put mine in the cabinet above my warming draw, and in the warming draw when it's too cool in the house. Summer time is a great season to ferment things, for obvious reasons. Take care.

Tracy said...

Oops, I must have made a mistake in the recipe. It didn't turn out ...too wet even after twice as long in the oven...but we still ate it. I bought some creamcheese spread and tried not to look at the ingredients list (wink) I will try again with more dry ingredients. Maybe it's becuase we live at a high altitiude?....hmmmm.

Nourishing Nancy said...

Sometimes fooling with the recipe is needed. Just make sure you leave in a very warm spot for at least 24 hours. I have sometimes left it even longer. If any mold forms on top, simply scrape away and discard. Then add the other ingredients and bake. I find that if it does not start to rise (which you will notice as you can see it) right in the bowl while mixing the ingredients, you're in for trouble. That's the most important step for rising like bread should. And don't forget the baking soda...that's also what helps the bread rise. Good luck, and let me know how it comes out!