Tasting Party

   Fall is on its way and I've had several customers and friends ask "When will you have pumpkin bread?". The answer is, now! I actually received three recipe suggestions from a few friends, all for pumpkin bread. How in the world could I decide which to make for market by this weekend? A tasting party of course!
   Last night, I went by the grocery store to pick up a few cans of pure pumpkin, a few extra spices (cloves and all spice), and some whole milk (don't use skim milk for cooking!). I made each recipe, one at a time. After mixing the ingredients, I placed each loaf pan full of batter next to its recipe so I could keep track of them, as I prepared the oven.

   All three recipes called for a 25-30 minute bake time. However, each of them was originally for either muffins or cupcakes. So, when baking something in a more concentrated form, like in a loaf pan, you will need more time. It took about 45-50 for a toothpick to come out clean. After 10 minutes of cooling, the loaves slid right out of the pan onto my cooling rack.

   For the tasting party, I lined a large cookie sheet with tin-foil and placed the loaves on it, labeling them Pumpkin #1, Pumpkin #2 and Pumpkin #3. One recipe (the one for cupcakes) had seperate directions for cinnamon cream cheese frosting. I originally wanted to put cream cheese INSIDE the bread, but opted not to because I couldn't keep it cool all day - especially for market. My husband had the brilliant idea of making a cream cheese spread and offering it with market samples and then having a few 8 oz. tubs for sale. So I made a cream cheese spread as a variation to the icing (not nearly as much confectioners sugar) to accompany the loaves to the tasting party.

   Aside from one person, the office unanimously loved Pumpkin #3, which was the suggested recipe of my good friend Lisa Berg. Thank you Lisa! #1 and #2 were very similar except one called for water and the other called for milk. #3 called for 5 different spices, which clearly came out in the delicious fall flavor of the bread. Some feedback indicated #1 & #2 were a little more moist and that would be b/c they were made with a 1/2 cup more oil than #3.

   Conclusion: Pumpkin #3 will be the recipe for market, however I will add just another 1/4 cup or so of oil to make it as moist as the other two in the trial. The cinnamon cream cheese spread was also a huge hit and I think I will have to bring some to market, whenever I offer the pumpkin bread. They go wonderfully together! Yu-umm!