Sherry Raisin Pumpkin Bread

There is no shortage of things which I love about  October. To list a few: pumpkins, my birthday, Halloween, scary movies, decorating ones house with cobwebs (I don’t have to vacuum those webs away!?), anything in the shape of a bat….The list goes on. I believe and hope that I have turned Michael into a lover of the fall, otherwise I have shoving candy corn down his throat for years with no reason! Eek!

That being said, we have made a deliciously simple pumpkin bread with sherry soaked raisins. It has been said that this may be our best baked item yet, which is exciting! What makes this recipe so interesting is that we use almond extract instead of vanilla and it gives it a really marzipan like taste. Yummy.

So happy pumpkin cooking time!

Love,

Francesca and Michael

*We will be using a loaf pan and a handheld electric mixer, so make sure you have one!

Ingredients: makes 1 medium loaf

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1 ¾  cups all-purpose flour  
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ¼ cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 ¼ cups pure pumpkin puree
¾  cup buttermilk
1 cup purple raisins
2 cups dry sherry
3 Tablespoons brown sugar

First thing to do is in a small sauce pan boil sherry and add brown sugar and raisins. Let simmer for about 20 minutes. When they seem hydrated pull them out, and lay them on a piece of paper towel to cool down.

While the raisins are simmering we are going to mix our pumpkin bread together. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

In a large bowl, using your mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 6 minutes. Next add eggs, one a time, mixing thoroughly. Beat in almond extract.

Next step is while mixing on low speed; gradually add the flour mix until just combined. Add the pumpkin and buttermilk and beat until just combined. Last step is to add the raisins and fold them in.

With the remaining butter, butter the edges of your loaf pan, and pour in your batter until it is about an inch below the top, this way there will be no spillage.

Bake about 1 hour 15 minutes, until you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.

Slice and enjoy!