Harry Potter’s Pumpkin Bread
Want to know the most recent addition to my Cookbook Collection? No, it’s not a “healthy” cookbook. (Not necessarily). It’s the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook.
My daughter had been whining begging asking for this ever since we saw it at Borders (sniff, oh how I miss Borders.) So when I found myself in Barnes and Noble recently on a lunch break, picking up a book that my son needed for his school project, I scooped up a copy. My son is a die-hard Harry Potter fan. He read all seven Harry Potter books last year in second grade and he has started to re-read them. This year, my kids will be Harry and Hermione for Halloween.
I can’t get my daughter out of the kitchen. She loves to cook. But I thought that this fun book would help to get my son into the kitchen.
All of the recipes come from the different Harry Potter books and movies. We flipped through all of them and my kids knew exactly where each of the dishes came from. “Oh, I remember when Mrs. Weasley served that stew in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire!” they said.
The book contains many British recipes (steak and kidney pie, bangers and mash) but also some basics that I thought we could have fun with in the kitchen (classic roast turkey, roast potatoes with garlic and rosemary, brussels sprouts with chestnuts).
With pumpkin in season and Halloween just around the corner, we decided to begin our adventure with this cookbook with the Pumpkin Bread found on page 204. We followed author Dinah Bucholz’s directions to a T (butter at room temperature, eggs at room temperature) and it is the most moist, most delicious pumpkin bread we’ve ever had. We did make one substitution – a trade up for higher NuVal scores. The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour. Instead, we used just 1/2 cup of all purpose flour and one cup of Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry flour.
Much to my dismay, my son opted out of the baking project. Instead, he went outside and practiced baseball (another one of his obsessions). But I’ll keep trying to lure him into the kitchen with more great Harry Potter recipes!
While Pumpkin Bread contains a few nutritious ingredients (the pumpkin, the whole wheat flour), it isn’t exactly a nutrient juggernaut. However, my kids have been eating as a snack all week. And you know what they eat with it? Skim milk (NuVal score of 91) and raisins (NuVal score of 87). So, the pumpkin bread is a great vehicle for getting some other nutritious foods into them!
Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (NuVal score of 67 for King Arthur All Purpose Flour, NuVal score of 91 for Bob’s Red Mill Organic Whole Wheat Pastry Flour)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 stick (8 Tablespoons) butter, at room temperature (Land O’Lakes Butter, NuVal score of 2)
1 cup granulated sugar (NuVal score of 1)
2 large eggs, at room temperature (NuVal score of 33)
3/4 cup canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling (NuVal score of 94)
1/3 cup whole milk (NuVal score of 52)
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (NuVal score of 1)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 1/2″ X 4 1/2″ loaf pan. (Note: I just use Pam spray for baking). Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, about 4 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each until incorporated.
- Add the pumpkin and beat until combined.
- Add the milk and again beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and mix on the lowest speed until combined. Scrape and fold with a rubber spatula to finish.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, rotating halfway through baking, until the top is golden and the loaf is well risen and feels firm when pressed lightly in the center. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan. To serve, remove the loaf from the pan, dust with confectioners’ sugar, and cut into thick slices. (Note: At our house, we cut into thin slices!)
Posted by: Melissa 6 comments
Posted in: Cookbooks, Cooking with Kids, Pumpkin
Tags: Harry Potter, Pumpkin Bread, Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook
on Oct 20th, 2011 at 7:34 am
Looks soooo fun! My hubby is a die-hard HP fan. ha! We have this book, but I’ve never ventured to try anything. (embarrassed? maybe
) But this looks delish! Will have to try!
on Oct 20th, 2011 at 9:25 am
oh i love anything pumpkin! thanks for sharing
on Oct 20th, 2011 at 9:58 am
Love how much you let Caroline do in the kitchen! I need to take a page from your book and get my kids more involved and worry less about the mess/cleanup.
on Oct 20th, 2011 at 6:40 pm
Ahhhh …. wonderful! Honestly. I love when kids cook. When they show the interest and (slowly) develop highly necessary kitchen skills. You always need those in life.
Another interesting thing …. when children learn (watch too of course) to work in a kitchen, they have a better appreciation for food. For the meals they eat. I think it also teaches them that fast-food isn’t as great as what they can prepare.
With all this extra help ….. you sure are fortunate Heather!
P.S. Going to bake that pumpkin bread this weekend.
on Oct 20th, 2011 at 7:40 pm
This is similar to the pumpkin bread that I always make in the fall! In fact, I just stuck some in my oven! I will have to try it next time with the whole wheat pastry flour.
on Oct 20th, 2011 at 10:55 pm
Do you know of any sort of substitute of whole milk for this recipe, would almond milk work? Whole milk has always made me sick whether it’s baked, cooked or raw… just hopeful there is a solution out there!