Juicy Pumpkin Bread

Instructions

For the pumpkin purée

1. Cut the pumpkin in half, remove the seeds with a spoon and cut into wedges. Those who wish can also peel it (as shown here), but this is not a must for the Hokkaido variety. Cut the wedges into 3 – 4 cm cubes.
2. Cover a large saucepan with a few centimetres of water and simmer the pumpkin cubes for about 20 minutes until the pumpkin is soft.
3. Strain the pumpkin and purée with a hand blender. Leave to cool.

For the cake

1. Beat the eggs, 300 g pumpkin purée, melted butter, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in a bowl with a whisk. Add the flour and baking powder and briefly combine with the rest of the ingredients.
2. Oil a loaf tin or line with baking paper and fill with the cake mixture.
3. For a crispy sugar-cinnamon crust, mix 1 tablespoon sugar with ⅓ teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over the pastry in the tin.
4. Bake the cake in a preheated oven at 175°C top / bottom heat for about 55 minutes, until golden brown and a small wooden stick poked into the middle of the dough comes out clean. Tip: For those topping the cake with the sugar and cinnamon mixture, check after about 15 – 20 minutes of baking time to see if the sugar crust hast started to lift off the rest of the dough or started to crack. If so, score the surface lengthwise with a knife.
5. Leave the pumpkin pie to cool and enjoy.