I wanted something to contrast yesterday’s bran muffins, something with a more complex flavor. When I saw that the ingredients for this recipe included cardamon, allspice, cloves, black pepper, and brewed chai tea in addition to cinnamon and nutmeg, I knew my search was over.
See all that stuff? I figured I’d better assemble it all before I started so I didn’t miss anything. I’m still amazed that I had everything on hand. Cardamom! Allspice! Chai tea!
The first thing I did was get the tea brewing — two teabags in half a cup of boiling water. I used my Spock mug. Chai tea just seems like something Vulcans would drink.
While that was steeping, I creamed the butter & sugar. I decided to use half the butter and substitute yogurt for the rest, but I held off on adding the yogurt until the butter & sugar were mixed, for texture reasons. Once that was done, dodgy as it was with half the butter specified, I added in the yogurt, pumpkin, vanilla, eggs, and tea.
I was nervous about the temperature of the tea (still very hot) and the yogurt, and yeah, the texture did seem a little weird to me when I was done.
I set that aside and dove into the dry ingredients. Used whole wheat white instead of the suggested white/wheat combo, added baking soda & baking powder, and with some hesitation, also added 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, as requested. That’s a lot of salt.
Then it was time for the spice excitement! I had to grind up the black pepper and grate the nutmeg; everything else was good to go. Cardamom, allspice, ginger, cinnamon, it all went in.
I whisked.
Then I poured it all into the first bowl.
I stirred just enough to combine, using my spatula instead of the mixer. Despite the fact that it looked a bit like baby poop, I poured it into the pan, only spilling one glob of it onto the counter.
I cleaned up the glob and smoothed out the batter in the pan.
It baked for 40 minutes, filling the kitchen with wonderful spicy smells. It smelled like Fall, being full of pumpkin & spices, quite the contrast to the steamy summer day we had here in NY. It smelled even better when it came out of the oven.
After it had cooled for 20 minutes, I cut a small slice.
Delicious! I love all the spices. It’s a shame I made this on a Friday night, because the kids probably won’t love it and it’s at its freshest right now. Maybe we’ll go visiting tomorrow and I’ll give some away while it’s still at its peak. I want to eat the whole loaf right now, by myself, with a cup of English Breakfast tea in my Spock mug.
Can I?
CHAI PUMPKIN BREAD RECIPE (original)
My version of Chai Pumpkin Bread (adapted from 28 Cooks)
ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/8 cup yogurt (I used low fat vanilla)
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 large eggs
2 chai tea bags, steeped in 1/2 c boiling water
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups whole wheat white flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 heaping tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp each cardamom, ginger, and black pepper
1/4 tsp each cloves, nutmeg, and allspice
directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Brew the 1/2 cup of tea using 2 teabags.
In a large bowl, use an electric mixer (hand or stand) to beat sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.
Add pumpkin, eggs, chai tea liquid, vanilla, and yogurt and stir until well combined.
Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices and stir by hand just until evenly moistened.
Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake 40-55 minutes (depending on your oven) or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Mine was done at 40. Cool at least 20 minutes before serving.
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