Pumpkin Pecan Bread with Maple Frosting

It is pumpkin spice everything time.  I'm not a big fan of pumpkin spice coffee.  But pumpkin bread, now that is a nice fall treat.

I chose to put a maple frosting on this pumpkin bread, but it is a nice moist treat and not necessary.  I also put some pecans in this bread.  Not necessary, but, come on...pecans!

1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup softened butter
2 cups flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2-1 cup chopped pecans, optional



Preheat the oven to 350º.  Spray a loaf pan with Pam.

  

Whisk the milk and eggs in a large bowl.  Whisk in the vanilla, softened butter and 1 cup of the pumpkin.

  

Put the rest of the can in a ziplock bag and freeze it for a future use.

  

Add the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.  Mix.

  

Fold in the chopped nuts.

  

Place the batter in the prepared pan.

  

Bake for 50-60 minutes.

  

When a cake tester comes out clean, remove the bread and place on a cooling rack.  After about 10 minutes use a wooden or plastic knife to loosen the sides of the bread from the pan  Turn out onto the cooling rack.

When the bread is cool, you may choose to frost it.  This is how I did it.

Maple Frosting

1 Tablespoon butter
2 Tablespoons maple syrup, the real stuff
1 Tablespoon half and half
2 cups powdered sugar

  

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan under low heat  Add the cream and maple syrup.  Stir to mix.  Add the powdered sugar and mix in.  Stir until it is well blended.  You may need to add more cream or powdered sugar to reach the desired consistency.  Remove from heat.

  

The frosting should not be runny.  Gently spoon it on top of the loaf and swirl to the edges.  Let cool.

  

This bread is best eaten the second day.

  

It takes time for all the flavors to meld together and for it to become the best it can be.  It was still good the first day.  But it was better and more moist the second day.

I kept the loaf in a cake keeper.