Pumpkin Apple Bread- A Great Combination

Love pumpkin?  Love apple cake?  Why not combine these two great wintery flavors into a delectable cake, heady with spices?  Using vegetable oil instead of butter makes the batter easy to blend but the taste is just as yummy.  Pumpkin Apple Bread is not very sweet which makes it perfect for breakfast, brunch and afternoon coffee or tea breaks.  It can even be dressed up as dessert by topping it with your favorite ice cream.  (I recommend vanilla or dulce de leche.)  I located the basic recipe on Epicurious.com. but made some minor changes.

TOPPING

1 tb. flour 1 tsp. cinnamon

5 tb. sugar 1 tb. unsalted butter, softened

BATTER

3 cups flour 1/4 tsp. ground allspice

3/4 tsp. salt 16 oz. can pumkin

2 tsp. baking soda 3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 2 1/4 cups sugar

1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg 4 large eggs , beaten lightly

1 tsp. ground cloves 2 tart apples, peeled and chopped (about 2 cups)

Make TOPPING- In small bowl blend flour, sugar, cinnamon and butter until it resembles coarse meal. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter tube pan.  

Into large bowl sift together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. In another larger bowl whisk together pumpkin, oil, sugar and eggs.  Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, stirring until combined well.  Fold in apples and put batter into tube pan. 

Sprinkle topping on top of batter and bake in middle of oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.  Let cake cool in the pan on a rack for 45 minutes.  Remove from pan very carefully and let cool completely.

Wrapped well in plastic wrap and foil and chilled, the bread will keep for one week or it can be frozen for one month.

Variation- Add golden raisins, dried cranberries or chopped nuts after folding in the apples.