Fall has arrived in Austria and I am not calm about it. The air is getting crisp, the larches are turning bright golden yellow, and most importantly: it’s pumpkin season. This is my favorite time of year without a doubt.
Growing up in the US, pumpkin season meant one thing above all else: canned pumpkin. You could find it in every grocery store, stacked in huge displays, and it meant that making anything pumpkin-flavored was incredibly easy. Open can, measure, bake. Simple.
My first autumn in Europe I went looking for it with complete confidence. I checked every grocery store in the area. I looked in every aisle. I even asked a store employee, in my best attempt at German, whether they had “Kurbis in a Dose.” She looked at me like I had asked her for something from another planet. Which, apparently, I had. Canned pumpkin does not exist here. It’s just not a thing. You buy a pumpkin, you chop it up, you cook it, you mash it into a puree, and then you can make your pumpkin bread. A few extra steps, but honestly not that big a deal once you’ve done it once.
And this pumpkin bread is completely worth the extra effort. It’s dense and moist while still kind of fluffy, packed with pumpkin spice, and deeply satisfying in a way that feels exactly right for a cold October morning. They call it “coffee spice” here in Austria, which is what they label the blend in the grocery stores, and it works perfectly. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger. Everything that makes fall smell like fall.
The cashew cream in the batter is what gives it some extra richness and moisture. If you have our cashew cream recipe on hand it works perfectly here, but any nut cream works, or even a thick vegan yogurt if that’s what you have. The pumpkin puree gives the majority of the flavor, so the cream is really just there for texture.
Add chocolate chips if you haven’t tried pumpkin and chocolate together and you’re skeptical about it. I guarantee you won’t regret it. Crushed walnuts work really well too, adding a bit of crunch and a slight bitterness that balances the sweetness of the pumpkin. Or do both. We usually do both.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C. Grease or line a loaf tin with baking paper.
- If making your own pumpkin puree, peel and chop the pumpkin, cook until soft (either steam, boil, or roast), and mash until smooth. Let it cool slightly before using.
- In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, cashew cream, raw sugar, olive oil, maple syrup, and apple cider vinegar. Mix until well combined.
- Add the oat flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, and salt. Stir until everything is just combined. Avoid overmixing.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and/or crushed walnuts if using. Save a few to scatter on top.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and smooth the top. Scatter any reserved chocolate chips or walnuts on top.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
- Let it cool in the tin for at least 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Try to let it cool completely before slicing, though we understand if that’s not possible.
