Pumpkin Beer Bread with Maple Spice Creme Fraiche
A creamed-butter pumpkin loaf made with pumpkin ale simmered down to half its volume, so the malt flavor is concentrated rather than watered in. Ground pecans give it a short, tender crumb, and the maple spice creme fraiche supplies the sweetness the loaf deliberately leaves out.
Ingredients
The Loaf
- 1 cup pumpkin ale simmered down to 1/2 cup and cooled completely, or a brown ale
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour about 190 grams, spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup pecans ground almost to a meal in a food processor
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick, room temperature
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup pumpkin puree canned and unsweetened, or roasted fresh pumpkin drained in a sieve
Maple Spice Creme Fraiche
- 1 cup creme fraiche or sour cream loosened with 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground clove a quarter teaspoon takes over the whole bowl
Instructions
Reduce the Beer
- Bring 1 cup of pumpkin ale to a boil in a small saucepan, then reduce to a steady simmer and cook until it measures 1/2 cup, about 8 to 10 minutes. Pour it into a measuring cup to check rather than guessing.
- Set the reduced beer aside to cool to room temperature. Warm beer will melt the creamed butter later and collapse the air you beat into it. Heat the oven to 350F and line an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan with a parchment sling.
Mix the Batter
- Whisk the flour, ground pecans, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a bowl.
- Cream the butter with both sugars on medium for 3 minutes, until pale and noticeably lighter. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, then beat in the pumpkin puree. The mixture will look curdled at this point, which is normal.
- Add the dry mixture in three additions, alternating with the cooled beer and folding by hand. Stop the moment the last of the flour disappears. Mixing everything in at once is what makes this loaf tough.
Bake and Cool
- Scrape the batter into the pan, smooth the top and bake 55 to 65 minutes, until a skewer in the center comes out with a few damp crumbs and an instant-read thermometer reads 200F to 205F.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then lift the loaf out by the parchment and cool it completely on a rack. It slices cleanly once cold and tastes better the next day.
Make the Creme Fraiche
- Stir the creme fraiche, maple syrup, nutmeg and clove together until smooth. Chill for at least 20 minutes so the spices bloom, and stir again before serving.
- Spoon it onto the slices rather than spreading it. It keeps a week in a covered jar in the refrigerator and firms up as it sits.
Notes
Reduce the beer first and measure after reducing, not before. A full cup should come down to half a cup in 8 to 10 minutes. Cool it completely or it melts the creamed butter.
Leavening: the original called for a full teaspoon of baking soda against 1 1/2 cups of flour, which is about triple what it needs and leaves a metallic edge. This uses 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon soda.
Alternate the flour and the beer rather than adding everything at once, which is what keeps the crumb tender.
Doneness: 200F to 205F in the center, or a skewer with a few damp crumbs. A 9-by-5-inch pan runs 5 to 8 minutes faster.
Fresh pumpkin works if you drain the puree in a sieve for half an hour first.
Storage: wrapped at room temperature 4 days, frozen in slices 3 months. The creme fraiche keeps a week.
Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 296kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 63mg | Sodium: 204mg | Potassium: 150mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 3600IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 1mg