Kabocha (or Pumpkin) Spice Bread

Kabocha squash or Japanese pumpkin is very popular in the Japanese cuisine. I use kabocha to cook everything pumpkin, like pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, soup, muffins etc. And... Tis the season for pumpkin spice bread!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup kabocha puree (or canned unsweetened pumpkin)
1 large egg

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour an 8 1/2- x 4 1/2-inch (21 x 11 x 6 cm) loafpan. Sift together first 6 ingredients; stir in salt.

2. Combine sugar, oil, and kabocha puree/canned pumpkin in a large bowl; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg, beating until well blended. Gradually add dry ingredients, beating at low speed until blended. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

3. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour 5 minutes or until loaf is golden and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

From our home to yours:
- The dark green skin is very hard and not easy to carve but the pulp is lightly sweet. So, you need to be careful when handling the knife to cut up a kabocha.

- I cooked the kabocha without strings and seeds in the microwave for 20 minutes, an easy and fast way to make a pumpkin puree from scratch.

- This recipe works both with canned pumpkin and kabocha squash puree.

- A different twist to this cake is the cocoa powder added to the batter.

Thank you Kelli for this wonderful Giving thanks week!

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This recipe was adapted from Cottage Living magazine - November 2006