Pumpkin Bread with Bay Leaf Syrup

An easy, moist pumpkin bread filled with warming spices and topped with an herbal bay leaf syrup and crunchy pumpkin seeds.

Does the world need another pumpkin bread recipe? Probably not. Am I going to give you one anyway? You bet your bottom dollar.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not a pumpkin spice latte kinda gal, but a good loaf of pumpkin bread is something I can get behind. Like banana and zucchini bread, pumpkin bread is just good. It’s good in the morning with a cup of coffee, it’s good in the afternoon slathered with butter. It’s good fresh out of the oven, and it’s good 3 days later. It’s good in a house or with a mouse or here or there…you get the idea. It’s easy and satisfying and exactly how I want to celebrate the first few minutes of fall.

a very simple pumpkin bread

This pumpkin bread is fairly straight forward featuring a blending method technique and your usual cast of characters: flour, sugar, brown sugar, leavening agents, salt, spices, oil, eggs, and pumpkin. The addition of brown sugar gives a more caramelized flavor, while the oil, eggs, and pumpkin make this bread super moist. (And that’s a good word in this case!)

I’ve included a bunch of warming spices, but if you have a chai spice blend or hawaij spice blend laying around from our Dirty Chai Banana Bread or Hawaij Snickerdoodles, feel free to sub that instead. You could also use store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice.

Finally, the thing that makes pumpkin bread so dense and moist is oil. Oil is a liquid fat with no water content so it gives a softness and density to this cake that a creamed butter recipe wouldn’t. I used avocado oil, but you can substitute any neutral oil (like grapeseed or vegetable) in its place. Or, if you are like me and love that savory olive oil flavor in your desserts, a good, fragrant olive oil would work really nicely.

bay leaf simple syrup

You know I couldn’t just make a basic pumpkin bread and leave it at that.

We finish this loaf with a bay leaf simple syrup made by simmering sugar, water, and dried bay leaves. It’s herbal and grassy and complements the pumpkin flavor so well. It also sticks to the pumpkin seeds creating a crunchy outer shell that I’m 100% here for.

Yield

one 9x5" loaf

Author

Anna Ramiz

Prep time

10 Min

Cook time

1 Hour

Total time

1 H & 10 M

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Pumpkin Bread with Bay Leaf Syrup

An easy, moist pumpkin bread filled with warming spices and topped with an herbal bay leaf syrup and crunchy pumpkin seeds.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups (280 g) all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon*
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom*
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg*
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves*
• 1/4 tsp ground all spice*
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger*
• 1/2 cup (106 g) brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup (150 g) avocado oil*
• 2 eggs
• 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
• 2 tbsp demerara sugar, for sprinkling
• 3 tbsp pumpkin seeds, for sprinkling

for the bay leaf syrup

• 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (50 g) water
• 3 dried bay leaves

Instructions

to make the pumpkin bread

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F. Line a 9x5” loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, sugar, and avocado oil for 1-2 minutes, until mixture is lightened slightly. Add the eggs and whisk again until smooth and homogenized. Whisk in the pumpkin.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and whisk until batter is smooth and no flour clumps remain. Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan and sprinkle the top with demerara sugar and pumpkin seeds.
5. Bake for 55-65 minutes, until a skewer or knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. When the bread is done, remove from oven and pour the bay leaf syrup over the top. Let cool completely in the pan.

to make the bay leaf syrup

1. Combine sugar, water, and bay leaves in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes, until fragrant and sugar has completely dissolved.

Notes:

• You can substitute the spices for 1 3/4 tsp of my chai spice blend or hawaij spice blend.
• If you don't have avocado oil, you can use another neutral oil like vegetable, sunflower, or grapeseed.

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Roasted Grape and Olive Oil Cake

A classic lemon olive oil cake, topped with bright, late summer grapes, roasted with brown sugar and fennel.

Baking with grapes is just so much fun. All through pastry school, we never touched grapes. We used lots of berries, created a bunch of cakes with bananas, and even played with tropical fruits like mango, pineapple, and passionfruit. But grapes, those were basically for snacking and really nothing else. The idea of creating desserts with grapes truly did not even cross my mind until I was working on the pastry team at Blackberry Farm. We were the most spoiled pastry chefs in the world and would daily get garden deliveries from both the farmers at the resort and other local farmers in the area. Produce deliveries were the highlight of the day and we’d smoosh together (obviously pre-COVID) around cardboard boxes of warm summer strawberries and peaches, snacking as we cleaned them and transferred them to sheet trays (where we would continue to snack off of them all through service…half of the good produce made it into desserts, the other half went straight into our bellies.

Then, in early August, our daily berry haul started to turn into grapes. We got baskets of dark, seedy concord grapes and moon grapes that looked like baby eggplants. They made the most stunning colored sorbets and were worked them into all kinds of desserts on the menu. My mind was blown. But then I returned home where I was greeted with sad, grocery store grapes meant for lunch boxes. Until we moved to Minnesota.

I’ve talked before about our cute little co-op across the street literally bursting with local, seasonal produce. I walked in a few weeks ago to find little satchels of bright, seasonal concord grapes lining the shelves and it took every single ounce of my willpower not to bring them all home with me that very minute. I did, however, start brainstorming about this little cake recipe.

how to make a roasted grape cake

For this cake, I really wanted to grapes to shine so we made them the focal point. A very simple, lemon olive oil was the perfect canvas for our little grape babies. We make the cake by simply whisking together flour, sugar, lemon zest, leavening agents and salt. I added a little semolina flour for a bit of texture, but if you don’t have it, you can just substitute more all purpose flour. Then we mix together the wet ingredients—eggs, buttermilk, lemon juice, and olive oil. The wet ingredients join the dry ingredients and are whisked until the batter is very smooth.

While the cake is baking, we roast the grapes. Simply toss the grapes in brown sugar, some crushed fennel seeds, and olive oil and transfer it to a baking dish. Let the grapes roast until they are beginning to blister and burst (like cherry tomatoes) and the liquid is bubbly. Then spoon the roasted grapes over the cooled and sliced cake and enjoy!

And, if you have any leftover grapes and juices, save them for spooning over ice cream or serving with a dollop of creme fraiche and some shortbread cookies. The flavors in this super simple dessert will impress all your friends, I promise!

Yield

one 9" cake, or 8 servings

Author

Anna Ramiz

Prep time

15 Min

Cook time

50 Min

Total time

1 H & 4 M

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Roasted Grape and Olive Oil Cake

A classic lemon olive oil cake, topped with bright, late summer grapes, roasted with brown sugar and fennel.

Ingredients

for the roasted grapes

• 10 oz (300 g) grapes
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 2 tbsp olive oil

for the olive oil cake

• 1 1/4 cup (250 g) granulated sugar
• Zest of one large lemon
• 1 1/2 cup (180 g) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (80 g) semolina flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• Juice of one large lemon
• 1 cup (200 g) olive oil
• 1 cup (227 g) buttermilk, at room temperature
• 3 eggs, at room temperature

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Roughly chop fennel seeds and place them in a large bowl. Add the grapes, brown sugar, and 2 tbsp of olive oil and stir to coat. Transfer the mixture to a baking dish and roast for 20-25 minutes, until grapes are soft and have just begun to burst. Remove from the oven and let cool.
3. Grease a 9” springform pan with olive oil and line with parchment paper, set aside.
4. In a large bowl, combine granulated sugar and lemon zest. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until well-mixed. Add the flour, semolina flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to the sugar mixture and whisk everything to combine.
5. In another medium-sized bowl or large glass measuring cup, whisk together olive oil, buttermilk, lemon juice, and eggs until smooth and homogenous.
6. Slowly pour wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients, and whisk until the batter is smooth and no clumps of flour remain.
7. Pour batter into your prepared springform pan and smooth into an even layer using a knife or offset spatula. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until the cake is dark golden brown in color, the sides are beginning to pull away from the pan, and the center is set and no longer wiggly. (If the top is getting too brown, but the center is not yet set, you can loosely place a piece of foil over the top to slow down the browning.)
8. Let the cake cool completely in the pan before inverting onto a plate. Slice the cake and spoon the roasted grapes over top of each slice.

Similar Recipes

Grapefruit and Thyme Olive Oil Cake

Blueberry Basil Breakfast Cake

Roasted Apricot and Ricotta Tart

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Buttermilk Spelt Biscuits

A simple, flaky buttermilk biscuit recipe with nutty spelt flour perfect for smearing with butter and jam. Plus, tips on how to cut butter into flour without a pastry cutter.

I have a running list on the Notes App on my phone where I jot down recipe lists and flavor ideas as they pop in my head. The word “biscuits” has been at the very top of that list for a long time. Everyone needs a good biscuit recipe and I realized that I didn’t have one here on the blog, so it’s time to remedy that.

Last summer, I was working in a restaurant that was known for these little pimento and cheddar biscuits served with chive butter. They were by far the most popular appetizer, making the biscuit-making process a daily project in the pastry kitchen. During slow periods of service, we prepped biscuit ingredients for the next day which often meant grating about 8 pounds of cold butter every night. Let me go ahead and tell you that doing this in a sticky, humid Florida kitchen was the opposite of fun. Because of this, I took a little hiatus from biscuit-making at home. But now, we’re back and I’m so happy to have biscuits in my freezer again.

an easy buttermilk biscuit recipe

The theme of these biscuits is simplicity. You could easily stir in some herbs or shredded cheese if that floats your boat, but I wanted to keep them fairly simple. This way, you can use them as the base for breakfast sandwiches or enjoy them sweet with some fruit or jam. We start by whisking together flours, baking powder, and salt and then cut in cold butter (see below for specifics). We’ll stir in some cold buttermilk and then gently laminate the dough to get those extra flaky layers. After a quick chill, the biscuits are rolled, cut, and baked until golden.

A hot take: I like to bake my biscuits in squares for a few reasons. 1) Wayyyy less rolling. With squares, you won’t be left with excess scraps that have to be pushed back together and re-rolled. These scraps are often overworked anyway resulting in tougher biscuits so we’re just leaving them behind all together. 2) You only need a sharp knife, no biscuit cutter or glass. Using a sharper tool will also help keep your tall, fluffy layers in tact. 3) I think they are more cohesive to breakfast sandwiches, that’s just personal opinion.

how to cut butter into flour

Often when working with pie doughs and biscuits, a recipe will tell you to “cut in the butter” which simply means to work cold butter into the flour until it’s broken down into small pieces. You can do this with a pastry cutter if you have one, but if not, no worries. You can also do this with two sharp knives, a fork, or even your fingertips.

Two Knives: If you choose to use two knives, simply place them in a criss-cross pattern and cut into the flour repeatedly until butter is broken down.

A Fork: Just use the back of a fork to smash and break up the butter into small pieces.

Your Fingertips: This is my preferred method because it uses the least amount of tools and I feel like I have better control over the final product. Simply place the butter cubes in the flour, toss to coat and then use your thumb and forefinger to smash the butter cubes flat. Then, you can go back and use your fingers to break the butter into smaller, pea-sized pieces, if needed.

And here’s a video of all of that if you’re a more visual learner! Whichever way you choose, just remember not to overwork the dough- you are aiming for butter pieces the size of peas or oatmeal, and remember to keep everything cold!

Yield

makes 12 biscuits

Author

Anna Ramiz

Prep time

15 Min

Cook time

15 Min

Inactive time

30 Min

Total time

1 Hour

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Buttermilk Spelt Biscuits

A simple, flaky buttermilk biscuit recipe with nutty spelt flour perfect for smearing with butter and jam. Plus, tips on how to cut butter into flour without a pastry cutter.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (60 g) spelt flour
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, cold
• 1 cup (227 g) buttermilk, cold
• 2 tbsp heavy cream or egg wash, for brushing
• Flaky salt
• 1 tsp flaky salt

Instructions

1. Cut butter into cubes and freeze while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, spelt flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until butter is broken down into pea and oatmeal-sized pieces.
3. Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the buttermilk. Use your hands to toss the mixture together until all of the flour has been hydrated, the buttermilk is mixed in, and a shaggy dough begins to form. Turn the dough onto a clean work surface and gently knead the dough, just until it comes together in a rough rectangle.
4. Pat the dough into a rectangle 1” thick. Fold the dough in half and then pat it back down to 1”. Turn the dough 90° and repeat the fold, patting the dough back into a rectangle about 1” in thickness. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 20-30 minutes.
5. While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
6. Unwrap the dough and use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 12 even pieces. Place biscuits on your prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with heavy cream (or egg wash). Bake for 14-16 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and the bottoms are deeply browned.
7. Remove the biscuits from the oven, brush them with melted butter, and sprinkle with flaky salt. Enjoy warm with lots of butter.

Notes:

You can leave out the spelt flour use just all purpose flour for this recipe without an issue. You could also easily substitute whole wheat flour or rye flour in place of the spelt.

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