We’re just past the first official day of fall. Football season has started. It may not be chilly yet where you are, but the worst of summer is over.
You’ve been thinking about making pumpkin bread, haven’t you?
Me too. But, something I often hear about pumpkin recipes is that they don’t seem to come out quite right all the time. That cheesecake might turn out a bit watery, or your muffin flavor could be lackluster.
Although you might know her as Dense Bean Salad girl from a different viral recipe, chef, cookbook author and content creator Violet Witchel has an easy remedy for your pumpkin-related woes.
In a post on Threads, she described how browning your pumpkin before adding to a recipe adds toasty notes and intensifies natural flavors by removing extra water.
This idea was such a lightbulb moment for me. I practically smacked my forehead, and I couldn’t wait to ask her about it.
“In culinary school, we learned a ton about browning and how that builds flavor,” explains Witchel. The sugars and proteins in food develop a richer sweetness from the Maillard reaction when heated enough, she says. She was taught to brown meats and baked goods, of course, but also things like butter and tomato paste.
Given her training, it was a no-brainer to try adding this step.
“In pretty much any recipe, you’ll want that,” she says, “so if you want to increase flavor, you should brown stuff!”
She has heard a lot from followers about problems with watery, flavorless pumpkin, too, so she decided to hop on her browned pumpkin “soap box” to spread the word about one of her favorite tricks.
When we spoke, Witchel told me she had just put the finishing touches on a chili recipe using her trick. I’m putting it on my list of things to do for sure.
But, she suggested trying a familiar pumpkin bread since I’m testing out the method for the first time, to see what it does for myself. I just made pumpkin bread last week, so the flavor is fresh in my mind. Let’s try it!
I’ve got two different brands of canned pumpkin in my pantry, which brings up something else we chatted about. Witchel says that different brands of pumpkin can have vastly different colors, textures and flavors. She often favors Libby’s brand for a more reliable sweetness.
Some of the variation is probably due to manufacturing differences like cooking time or temperature, but that golden puree inside may also be entirely different squashes. Labeling laws allow the name “pumpkin” for all kinds of firm-shelled, sweet yellow squash. Brands may use sugar pumpkins, blue Hubbard squash, or other field squash. Witchel’s favorite Libby’s uses a proprietary variety of Dickinson’s pumpkin.
I don’t have Libby’s today, but I do have two different brands that are night and day once opened.
I’m going to try browning both, but the lighter one is much thinner in consistency, so it may benefit the most from a browning step.
Witchel says to heat the pumpkin over low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring, until it’s reduced by half and has darkened in color. Since pumpkin is already burnt orange, she suggests setting a spoonful aside right out of the can. This gives you a visual marker to compare the color and texture to your starting point to gauge progress.
She also says you’ll know it’s nearing done when it stops steaming and starts to look much smoother.
“Browning can’t occur when there’s water present,” explains Witchel, “because it needs to be above 212 degrees.” Once the water mostly cooks away, your delicious pumpkin sugars can get toasting above that boiling point.
Here are my two pumpkin brands after browning:
It might not stand out in the photos as much as it does in person, but the shine from the water is totally gone, and the texture is almost like Play-Doh. I can smell it in the air, too — that scent of baking without even turning on the oven!
As for taste, there’s no comparison. Once browned, both are just yummier, and the lighter brand in particular is far more concentrated in flavor, sweeter and less vegetal than it was before starting. I’ve had trouble with that brand being ho-hum before, so that’s the one I’m going to bake with, to see how good it can get.
This is my own pumpkin bread recipe, and although I add things like ground flax and pumpkin seeds, the ratios in this pumpkin bread recipe by Ali Rosen are pretty close. I love that you use a whole can of pumpkin so you don’t have to figure out what to do with the rest of it.
Witchel notes that browned pumpkin freezes perfectly well, though, so if you’ve got a recipe that uses less, brown up the whole can and pop the rest in the freezer for another day.
She instructs replacing pumpkin puree in your chosen recipe with equal parts browned pumpkin and liquid, noting that it’s a great opportunity to add something like milk or cider, or stock if it’s a savory recipe. I took the opportunity to add a little buttermilk for my loaf.
It smells incredible all baked up, and I think it browned a little faster than it usually would. If you’re not in the habit of using room temperature eggs and liquids when you bake, take the time to make that happen with this bread, or it may not bake fully in the middle before the edges burn.
As for the flavor, wow! If I didn’t know better, I would have thought it had browned butter in it. There’s an incredible depth to the taste and aroma, and the fact that this came out of my less-preferred brand is astounding.
This technique would be wonderful in Pumpkin Marshmallow Sheet Cake, Pumpkin Cobbler or Pork Chops with Browned Butter and Pumpkin Sauce, but it might have the most impact on something that otherwise has no opportunity for browning, like No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake.
It’s also tailor-made for recipes that would be ruined by too much liquid, like cookies or frosting. I’ve never made a pumpkin buttercream before, but something tells me it’s in my future.
As for Witchel’s future, she has a new cookbook, “Violet Cooks,” available for preorder. All the recipes are gluten-free, and there’s a focus on protein and fiber for healthy meal prep.
It’s full of more tips she learned in culinary school, too, she says. Sounds like a book I could really fall for.
