Cozy autumn in the English Countryside | Cotswolds Villages, Pumpkin Loaf Recipe, Slow November Days

Learning to slow down and embrace seasonal changes this November. When days are suddenly so much shorter and it's dark outside the window most of the time, it's so easy to give in to negativity and dwell on the inevitable coming of winter days. But November is just as cozy, just as beautiful as all other autumn months. I would like to give you some ideas on how to enjoy it!

🍂 Shop my autumnal prints: www.dariamundi.com

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🎃 PUMPKIN LOAF:

I very much experimented with this recipe, but I'll try to give detailed instructions here.

135g sugar (light brown is best)*
50g maple syrup
2 eggs
350 g pumpkin puree**
50g olive oil
150g yoghurt or sour cream
250g plain white flour (Sieved)***
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp allspice
1 inch size (thumb size) piece of fresh ginger****
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Optional: Zest of 1/2 orange, 100g dark chocolate

👉🏼 Whisk together sugar, maple syrup, olive oil, vanilla and eggs. Add pumpkin puree and yoghurt and mix. Sieve in flour and add spices. Add salt, baking powder and baking soda - mix everything well with a spatula.
Grate fresh ginger, orange zest and chop dark chocolate. Mix in until well incorporated.

👉🏼 Oil your baking tin very well or line with parchment paper. Pour in the batter and place into a preheated 160C/ 320F oven for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

In the video I used dark brown coconut sugar, which is why my loaf turned out darker and a bit more dense. Coconut sugar works slightly different in baking. It made the cake less fluffy, though it still remained very moist. Using light brown sugar (or white sugar) is best!
** I couldn't find any canned pumpkin, so I used a whole butternut squash. Butternut squash tastes sweeter and has more liquid than regular pumpkin. I roasted 1kg of squash (about 1-1.5h in the oven, slightly salted and oiled) and put it through the sieve to remove extra juice. I then used that juice to make pumpkin jam. You can skip this step and use canned pumpkin instead. 1kg size squash, cooked, sieved and peeled made about 350g of puree.
*** Sieving the flour is very important! It makes the loaf much fluffier.
**** Fresh ginger gives a slightly different spice and fragrance to the cake. You can use 1 tsp of ground ginger instead, but I do recommend using fresh.

🎃 PUMPKIN JAM:
I haven't actually measured this recipe, but I think this is pretty straight forward. You can't go wrong with it.
I roasted 1kg of butternut squash (quartered, slightly salted and oiled, then covered with foil) for about 1-1.5 hours. Once it's cooked and cooled, scoop the squash into a fine mesh sieve and press with the spoon - some juice and pumpkin will come out. Scoop out the outside of the sieve to collect any puree that comes out. You can also just put some cooked pumpkin into blender by the way, if you have too much and blend until smooth.

Once you have about 150-200ml of pumpkin liquid, place it into a small saucepan. Add 100ml of water, 3-5 tbsp of brown sugar, 2tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of allspice, 4 cardamom pods, 3 anise stars, 1/2 tsp of whole cloves, 1/2 inch size piece of fresh ginger, orange zest, pinch of salt. Simmer until thickened, then try to make sure it has enough sugar. Adjust sugar and spices as needed. Then pour into a jar. It will stay in the fridge for about 1-2 weeks.

To make pumpkin spice hot chocolate or latte, add 2-3 tsp of pumpkin jam into the cup and mix well :)

🎃 PUMPKIN TIN (not affiliate):
https://tinyurl.com/pumpkintin

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Filmed on: Panasonic GH6
Edited with: Premiere Pro CC
Music: Epidemic Sound

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