Raw Pumpkin Bread

The idea of having something that taste like bread, but is still super healthy for you, makes raw foodies go wild, (exhibit A). So when Chef Rachel Fracassa sent me this recipe for pumpkin bread, I knew it would be an instant favorite with WLIR readers.

To read more about Chef Rachel and her services, check out lemonsinthekitchen.com

"Hey Dhru,

All summer long, my four-year-old Gwynneth begged to grow pumpkins from all these pumpkin seeds we've been eating.  However, we live in a loft, without a yard, so I told her to bring it up with her grandma and see if she'd be willing.  Neither of us ever remembered to ask.  This week, we were walking through the grocery store and she spotted some of the season's first pumpkins.  We bought a couple and she requested that I make some pumpkin bread.  So here we are. Enjoy!"

Pumpkin Bread Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Almond Pulp*
• 1/4 cup Golden Flax Meal*
• 1 cup Pumpkin Puree*
• 1/2 cup Date Paste*
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. allspice
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 smidgen salt

Directions:
Mix by hand and form into a loaf about one and a half inches thick.  Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 8 hours on a teflex sheet then remove the teflex sheet and dehydrate for additional 16 hours and enjoy!

Optional:
To make a dryer bread, slice the bread and dehydrate for an additional 8 hours.

• To make almond pulp, make almond milk and strain out the pulp.
• To make golden flax meal,  put golden flax seeds in a dry blender and blend to a powder.  Brown flax meal will also due just fine.
• To make pumpkin puree, peel and seed a small pumpkin (don't worry about getting all the stringy part off), roughly chop the pumpkin, and toss it in the food processor.  Process until it is a consistent texture, but it will never be smooth.
• To make date paste, put pitted dates in either a blender or food processor and add as little water as possible to achieve a paste.

Comments

[Stacey]

I like the idea of raw pumpkin bread, but it takes 24 hours to dehydrate!!! It's definantly not something that you can enjoy instantly!

How do you experienced rawfoodies feel about dehydrating things? Too me its the same thing as cooking food, just at a lower temp for a longer period of time. Yeah it might keep most of its nutrients, but i'm sure the lifeforce is being slowly cooked out of it still! Imagine a person staying in a tanning bed for 24 hours. Ouch!

So why is dehydrating such a big part of the raw food gourmet resturaunt movement?

[Rachel Fracassa]

Dehydrating plays a significant role in gourmet raw food simply because as chefs, we care about texture. Texture play a huge role when trying to recreate classic cooked dishes. What one must keep in mind is the fact that most raw food chefs do not eat raw gourmet as part of their normal diet. Gourmet raw food is an excellent tool for transitioning people from SAD to raw, for overcoming cravings, for sharing with friends and family, and for celebrating birthdays and holidays.

Dehydrating food is also a great tool for even seasoned raw foodist to overcome one of the great raw food challenges: portability. Dehydrated foods can be kept anywhere from a shelf in one's office to a car glove box. This can often be a lifesaver to a raw foodist that can not get a hold of organic produce while out and about or while traveling.

[SweetClara]

For portability fruit such as oranges and bananas and nuts & seeds are usually in my car or purse at all times. There are some great organic raw food bars now available online or in health food stores that satisfy my cravings for old life style stuff like dense chocolate cake if you don't want to take the time yourself to dehydrate....there is a chocolate raisin bar or a raspberry chocolate bar that is truely yummy.
Dehydrating is also helpful if you have a bumper crop from your garden or buy produce by the bushel. It makes eating raw less expensive to be able to preserve food by dehydrating produce that is in season when it costs less. Kids love to make fruit leathers too.

[Debbie Took]

Hi Stacey

Can see how it might seem, but actually dehydrating is more akin to spending 24 hours in a warm, windy climate, with cooking akin to 24 hours on the sun bed...

The temperature is crucial. If you look at various research findings and the writings of people such as Gabriel Cousens, David Wolfe etc, it seems that if food is dehydrated above 115 F there is a significant chance of damage or destruction of enzymes, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. If it's dehydrated at 105 F or below, then it appears that everything is left intact. Inbetween is a grey area...

Just to clear a common misconception - the temperature on the dehydrator dial refers to the temperature of the food, not the ambient temperature (I have a statement from Excalibur that confirms this).

And, yes, dehydrated food reminds us a little of cooked food so makes transitioning to a raw diet easier.

[rande]

this looks amazing, i love pumpkin bread! and i really don't dehydrate much, i don't eat much dehydrated food, but i love being in the kitchen and the whole preparation process, so when i have extra time its a lot of fun for me!

[Kelly]

I made this and it is wonderful! My house smells like fall! Thank you Rachel!!

[melissa-victoria]

most of the time a recipe calls for dehydrating, I just ignore it and eat it without that step. works fine for me! sometimes the food gets a little goopy, but if you can look beyond that, you're definitely getting more water in your diet.

[Zaphirah]

one of my dc has a mold allergy, so no dried fruits. What would be a reasonable alternative to sweeten it? A little honey, and some stevia, perhaps? How important is the date paste for the consistency?

[Jenny]

I made this recipe. I didn't mind it. It was too spicy for me. I don't mean hot, just too many spices. The type of bread you only need to eat a little at a time for. I would recommend this bread doubled or tripped in amount and make as a cake with some frosting. That would be delicious.

[Rachel Fracassa]

A runny sweetener like agave would not due. I don't think stevia would be great either. Raw honey would would work, since it is thick and pasty. It might take a little more work to get it incorporated.

[Denzil]

To Melissa-Victoria: You could probably make it with fresh, rather than dried, dates.

[lisa]

The recipe sounds wonderful. I am an 11-year+ raw foodist and lately I have been questioning the bombardment of electro-magnetics that we subject our food to in the hours of dehydration. Tho I love the analogy, I say kindly, it is not as benign as a windy day at the beach. If we think about what it would be like to be inside of a plastic box with a fan on for hours, we would probably experience it far different from being peaceful and energetically refreshing. I imagine we would feel pretty aggravated and scrambled when we got out. Yes, the nutrients stay intact, but perhaps we should be considering the effects of the electronic wind and sound (vibration) from fan that is surely effecting the energy structure of the bio field of the food molecules. There is a lot of research happening on this subject and perhaps we should apply some of its’ logic to our dehydration practices. Just a thought to get a conscious conversation going thru the community. Keep up the wonderful work and recipes and bless you for raising your child raw!

[lisa]

p.s. - there are dehydrators out there without fans.

[tamara]

does anybody has a yummy recipe for pumpkin chips?, i am new at dehydrating.......want to give my children the best possible nutrition....thank you for your time.

[Krystal]

I've just started eating raw because I'm allergic to soy and yeast. With the dehydrator, I can eat breads and crackers. I'm enjoying it immensely.