Birthday Cake

For my birthday today, I defrosted a pumpkin bread as always bake extra and keep the loaves in the freezer for times when I need a cake or feel in the mood for some healthy pumpkin bread!

After taking the pumpkin bread out of the freezer, I decided to bake one of my mother's favorite cakes for my birthday, a marble pound type cake.

I have never had a loaf cake rise this high up! I can not imagine that I over mixed the cake, but I have never experienced such a high topped cake. My husband says it has a high top to better show off my single candle which I hope to light later in the day!

When I cut into this cake, I hope it has an incredible taste and marbled pattern as it sure looks like a bit of a monster at the moment!

The pumpkin bread that I defrosted is much lower in height!

Again, what a cake for my 66th birthday -- maybe I should cut it up quickly after blowing out the candle so no one notices what a monster cake with a very fat tummy?

I guess there is a first time for everything and at least the cake batter did not overflow the loaf pan!

Pumpkin Bread without Pumpkin? Pumpkinless Pumpkin Bread!

As I was making pumpkin bread, I wondered why I needed four times the liquid I usually use. As I looked at my very dry batter I thought, "Wow, this whole wheat flour seems to need much liquid today."

I added the extra liquid and wondered why white whole wheat flour would demand so much more liquid that whole wheat "pastry" flour?

I made the batter and  filled up the same two loaf pans, which I regularly use to bake pumpkin bread. What I had added to this pumpkin bread was two cups of raisins and cut up dried apricots to make the "pumpkin" bread more like a fruit cake.

When the bread was baking I realized that I had forgotten to put the solid packed pumpkin, a 29 ounce can, into the batter! My husband said "take it out of the oven and add the pumpkin," but I told him it is much too late and we are now baking an "experiment."

Herein is a picture of my "pumpkinless" pumpkin bread which my husband says he likes very much, in fact, he might like it more than the normal "pumpkin" bread I have made in the past! The recipe has no oil, no eggs, and no dairy. One can see the raisins in the bread, but the diced apricots are more difficult to see in the photograph.

To my surprise, my husband says he loves this "pumpkin" bread! He said this is the best pumpkin bread every. This "pumpkin" bread has no eggs, no oil, no dairy, and no PUMPKIN!