A handful of D Magazine staffers tasted a variety of pumpkin bread. Here’s what happened.
The bread:
A. Whole Foods
B. Empire Baking Company
C. Starbucks
D. eatZi’s
E. Central Market
Tasting notes:
- Kind of bland but I like the texture.
- Love the look of the pumpkin seeds. Love the crunch but I wish it was a little sweeter.
- A little ginger, a little sugar. Tastes like October.
- Subtle pumpkin flavor and not enough spice. But I like the crunch on top.
- Gingerbread-y, not much flavor. Blah. Dry.
- Mild flavor, but good.
- A little dry, but the pumpkin seeds on top are a nice touch.
- I love the crunchiness of the pumpkin seeds on top and that streusel. It’s gently spicy and not too sweet. I wish it were just a touch less dry.
- Light on flavor but in a good way. Not too much pumpkin, a little dry though.
- Not overwhelmingly pumpkin-y. It’s actually not even that pumpkin-y. But it’s moist and good and I’d eat the whole thing if no one judged me.
- The seeds are a nice touch, giving it a good texture.
- Not sweet enough.
- There’s a little something in this one that takes away from the pumpkin flavor. Not sure what I’m tasting.
- The most dense of the bunch. Instant images of the gingerbread man and grandma’s house.
- Too dry and not flavorful enough.
- OK, not great.
- Soft texture. Can feel the spice in my nose. Pretty dry.
- OK, perfectly average.
- The texture is odd, almost gummy. Not a fan.
- Tastes almost a little smoky. Which doesn’t fit.
- It’s so dense, but again, not a lot of pumpkin. More pumpkin!
- Sturdy and simple. The hardly humble work horse of a pumpkin bread.
- Extremely soft. Kind of too mushy. Tastes like fake pumpkin.
- This one is super pumpkin-y! The taste lingers and I don’t hate it.
- Like ooey-gooey cake, but pumpkin flavored. Super moist and pumpkin-y.
- Moist, soft with a good seedy topping. But almost too sweet.
- Like the pumpkin seeds on crust, nice fall flavor.
- Very moist. Almost mushy.
- Nice and moist. A little mushy.
- It has that squishy, super-moist consistency that some people love. It reminds me of batter.
- Very good flavor. Uber-moist, but in a stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth kind of way. A little heavy, too.
- I love how moist it is. It’s so moist and awesome, in fact, that I almost forgot that it doesn’t taste that pumpkin-y. Give me the pumpkin!
- Moist and also rocking the seeds. A good combo.
- I like the addition of the cream cheese. Not so much the cinnamon sugar on the crust.
- I saw the cream cheese filling and was pumped, it really added something extra to the bread.
- Cream cheese is a nice touch, sugary crust is even better.
- Whoa, I love the cream cheese filling. Interesting remix.
- Cream cheese filling is so delish. I could eat this all day.
- Love the cheese in this one!
- I hate crunchy sugar in my teeth.
- The cream cheese in the center is fun and the cake is moist.
- Sugar and crumb topping makes this one stand out. Tastes like dessert. Very gummy, but maybe a little too sweet.
- I mean, I like the cream cheese filling but is that all I like? Is this filling just a tasty distraction from the mediocre surroundings?
- The cream cheese feels a little like cheating, but all is fair in love and pumpkin bread.
- I don’t really like nuts in general, but this is good.
- So nutty! Too nutty, but blend is good. The nuts just overpower.
- Meh.
- Good amount of spice and pumpkin flavor. Walnuts are a great topping.
- Walnuts are a great addition, yum.
- The nuttiest one. Gives it a totally different texture than the others.
- Best balance of any of them. Moist, nice texture from the nuts.
- It falls apart but with those walnuts and great balance of spices it’s so cozy and comforting.
- Bonus points for the nuts. Adds the perfect amount of flavor. My favorite!
- I like this one. It’s got texture. It’s got a mild amount of pumpkin. Maybe my over consumption of pumpkin spice lattes has made me jaded. Maybe nothing will every be pumpkin-y enough for me!
- I would eat this three times a day even if it turned me orange and made my hair fall out. I have no reason to believe it does that. Delicious.
Tally up:
Whole Foods 0
Empire Baking Company 0
Starbucks 0
eatZi’s 5
Central Market 6
The winner is:
Central Market’s overly nutty rendition of pumpkin bread was the winner of this week’s taste test challenge. So how do you feel about pumpkin bread? Do you have a favorite? Let’s talk about it.
