It takes an hour-plus to “bake” a pumpkin bread in a multicooker, a little longer than it would take in an oven. And you can only make one loaf at a time. And it’s a small loaf. So why bother?

Because in these humid days, a multicooker doesn’t heat up your kitchen. Because you’ll be pressure-cooking in a water bath, which results in a dense, moist bread, with less hassle than doing that in an oven. And because you can.

I found many pumpkin bread recipes for the Instant Pot, which I compared to regular oven-baked quick breads to get an idea for ingredient proportions. That wasn’t hard. The challenge was the equipment.

Baking in a standard multicooker requires an 8-inch round pan, not easy to find. I did find an 8-inch bundt pan, so cute I decided to go in that direction. The season of pumpkin flavors is yet a few weeks away, enough time to find yourself one or order online (Try Target or Williams Sonoma).

This recipe also works with a springform or standard round pan. Look for 7- or 8-inch sizes, but beware of any rim; if it’s too wide the pan won’t fit in your cooker. You can also use an ovenproof glass or ceramic dish. These are much easier to find in 7- to 8-cup sizes, normally sold to store and reheat food, often with plastic covers.

Final note: One 15-ounce can contains just under 2 cups of pumpkin. Even though the recipe calls for 1 cup per loaf, you can stretch a single can to make two loaves, using the culinary measuring technique of “close enough.”

PRESSURE-COOKER PUMPKIN BREAD IN A BUNDT

By Betty Shimabukuro

• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon EACH cloves, ginger, nutmeg and salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar, plus more to dust pan
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup solid-pack pumpkin
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Sift together flour, spices and baking powder; stir lightly.

Cream butter and sugar, then beat in vanilla and eggs. Fold in pumpkin.

Gradually add flour mix to pumpkin mix, stirring gently just until no white streaks remain.

Add water to multicooker and insert trivet. Grease 8-inch bundt pan well with vegetable oil and dust with sugar (I use a pastry brush, then blot the excess lightly with a paper towel; be sure to grease the center tube. Sprinkle with sugar, then cover the pan with plastic wrap and shake to evenly distribute the sugar; shake out excess. It’s best to do this just before adding batter, so the oil doesn’t run.)

Pour batter into prepared pan. Tap on counter to remove air bubbles. Cover with foil. Place pan in multicooker, seal cover and set to high pressure for 60 minutes. Turn off cooker and let sit 10 minutes as pressure drops, release any remaining pressure, then open lid and carefully remove pan (be careful, hot water will have condensed on top of foil).

Remove foil and let bread cool in pan on a rack at least 10 minutes, until bread pulls away from sides of pan. Use a butter knife to loosen bread all the way around sides and center tube. Invert pan over a plate to release. Serves 8 to 12.

Approximate nutritional information, per slice (based on 12 slices and not including additonal sprinkled sugar): 230 calories, 10 g total fat, 5 g saturated fat, 50 mg cholesterol, 350 mg sodium, 33 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 18 g sugar, 3 g protein.

Crave is on the hunt for Thanksgiving side dishes made in the multicooker. Do you have one to share? Send it to betty@staradvertiser.com.