Cumberland Presbyterian bakes 1,000 loaves of pumpkin bread for fall season

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - The weather this week may have tricked us into thinking fall has already begun, but we’re not there just yet.

Preparations for the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church; however, are already underway. The church baked their last batch of pumpkin bread for the fall season on Thursday. The church has baked this famous pumpkin bread for 21 years now. We went behind the scenes to capture the process of making their beloved pumpkin bread.

“I adore doing this. It is really fun. This is my favorite ministry. I’m not a big cook, but I love to bake,” Church’s Coordinator of Pantry Care Cynthia Paulk said.

The baking process takes a lot of preparation from church volunteers.

“We have two people up here to 10, so it just depends... We do what we can with who we have and when they can come,” Cynthia Paulk said.

Paulk said they don’t share their recipe anymore, so they prepackage all of the ingredients, then get into stations - combining, mixing, filling and finally baking.

“People really love this pumpkin bread; we have people that will come and buy 20 loaves and give it to their friends at Christmas,” Paulk said.

Once the loaves are baked, they are cooled and frozen until they are ready for sale at the end of the month.

“Each time we bake, we try to get 80 or 90. We are on our last day and after today we have 1,000 loaves for sale.”

The proceeds from the pumpkin bread will go back into the ministry to do good for others.

“We work with Grace Campus, we do freezer meals for people who maybe can’t get out; it’s a great thing for us to have the money to help other people.”

And pumpkin bread isn’t the only fall treat you can expect from First Cumberland Presbyterian Church. In just two weeks, their field will be spilling over with pumpkins.

“Three semis full of pumpkins, about 3,000 pumpkins each time.”

You can buy the bread when the pumpkin patch near 76th and Indiana opens Sept. 30, so while you’re looking for your perfect pumpkin to carve you can pick up a loaf of pumpkin bread for $12.

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