1 ½ lbs raw pumpkin (or hubbard, kabocha, any autumn squash), peeled and diced
2 large eggs
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
Grated nutmeg, to taste
Ground cinnamon, to taste
1 cup of sunflower oil
2/3 cup milk
2 ½ cups of Italian organic 00 soft wheat flour
3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
a pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cook the pumpkin or squash in boiling water for 20 minutes, or until soft. Drain and leave to cool.
Puree with a blender/stick blender and set aside.
Whisk the eggs with the sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon until frothy, add the oil, milk, then pumpkin puree and set aside.
Combine the organic flour, baking powder, and salt, then sift them together and add to the liquid mixture; mix until smooth.
Pour batter into a prepared (buttered and floured) cake pan, then bake for about 40-45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
If you are going to ice the cake, let it cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
Use your favourite cream cheese frosting (usually ½ unsalted butter, ½ cream cheese, whipped together with lots of powdered sugar and a splash of vanilla extract). Or you can skip icing the cake altogether and simply dust generously with powdered sugar.
Happy Halloween!
Halloween is all about pumpkin, carving it, decorating with it, and eating it! Indeed, when Thanksgiving comes around, pumpkin pie is one of the traditional desserts! A crisp short pastry shell filled with a rich, and fragrantly spiced, pumpkin custard, and baked until it firms up. Eat chilled, with a big dollop of whipped cream!
But Pumpkin cake is not relegated to any holiday or celebration: as soon as pumpkins are in season, you’re ready for this cake. Its soft and moist, delicious sprinkled with powdered sugar or iced with a thick cream cheese frosting.
