Twice a year here in the UK time changes. Time per se in the Physics sense does not alter, but we gain or lose an hour depending on the season. Yesterday we ‘gained’ one hour when the clock (at 2 am) returned to 1 am. Taken to extreme, and with a bit of magic, you end up with Hermione Granger’s Time-Turner in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
This pumpkin cake can easily be made in an hour, provided you have all the ingredients lined up, the oven pre-heated and the cake tin lined/ buttered. It is light yet moist and its success lies in using canned pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice mix (recipe below).
This time last year I posted a recipe for a Maple Pumpkin Bundt. Whilst the previous Bundt had a maple syrup glaze, this cake is unadorned. The reason for this is that unless it is a birthday cake, very few of our friends eat anything with icing these days. It seems that our physicians have collectively been very successful at promoting the eat-less-fat/ sugar/ salt message.
If you would like to fashion this into a birthday cake, double the recipe and bake in three 20 cm/ 8 inch round cake tins. A cream cheese frosting (see below end of post) is perfect for it. Sprinkle over some toasted and chopped pecan nuts for a bit of colour and texture on top.
I made this cake three times in the past week, twice in a Nordicware Wildflower Loaf Pan and once in a standard loaf tin. Sharing it with friends and family, everyone said it is truly a lovely cake to eat. The cake would look even more special if you could bake it a Pumpkin Patch Bundt Pan or Harvest Bounty Loaf pan. I added 50 g chopped pecan nuts in one of the cakes but upon tasting, we decided that the smooth texture of a nut-free cake was preferable.
Nordicware’s Wildflower Loaf Pan
For the Cake:
180 g plain flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin spice (see end of post)
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
110 g light brown soft sugar
2 large eggs (around 115 g without shell)
110 g sunflower oil
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
210 g (half a can) pumpkin puree
10 g each softened butter and plain flour to line the Bundt pan
As this is a plain cake, try to bake it in one of Nordicware’s shaped 6-cup Bundt or loaf pans. You can also use a 2-lb loaf tin.
How to Make:
Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 160°C fan.
Brush 10 g of butter evenly over the entire inside of the Bundt pan, taking care to fill every corner.
Sift over 10 g of flour, moving the pan around to coat evenly. Remove the excess flour by turning the pan upside down and giving it a tap (do this over a sink). Set the pan aside.
Sift the flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl and set aside.
Measure the oil, maple syrup and vanilla into a small jug. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar on a medium-high speed until the mixture has doubled in volume. I used a KitchenAid with a whisk attachment, but a small hand-held electric beater would work as well.
Slowly pour in the oil mixture and beat on a low speed until you get a homogenous batter.
Add the pumpkin and continue beating on a low speed.
Finally, add the flour mixture bit by bit using a large spoon. Continue beating on a low speed until everything is evenly mixed.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake in the oven for 55 minutes or until the cake bounces back when touched. A metal skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean.
Leave the cake to cool slightly in the pan before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
To enhance the pattern of the cake (in this case wildflowers) sieve some icing sugar over the top.
Serve with cream cheese frosting (see below) or vanilla/ rum and raisin ice cream. If left plain, it goes very well with a cup of tea or coffee.
Pumpkin Spice:
8 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Place all the spices in a small jar and gently mix with a fork. Check that the spices are evenly distributed. This will make 16 teaspoons and you need 2 teaspoons for each cake. You can also use the pumpkin spice in other cakes e.g. carrot cake and apple and hazelnut cake.
Cream Cheese Frosting (double this quantity to ice a 3-tier 20 cm/ 8 inch birthday cake):
The ratio is 25% unsalted butter, 25% icing sugar and 50% full-fat cream cheese.
100 g unsalted butter, softened
100 g icing sugar, sifted
200 g Philadelphia cream cheese
1½ teaspoons vanilla paste
Make sure the butter and cream cheese are at room temperature before starting. I have thrown away many batches of frosting when I did not follow this advice. You can always chill the frosting after it is made, for icing later.
Beat the butter with the icing sugar for a few minutes until the mixture is smooth. I used a KitchenAid with a paddle attachment on a low speed, but a small hand-held electric beater would work.
Add the cream cheese and vanilla paste and continue beating on a low speed until the entire mixture is light in texture. Chill until required.
We received this pecan and maple nut butter from a friend and this went very well with the plain pumpkin cake
