‘Americanised’ Halloween, but that really isn’t true. The fact is that here in the UK we were dressing up and scaring the bejesus out of people centuries ago, while wielding our carved turnips. But yes, eventually we discovered pumpkins. Which was a huge relief as turnip cake just isn’t the same.
If you end up with some in your kitchen, I would scrape the flesh out of the raw pumpkin and roast it in the oven (don’t season it in case you choose to do something sweet) for approximately 40 to 50 minutes at Gas 5 / 190ºC.
When you have the soft flesh cooked, you want about 425g for the following recipe. However, if your courage fails you can also use a can of pumpkin puree (I love Libby’s). In Dorset there are a number of PYO pumpkin farms: Bincombe Bumps Pumpkins, Dewflock Farm and North Farm Horton are all great – Lizzie.
Ingredients
- 300g plain flour
- 2 tsps baking powder
- ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- 275g light brown soft sugar
- 4 eggs (use an extra egg if they are very small)
- 230g vegetable oil
- 1 can pumpkin puree (425g)
- ½ cup whole milk
Cream cheese frosting
- 150g butter (softened)
- 300g cream cheese (room temperature)
- 100g icing sugar
Method
- Prepare a 10 inch/ 25cm square cake tin, or a loaf tin – grease and line with parchment.
- Add the sugar and eggs to a mixing bowl and beat them with an electric mixer or in stand mixer until they are fluffy and pale.
- Add the oil, pumpkin puree and orange zest to the bowl and combine.
- Add a third of the flour, all the spices and half the milk to the mixture, and mix it together.
- Repeat the addition of flour and the other half of the milk.
- Add the final batch of flour and mix again.
- Pop the mixture in the prepared tin and put it in the oven for 40- 45 minutes. The cake will be cooked when a skewer comes out clean.
Cream cheese frosting
- Beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl until it is pale. Add the cream cheese and beat again until smooth.
- When the cooked cake is cold, cut it through the middle. Spread half the cream cheese mixture as a filling, sandwich the cake and spread the remaining frosting on the top. If you prefer not to fiddle, just cover the top of the cake with the whole cream cheese mixture!
From her tiny bakery in West Dorset, Lizzie Baking Bird creates sweet and savoury bakes. You’ll find her at Dorset’s farmers’ markets and shows. A member of the Guild of Food Writers, Lizzie has won numerous Great Taste Awards. Find her on lizziebakingbird.co.uk
