We just love pumpkin. Pumpkin scones, pumpkin pasta, roast pumpkin and steamed pumpkin. And now, PUMPKIN CAKE!

This cake was born after my mother had given me two whole beautiful organic pumpkins fresh from her garden. What better way to make use of it than whipping it up into a delicious cake! The cake is so moist, packed full of flavour and smells delicious.

The olive oil gives a beautiful ‘fruity’ flavour and sultanas are added to sweeten the cake. Soaking them in a small amount of fruit juice or brandy makes them plump and delicious. You can simply soak them in water if you wish.

The recipe contains almond meal which provides fibre, vitamin E and healthy good monounsaturated fats, which you don’t find in white flour used in most cake recipes.

There’s no denying that this recipe is still a cake, and should be eaten in moderation. The difference is that it uses some more natural and filling alternatives to your everyday packet-cake.

Serve whole, or use a cookie or scone cutter to cut small shapes and make little individual cakes. Cute!

Recipe

Ingredients ~

¾ cup olive oil
450 g peeled pumpkin
A pinch of salt
75 grams sugar (options include coconut or rapadura sugar (a low GI sugar)
50g ground almonds
50g sultanas, soaked in 30 ml of brandy, water or natural fruit juice until swollen (soak the sultanas for at least 30 minutes).
Grated zest of 1 orange
80g plain flour/ wholemeal flour/almond meal
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
½ tsp nutmeg or all spice powder
2 eggs (separated)

Method ~

Preheat oven to 180C
Grease and line a 30cm springform cake tin.
Peel pumpkin and cut into small cubes. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and roast in oven for approximately 30 mins, or until cooked through and pumpkin is soft.
Place cooked pumpkin in a large bowl and either mash, or blitz with a barmix to make a smooth puree.
To the puree, add the Natvia, olive oil, ground almonds, soaked sultanas with the remaining brandy or fruit juice, cinnamon and the grated orange zest. Mix well to combine
Sift the flour and baking powder into the pumpkin mix and mix well to combine.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks until pale and foamy. Fold into the pumpkin mixture.
Beat the egg whites in a clean bowl until stiff peaks have formed. Fold lightly into pumpkin batter taking care not to knock air out of the egg whites.
Carefully pour the mixture into the cake tin. Place in middle shelf of the oven, and bake for approximately 1 hour. Cooking times may vary so check cake at 45 mins. Insert skewer into the centre of cake and if skewer comes out clean, the cake is ready.
When cooked, remove from oven and turn cake out onto a wire rack to cool.
Dust with icing sugar to serve (optional).