SHF #37 - The Beta Carotene Harvest - Pumpkin Sultana Loaf

Sugar High Friday is here once again, and this month, it is hosted by Leslie of Definitely Not Martha. She has chosen a theme of Beta Carotene Harvest - that is, desserts made with harvest roots and gourds, such as carrots, sweet potato and pumpkin.

This was a fortuitous choice, because Dav from work had asked me to make a pumpkin cake - which means that I could kill two birds with one stone. (The cake is photographed on two different plates because one photo was taken at work and the other at home. Thanks to Simon for the styling on the work photograph ;).)

My entry for this SHF is a pumpkin sultana loaf. I have previously made this cake in the form of a pumpkin cranberry loaf. However, this time, not only did I substitute the cranberries for sultanas, I substituted the maple syrup for golden syrup (because I realised at the last minute that I was right out of maple syrup!)

The recipe is as follows:

2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon mixed spice
2 cups mashed pumpkin
1/2 cup golden syrup
1/4 cup apple puree
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sultanas

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease a loaf tin.

Combine sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the pumpkin, syrup, apple puree, vegetable oil and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in the sultanas and pour into the greased tin.

Bake for 50 minutes or until cooked through. Cool the cake in the tin for 15 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.

This version of the cake is slightly sweeter than the original, but is still good. The great thing about it is that, for a cake, it is low in fat.

Thanks to Leslie for hosting this month's SHF, and I look forward to yet another amazing roundup!

Postscript: You can view all the inspirational post-harvest recipes on Definitely Not Martha here and here.