Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Pumpkin Spice Cakes


One of the things I like about Taste magazine is its, "Wait, You Mean I can Eat That?" section.  It features "better for you" dessert recipes.

In the September 2015  edition of Taste magazine, the "Wait, You Mean I can Eat That" section featured a recipe for spiced pumpkin molasses cakes on p66.  I already had the ingredients (or I thought that I did!), so I couldn't resist making them.

The issue that I had is that the recipe calls for buckwheat flour.  What I thought was buckwheat flour in my pantry was in fact rye flour.  Oops.  I decided to forge ahead anyway, using the rye flour in place of buckwheat flour.

The end result justified my continuing on, regardless of not having the right flour.  These cakes were delicious - dense, yes, but moist and sweet, thanks to the pumpkin.  They were really good.

To make them according to the recipe in the magazine, you will need:

 700g pumpkin, deseeded
1/3 cup macadamia oil + 2 teaspoons (I used hazelnut oil)
175g buckwheat flour (I used rye flour)
80g panela sugar + 3 tablespoons
1/3 cup almond meal
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
1/4 cup coconut flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/3 cup molasses (I used golden syrup)
2 eggs
150ml reduced fat milk
1 tablespoon pepitas

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and line with baking paper.    Put the pumpkin on the tray, cut side up, drizzle with the extra 2 teaspoons of  oil, and  roast for one hour and 40 minutes.  Allow to cool, then scoop the pumpkin flesh into a food processor and process until smooth.

Grease 8 x 175ml mini loaf pans.

Combine the flour, sugar, almond meal, coconut, coconut flour, baking powder, ginger, cloves and 2 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon in a bowl, then make a well in the centre.

In a jug, whisk together the molasses, eggs, milk and pumpkin puree.  Pour the mixture into the well in the dry ingredients, and stir until well combined.

Divide the batter among the loaf pans.  In a small bowl, combine the pepitas, extra sugar and remaining cinnamon, then sprinkle over the top of the cakes.

Bake the cake sin the oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through.  Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, before unmoulding  onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

Serve as is or with butter or non-dairy spread.

3 comments:

Kari said...

How delicious, and I love that they worked with the flour swap. I always think a good recipe should be a bit resilient to those sorts of changes!

2paw said...

I have never cooked anything form that section, but those pumpkin cakes look delicious!! The ingredients, apart from the flour, are things I have too. Usually I have hardly any of the things they require.

Kayte said...

This is the time of year in the US where we all eat pumpkin in all kinds of ways and these pumpkin spice cakes are similar to ones I make each year for my pumpkin loving friends. Yours look lovely and I love the way you did the tops...I will try that this year!