With the winter nights drawing in and the grey, cloudy days the main feature of the weather forecast these days, I want something sweet and spicy to lift my spirits. This cake is delicious. I’ve never had pumpkin in a cake before and ginger is one of my all-time favourite flavours, so obviously I had to try this recipe. The texture is moist and the heat of the ginger is guaranteed to hit the spot and take the edge off the autumnal gloom.

 

Ingredients

(Recipe from BBC Good Food, Birthday Issue, 2014 )

250g pumpkin, peeled and cut into roughly 2 cm pieces

50g black treacle

140g golden syrup

140g light soft brown sugar

100ml semi-skinned milk

110g cold diced butter

250g self-raising flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda

1 teaspoon ginger

2 teaspoons mixed spice

2 medium eggs

5 chunks crystallised ginger, thinly sliced

3 balls stem ginger

• Put the pumpkin into a microwave-proof bowl and add a tiny bit of water. Cover with cling film and pierce. Put on full power for 5-8 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft. Drain the water then mash with a fork until smooth.
• In a saucepan, add the treacle, golden syrup, sugar and milk. Heat gently until the sugar is dissolved.
• Heat oven to 180 degrees fan (200 degrees). Grease and line a 900g loaf tin with baking parchment.
• Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, spice and a pinch of salt into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub into the flour with your fingertips until no lumps remain.
• Whisk the eggs, then add with the pumpkin into the lukewarm syrup mixture. Add to the dry ingredients.
• Cut the stem ginger balls into thin slices and add to the mixture. Pour the batter into a tin and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out with just a few crumbs on it.
• Scatter over the crystallised ginger which will stick to the loaf and leave to cool in the tin.