Ingredients
- 15 oz (425 g) pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and cut into roughly
- ¾ in (2 cm) chunks (300 g/11 oz when prepared)
- 9 oz (250 g) plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 9 oz (250 g) caster sugar
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 5 oz (150 g) butter, melted
For the Icing
- 7 oz (200 g) icing sugar
- 2–3 tbsp orange juice
How to Make It
- Line the spring-form cake tin with baking parchment.
- First, cook the pumpkin. Place in a saucepan with 200 ml (7 fl oz) water, bring to a simmer and cook for 20–25 minutes until tender. Allow to cool, then mash well or whiz in a food processor to form a pulp.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4.
- In a bowl, sift the flour together with the baking powder, then mix in the rest of the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, thoroughly mix together the eggs, butter and pumpkin. Combine with the dry ingredients and place in the cake tin.
- Bake for 45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before turning out of the tin.
- As the cake cools, make the icing. Place the sugar in a bowl and mix in just enough orange juice to make a spreadable icing, making sure it’s not too wet. If there’s too much orange juice, the icing will fall off the sides of the cake, but if there’s not enough, it will be difficult to spread.
- For the icing, I like to use a palette knife that I regularly dip into a jug of boiling water, as this helps to spread it out. So, using the palette knife, spread the icing over the top of the cake. Allow the icing to set (this takes about 15 minutes), then cut into slices to serve.
- This cake keeps well for a week (the pumpkin seems to prevent it from drying out).