Spiced Pumpkin, Orange and Prune Cake

 
This cake is full of golden pumpkin, aromatic spices, orange juice and half a cup of our home produced honey. Whilst we don't really celebrate Thanksgiving here in Queensland, we are planning for Christmas already, and we know that it will be Thanksgiving in the Northern Hemisphere very soon. This cake will be nice and comforting to bake and have on hand as part of the Thanksgiving celebrations. The aromatic spices combined with orange juice and honey are wonderful flavour enhancers in this cake, and nobody will even guess that the cake contains pumpkin, well perhaps at Thanksgiving the adults will, but the children won't. Pumpkin is such a versatile vegetable.

Grating aromatic nutmeg for cakes and baked goods is always a  pleasure for me and doesn't take very long at all. I keep a good stock of whole nutmeg cloves bottled up in my spice drawer because the rich nutmeg flavour is fresher and deeper than from a bottle of nutmeg spice purchased from the supermarket. Aromatic spices such as nutmeg, cardamon, pepper and cloves were literally worth their weight in gold during the height of the Spice Trade in the 15th and 16th centuries. 

Freshly grated nutmeg

I watched the first episode of the beautiful Joanna Lumley's Spice Trail adventures on TV recently, which featured the precious nutmeg, mace and cloves still grown on the Banda Islands in Indonesia. These spices have been used by cooks and bakers for a very long time, and now I really appreciate the value of these spices and don't take them for granted at all when cooking with them. The infamous  Dutch East India Company established in 1602 has been well documented  and was dominant in Indonesia at that time. Cardamon was the Queen of spices throughout India, but it was nutmeg grown on the Banda Islands in Indonesia that was the sought after spice along with mace and cloves. They still grown there in the Banda Spice Islands and are one of their main sources of income. 

When buying a pumpkin, the deeper the colour when it's cut, the riper and more delicious it is likely to be. My preference is always for the Kent or Jap pumpkin and that's what I used for this cake.  The beautiful orange colour of the cake in the photo below shows how rich the pumpkin I used was and the flavour comes through as well.  Just be sure that all of the liquid in the cooked pumpkin is removed before adding it to the cake batter. 

I love baking this cake, so let's cook, it's so soothing.

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees C. Fan Forced and prepare all of your ingredients. I find it makes cake making much easier.

Ingredients:

250 g butter
1 teaspoon orange zest (1 orange)
1/2 cup caster sugar

3 eggs
1/2 cup good quality Honey from where you live (not heated or blended) or use Maple Syrup instead
1/2 cup orange juice (2 small oranges)
1 cup mashed pumpkin, cooled, (not butternut)
1 cup diced prunes

2 cups Self Raising flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg or allspice
3 tablespoons milk if required for a softer consistency (Just in case, I've never needed to use it though)

Method:

Cream butter with the orange zest in a large bowl.
Add the sugar and cream with the butter and orange zest until light and fluffy.
Add eggs separately, beating well after each addition
Fold in the pumpkin, orange juice, honey and prunes.
Then fold in the sifted SR flour and spices.
If mixture appears to be too stiff, add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until a softer consistency. This might be needed if you change the ingredients slightly. 
Pour into a greased and lined 22-23 cm spring form cake tin.
Bake for 50-60 minutes at 160 degrees C. Fan forced depending on your oven, but definitely check if it is cooked after 50 minutes. Insert a toothpick or fine metal skewer which will come out clean if it is cooked.
This cake is delicious iced with an orange flavoured icing, but is equally enjoyable just served with yoghurt and a light dusting of icing sugar.

Orange Icing Ingredients:
3-4 cups sifted icing sugar

1/3 cup softened butter
2-3 tablespoons warm milk
2 teaspoons orange juice
4 teaspoons grated orange zest

Icing Method:

Remove cake from the tin and ice when cool. 

Measuring out the exact amount of icing sugar required can be tricky with icing, as weather factors such as the humidity or lack of, and the quality of the butter can determine how much icing sugar is actually needed. I start with 3 cups of sifted icing sugar but sometimes need 4. Living in the tropics, I am well aware of how in our Summer, humidity can affect baking. 

Mix butter into the sifted icing sugar with a large spoon.

Add milk gradually and mix until you have the desired consistency. 

Add orange juice and zest. Mix until the mixture is smooth. I like my icing for this kind of cake to be a little stiff and not runny. If it is too runny and would run down the sides of the cake, I keep sifting more icing sugar into the bowl, a tablespoon at a time,  until it is the right consistency for me.

However if you like more of a soft frosting to cover the whole cake, mix the ingredients in your Kitchen Aid or by hand until smooth, and cover the whole cake with frosting. The secret to success with this icing is after the liquid ingredients have been added, if the icing is still too runny, keep sifting in some icing sugar until the icing suits your purpose. 

When I've made this cake before, I iced it and sprinkled desiccated coconut on top as pumpkin and coconut are great together. Desiccated coconut always brings back nostalgic memories of cakes from many years ago for me.

Delicious with orange zest icing

 I love being able to see the pretty golden flecks of orange zest in the icing, however you could completely replace the zest with grated chocolate sprinkled over the icing. Another option is to sprinkle the icing with finely chopped pistachios.

Decorating Cakes with fruit and flowers

I really enjoy baked goods which include fruit in season such as pears and apples and also prunes, but it's also fun and colourful to include some edible flowers from the garden. You have probably noticed that I decorated my cake with bright orange nasturtiums this time. The nasturtiums are nearly finished for the year as the Summer heat scares them off, so I wanted to feature them. I loved the orange theme of the pumpkin, oranges and nasturtiums and it was kind of fun to give all of the Mahjong ladies a nasturtium flower on their plate along with an orange Darrell Lea Licorice All Sort which is a favourite sweet of ours at Christmas time. It's nearly Christmas after all.  We all played much better Mahjong after that little sugar hit for afternoon tea. I also think it's important to support an Australian product. Darrell Lea has weathered many storms to still be in business since 1927, a remarkable achievement. When I lived in Brisbane many years ago, I can still remember walking up Queen Street, and being lured into the Darrell Lea shop by the waft of licorice coming through the door. Precious memories. How about you, my fellow Queenslanders?

However, this cake is delicious and moist enough to stand on it's own without any icing, frosting or embellishment at all. I've also eaten it with just a delicate sifting of icing sugar on top and some yoghurt on the side and that was lovely too. 

Thanks for dropping by and have a wonderful weekend wherever you are. I hope things are going well at your place. 

During the process of writing this post, the internet has dropped out a few times on me, so apologies in advance for any typos I've missed. Don't you just love technology?

Warm wishes,

Pauline