Halloween pumpkin cake
Ingredients
For the cake
·
300g self-raising flour
·
300g light muscovado sugar
·
3 tsp mixed spice
·
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
·
175g sultanas
·
½ tsp salt
·
4 eggs, beaten
·
200g butter, melted
·
zest 1 orange
·
1 tbsp orange juice
·
500g (peeled weight)
pumpkin or butternut squash flesh, grated
For drenching and frosting
·
200g pack soft cheese
·
85g butter, softened
·
100g icing sugar, sifted
·
zest 1 orange
and juice of half
Method
Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line a 30
x 20cm baking or small roasting tin with baking parchment. Put the flour,
sugar, spice, bicarbonate of soda, sultanas and salt into a large bowl and stir
to combine. Beat the eggs into the melted butter, stir in the orange zest and
juice, then mix with the dry ingredients till combined. Stir in the pumpkin.
Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 30 mins, or until golden and springy
to the touch.
2.
To make the
frosting, beat together the cheese, butter, icing sugar, orange zest and 1 tsp
of the juice till smooth and creamy, then set aside in the fridge. When the
cake is done, cool for 5 mins then turn it onto a cooling rack. Prick it all
over with a skewer and drizzle with the rest of the orange juice while still
warm. Leave to cool completely.
3.
If you like,
trim the edges of the cake. Give the frosting a quick beat to loosen, then,
using a palette knife, spread over the top of the cake in peaks and swirls. If
you’re making the cake ahead, keep it in the fridge then take out as many
pieces as you want 30 mins or so before serving. Will keep, covered, for up to
3 days in the fridge.
Tip Try this
Pumpkins
can vary dramatically in water content, so keep an eye on the cake towards the
end of cooking – yours may take less or more time to cook through. If you’re
not carving out a pumpkin this year butternut squash works brilliantly, too.
