Friday afternoon provided me with an afternoon off work and a chance to do some baking, it was requested that I make some cakes for a social gathering I went to last night, and in the spirit of Halloween I finally got around to baking with pumpkin…finally finding a use for a tin of the stuff I purchased quite a long time ago!
Pumpkin, especially the canned type seems big in the USA but I’ve found very few recipes calling for it over here.
In the end I adapted a recipe I found on a food blog, substituting the faff of preparing and pureeing a real, live pumpkin for the same amount of the canned stuff.
The result? An absolute hit! The canned pumpkin is elusive, I found mine in my local Waitrose, and I know some American sweet shops and posh department stores sell it at great expense. It is, after extensive research, a highly versatile ingredient…so if you see any at a reasonable price I’d stock up!
The Recipe, adapted from here
– 200g plain flour
– 1 tsp cinnamon
– 1 tsp baking powder
– 250g caster sugar
– 110ml vegetable oil
– 2 lightly beaten eggs
– 110ml milk
– 150g pumpkin flesh, blended to a puree (I used the same amount from the can)
– I also added a bag of chocolate chips.
1. Flour mixture: In a bowl, sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar together, and mix well.
2. Pumpkin mixture: In a large bowl, beat the oil, eggs and milk. Stir in the pumpkin puree.
3. Combine the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Stir until just blended (and lumpy). Be careful not to over mix as it will result in a tough texture.
4. Place baking cases in muffin tins. Spoon the mixture into the cases (each slightly more than 2/3 filled).
4. Bake for about 20 minutes in preheated oven of 175C (350F). Remove the muffins and cool on a rack for several minutes before serving.
The recipe stated it yielded 16 muffins, but I ended up with 24 cupcake sized ones, which were plenty big enough.
They took about 12-15 minutes to cook in my fan oven. A skewer that comes out clean when poked in the middle will tell you that they are done.
I will be making these again!
Anyone else do some Halloween baking?
Got any amazing pumpkin recipes to share? (USA readers, I’m looking at YOU!)
xxx
