Easy Peasy Pumpkin Cake

Pumpkin season is well and truly here, and all I seem to be doing is eating pumpkin these days! I've been roasting pumpkin, making pumpkin soups, putting pumpkin in salads, you name it! But I felt like a sweet treat, so what did I think of?

You guessed it!

A yummy pumpkin cake!

Before I give away this yummy recipe, I want you to know a few things about pumpkin, so that when you're eating it, you really appreciate all the nutrients it's giving you.

PUMPKIN FACTS 👇 Did you know pumpkin is actually an amazing immunity booster? Pumpkin contains an array of free radical fighting nutrients (so we get to be more pleasing and have less sneezing!)

Just one cup of cooked pumpkin provides us with:

• 100% of our daily needs for vitamin A

• 20% of the daily value for vitamin C

• 10% of vitamin E, and a variety of other nutrients like: Vitamin B's, potassium, copper, and manganese, folate, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus.

So, ditch those multi-vitamins you've been taking (unless you have a medical reason to), and start eating some real nutrients. Get started with this delicious, moist and heart-warming pumpkin cake recipe! Enjoy!

Healthy Pumpkin Cake

• Preparation Time: 10 mins

• Cooking Time: 55 mins

• Serves: 16

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup melted coconut oil

• ½ cup honey or maple syrup

• 3 eggs

• 2 cup pumpkin purée

• ¼ cup milk of choice

• 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin spice blend (make your own using: ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon allspice)

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 ½ cups white wholemeal flour

• ⅓ cup stabilised wheat germ

• ⅓ cup lupin flakes

• Optional: ½ cup mix-ins like chopped walnuts or pecans, raisins, etc. I added crushed walnuts!

• Pinch of ground cinnamon, for sprinkling on top

Method

1. Preheat oven to 165 degrees Celsius and grease a 9×2-inch cake pan.

2. In a large bowl, beat the oil and honey together together with a whisk. Add the eggs and whisk until blended. (If your coconut oil solidifies on contact with cold ingredients, let the bowl rest in a warm place for a few minutes, like on top of your stove, or warm it for another 10 seconds in the microwave.)

3. Add the pumpkin puree, milk, pumpkin spice, baking soda, vanilla and salt, and whisk to blend. Lastly, switch to a big spoon and stir in the flour, wheat germ and lupin flakes, just until combined. If you’re adding any additional mix-ins, gently fold them in too.

4. Pour the batter into your greased loaf pan and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon.

5. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

6. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes before slicing.

Enjoy!!

ADM xx

Joyce Haddad, Director of A Dietitian's Mission, is an Adelaide based Dietitian, Nutritionist and Master Personal Trainer with a passion for health and wellbeing. ADM aims to help the public make informed and realistic nutritional choices and ensure everyone has a healthy relationship with their body and with food.