Munchy Monday #20: Pumpkin cake

This is a very filling cake made with pumpkin and dark chocolate polka dots. It contains no eggs and no dairy and so is ideal for people with these diet restrictions.

You will need:

Dry ingredients
3 3/4 cups plain (all purpose) flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 cup of dark chocolate polka dots

Wet ingredients

2/3 cup sunflower oil
2 tsp. vinegar
1 cup cooked pumpkin*
3/4 cup water
1 tblsp. golden syrup

Method:

Sieve together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and ground ginger into a bowl and then add salt and sugar. Set oven to warm up (180º C). Mix all the wet ingredients together with a stick blender and add the mix to the dry ingredients. Stir well, add chocolate polka dots and stir until well mixed. Grease an oven dish or similar and spoon batter in, making sure that it is of an even thickness all over. Cook in a medium oven for about 30-35 minutes, maybe a little longer. (The oven does not need to be pre-heated, just warming up. The cooking time will vary according to the type of oven you are using.) The cake is cooked once you can poke a toothpick in it and bring it out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the oven dish.

* The easiest way to obtain cooked pumpkin is this way I learned a long time ago from my Canadian sister-in-law. Cut your pumpkin into three or four pieces and steam them for about 30 mins. in a pressure cooker. Leave the pieces to cool and then peel. Then measure out the exact quantity you need for your recipes and freeze it in bags or plastic containers.