Spiced pumpkin cake with maple icing

Not your everyday pumpkin cake — this one is infused with warming spices and topped with a sweet maple icing. It’s wonderfully simple and quick to make, especially for busy days, and very forgiving too — perfect for experimenting with different variations. Soft, fluffy and beautifully moist. You could try it with orange icing, add your favourite nuts or chocolate, or even bake it as cupcakes. It will be delicious every single time!

Ingredients for the pumpkin cake:

• 2 large eggs
• 200 g light brown sugar
• 230 g pumpkin purée
• 120 ml olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
• a pinch of ground allspice
• a pinch of salt
• 190 g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

In the bowl of a mixer, whisk the eggs and brown sugar for about 1 minute until slightly frothy and well combined (not fully fluffy). Add the pumpkin purée and olive oil, mixing until combined. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, cardamom, allspice and salt directly into the wet ingredients. Gently mix with a whisk until just combined — do not overmix.

Line a 20 cm round tin with baking parchment. Pour in the batter and level the surface.

Bake at 180°C for about 30–35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Drizzle with maple icing and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds.

Additionally:

• pumpkin seeds, for sprinkling

Ingredients for the maple icing:

• 100 g icing sugar
• 30 ml milk
• 30 ml maple syrup
• a pinch of salt

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl using a whisk. Add the milk gradually, adjusting the consistency as needed — more milk for a thinner icing, or more icing sugar for a thicker one.

Enjoy!

Recipe source: Snacking Cakes by Yossy Arefi.