I realized upon trying recipes for this week’s post, that I had not made the obligatory (nay, MANDATORY) pumpkin dish for fall. Even though November is still pumpkin season full of soups and pies, Halloween really marks the end of fall and beginning of winter when it comes to food, decor, music and all-around atmosphere. So, for this week and the last recipe that precedes Halloween, I made a Paleo Pumpkin Cake with Ginger Lemon Icing. It seems simple in flavors compared to past dishes, however, recipes do not necessarily need to be overly complex to be delicious.
Autumn is my favorite season of the year. One of the many reasons is the pumpkin patch. Before I met Devin, I never thought much of the pumpkin patch. But the yearly visit to the pumpkin patch was a big family tradition for her and it is also the place where I met her family for the first time. After that, the patch has become a big thing in our little family. So has pumpkins, hence the pumpkin cake!
I knew pumpkin would be the theme for our recipe this week because this past weekend, I took my son to the pumpkin patch. It wasn’t his first visit to the patch. Last year he posed in front of pumpkins for his “baby’s first Halloween” photo shoot, but he was so little, it was akin to carrying an adorable log around the patch. This year was much different. He ran with his cousins through the miniature corn maze, played tag with his uncle, ate copious amounts of freshly fried pumpkin donuts and picked his very own pumpkin that was nearly as big as he was. It was a truly extraordinary experience.
The next day, the Halloween fun kept going. Our local zoo does a Halloween event every year where kids in costumes
can go and trick-or-treat and watch the animals smash pumpkins. Amid the sea of batman’s and Elsa’s was a little blue octopus, tentacles jiggling as he jogged. Needless to say, his costume got a lot of attention and “ooh’s” and “aah’s” from many a parent. Saturday should be an exciting day, especially for my girlfriend because now she has a reason to go trick-or-treating.
There is another big reason why October is so important, because it is BLUE OCTOBER! The Royals are officially in the World Series and we just won the very first game! What better way than to celebrate with a delicious, spongy pumpkin cake with a ginger lemon icing!
Pumpkin Cake with Ginger Lemon Icing:
Cake:
1 Can – 15oz Canned Pumpkin
1/2 Cup – Otto’s Cassava Flour
1/2 Cup – Almond Meal
1/4 Cup – Tapioca Starch
1 Cup – Coconut Sugar
1 Tbsp – Pumpkin Pie Spice (Or you can make your own)
2 Tsp – Baking Soda
Pinch – Salt
Zest – Half of a lemon
1/2 Cup – Honey
1 Tsp – Vanilla Extract
1/4 Cup – Almond Milk
1/4 Cup – Kasandrino’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 – Free Range Eggs
Icing:
2 Cups – Powdered Coconut Sugar (Learn to make it Here)
8oz – Gold Nugget Ghee (Chilled)
1 Tbsp – Freshly Grated Ginger
1 Tbsp – Lemon Juice
1/2 Tsp – Lemon Zest
Optional:
Top with Candied Pumpkin Seeds (Recipe Here)
If you have been following my blog, you know I love talking about the importance of ingredients. The ingredients for this Pumpkin Cake is rather simple. It might seem like there are a lot of ingredients, but hey, it’s not everyday that you will be making a paleo pumpkin cake with ginger lemon icing. For those who are paleo, we do not usually make a lot of baked treats and know the importance of eating real food. So if you are going to indulge, you mind as well take the time to gather the ingredients. A few hundred years ago, baked treats are made on special occasions and are only available during celebrations or holidays, like Halloween.
My passion is to create delicious food memories, and use the healthiest ingredients while I am at it. Most of these ingredients are available at your local groceries store or natural grocer. With the exception of Otto’s Cassava Flour and Kasandrino’s EVOO , which are both available online. I don’t get paid to say this, but I highly recommend both of these products. Kasadrino’s is hands down the best olive oil I have ever tasted and Otto’s Cassava Flour is one of the best paleo-friendly flours out there. Cassava flour adds viscosity to your gluten-free baked goods like that of traditional gluten-y treats.
I want to note about the ginger in the frosting. I suggest using freshly grated ginger instead of ginger powder because you can really taste the difference. Powdered ginger can make the icing a little chalky. Okay, enough about the ingredients, lets talk about the pumpkin cake, shall we?
First things first, preheat the oven to 350°F. While the oven preheats, take all of the pumpkin cake ingredients, put it in a mixer or food processor, mix it and that’s it! It is that easy. No special prep, just mix it and bake it. I used a well greased 6-inch metallic cake pan, so the bake time for yours might be slightly different depending on the bake-ware you use. In actuality, there are many things that affect bake time: atmospheric pressure, altitude, humidity for example, but let’s not complicate things. My bake time is about 35(ish) minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Do let the pumpkin cake cool completely before you ice the cake. For the icing, it is the same thing; mix it and that’s it! It is that simple. I will advise that the butter or ghee must be chilled in the fridge. It makes for stiffer icing. If you use room temperature butter or not allow the cake to cool completely, the icing will melt and not hold up. One option you have is to top the pumpkin cake with candied pumpkin seeds. I have the recipe for the pumpkin seed pralines on my Spicy Banana Bread recipe. There you have it my friends… a paleo/gluten-free pumpkin cake with ginger lemon icing and until next time, eat up my friends! Have a safe and spooky-scary Halloween!
:O
Thanks! 🙂