- Serves 8 - Ready in 1 hour 15 minutes -
* Uses up 1/4 small (1kg-when-whole) pumpkin*
N.B. for a gluten-free version, simply replace the SR flour with gluten-free SR flour AND add an extra egg to the recipe. The quantity still fits the tin and the cooking time remains the same.
Make sure you don't include any seeds when making the puree. The seeds can be soaked and roasted to make a delicious snack - here is the recipe link for 'Soaked and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds'.
Gather together...
250g raw fresh pumpkin, flesh only (half a small-ish pumpkin, with the seeds and skin removed or use pieces of skin-less pumpkin flesh hacked from a carved pumpkin!)
60g butter (sliced), melted in the microwave on HIGH for 30 seconds or so.
1 ¼ cup self-raising flour.
1/2 cup brown sugar.
1/2 tsp baking powder (sieved).
1/4 tsp salt (sieved).
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.
1/2 tsp ground mixed spice.
1 tsp vanilla extract (the Taylor & Colledge brand is fairtrade certified / the Dr Oetker brand is alcohol free).
2 medium eggs.
50g cooking chocolate (milk-chocolate variety), cut up into small pieces – save 1tbsp of the smallest chocolate pieces (the shavings) to sprinkle on top of the loaf just before baking. 'Cooking chocolate' melts far more easily than regular chocolate and is much less likely to shock and split. Sainsbury's own-brand cooking chocolate is sold in foil and card (so is plastic-free), Green & Black's cooking chocolate is plastic-free AND palm oil-free, but is too pricey for me to use regularly.
8 tsp Nutella-equivalent (choose palm-oil-free if possible) - I use the ASDA Extra Special Hazelnut Praline Chocolate Spread, as it is palm-oil free and comes in a glass jar, you use about half the (small) jar in this recipe.
Get cooking...
1. First prepare the 250g of raw, peeled pumpkin – cut the pumpkin flesh up into small-ish pieces with a sharp knife and blitz with a stick blender into a smooth UNCOOKED puree.
2. Put the pumpkin puree into a sieve over a tall-bowl to drain, ensure more moisture squeezes out by putting a cereal bowl on top of the flesh and weighing it down further with a heavy tin can (e.g. baked beans) from your kitchen cupboard. Leave the pumpkin to drain like this for at least 10 minutes - you'll drain out about 50g of liquid. Every few minutes, stir the puree and rearrange the weighted bowl, during the draining time.
3. Meanwhile, line a 900g loaf tin (9"x5") with a greaseproof paper liner (you can get a reusable loaf tin liner, but it is a bit fiddly to use and your cake will come out rather oddly shaped as the excess material folds in on itself - we happily use one but I thought I'd warn you!). Set the lined tin aside.
4. Preheat oven to 180 C (160 C fan) or Gas 4.
5. In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt the 60g of sliced butter on HIGH for 30 seconds or so - be careful as the small bowl itself may get very HOT.
6. Into a large mixing bowl, measure the 1 ¼ cups of self-raising flour, and then add the ½ cup of brown sugar, the ½ tsp of baking powder (sieved to avoid unpleasant-tasting clumps), the ¼ tsp of salt, the ½ tsp of cinnamon and the ½ tsp of ground mixed spice. Stir to combine.
7. In a large jug, mix together the wet ingredients; the 250g of blitzed-and-drained pumpkin, the 60g of melted butter, and the 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Stir well.
8. Finally to the wet ingredients add the 2 medium eggs. Always add the eggs last so that the melted butter has been cooled by the other ingredients, or else you will scramble the eggs! Stir again.
9. Make a dip in the centre of the dry ingredients and mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients using a plastic spatula / wooden spoon, until there are no dry patches (this will take about 1 minute of stirring with a spoon, or less time with an electric mixer - don't over-mix or the cake will be tough).
10. Fold in MOST of the 50g of cut-up cooking milk-chocolate (keep 1 tbsp of the smallest 'shavings' aside).
11. Spoon / pour about HALF of the cake mixture batter into the lined tin, smooth it gently so it covers the base of the tin.
12. Spoon the 8 tsp of palm-oil-free-Nutella-equivalent over the batter in the tin, making sure you dot the teaspoonfuls in different places so it is well distributed, then spread it out further as-best-as-you-can with the back of a metal spoon – go right to the edges or you’ll miss out if you get an end piece of cake!
13. Spoon / pour the remaining cake mixture over the 'Nutella' layer and level gently with a spoon.
14. Sprinkle the top evenly with the leftover 1 tbsp of chocolate 'shavings'.
15. Bake for 45 minutes. It is a light coloured cake, so DON'T be fooled into overbaking it. The top will be firm. A skewer test WON'T work, because the inside Nutella-equivalent layer is supposed to be gooey!
16. Cool the loaf cake in the tin for 10 minutes, then tip it out onto a wire rack – enjoy hot or cold!
17. Allow the cake to cool fully before storing. It will keep for 3 days at room temperature in an air-tight container (but it will be eaten up well before then I imagine).
Adapted from this recipe on the Baking Addiction website.
N.B. Chocolate -chips would admittedly look better (neater) if used in this recipe, but to avoid single-use plastic I opt to buy (and cut up) cooking chocolate wrapped in foil and paper, both of which are widely recycled. I buy my cooking chocolate in foil / paper from Sainsbury's.