Pumpkin Gingerbread

At this time of year, it pains me to see so many pumpkins piled up in supermarkets purely sold to carve when as they are such nutritious vegetables (actually a fruit). Yes, creating a design for your Halloween pumpkin and carving together is such a wonderful activity as a family and for children, but please don’t discard those nutritious inners! It is also a travesty that the shops are left with so many as surplus yet very few people think to pick up a pumpkin purely to make a meal or dish.

I find the easiest way to use up pumpkin is to roast the pieces or to chop the whole vegetable into wedges, scoop away the seeds and roast until soft. This removes a lot of the moisture which steals the core flavour of any kind of squash.

Pumpkin Gingerbread

Joanne Iceton

A delicious moist gingerbread

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Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Course Dessert

Servings 1 loaf cake

Equipment

• Baking tray
• Sharp knives plus chopping board or surface
• Weighing scales
• Measuring Spoons
• mixing bowl
• Loaf tin
• Oven

Ingredients

  

WET INGREDIENTS

•  240g pumpkin mash drained
•  100g treacle
•  100g golden syrup
•  50g brown sugar
•  80g oil
•  80g milk of choice
•  1 tsp vinegar

DRY INGREDIENTS

•  2 tbsp. ground ginger
•  1 tsp mixed spice
•  1/2 tsp. bicarbonate of soda
•  2 tsp. baking powder
•  260g wholemeal or plain flour

TOPPING

•  100g icing sugar + 2 tsp. water
•  1 stem ginger ball chopped

Instructions

 

• Oven: Preheat to 180°C.
• Pan: Grease and line a loaf tin
• Mix the first seven ‘wet’ ingredients.
• Whisk in the next four ‘dry’ ingredients until combined then stir in the flour.
• Pour the batter into the loaf tin and run a knife down the centre (this stops random cracking and even rising).
• Bake for one hour until an inserted knife comes out clean.
• Sift the icing sugar and mix in the water to make a thick pourable glaze to pour over the cooled loaf. Scatter the chopped stem ginger over the icing and leave to set.

Notes

Pumpkin Mash: To get the best results, roast the pumpkin at 180c for approximately 30 mins until soft. You can either use chunks and scrapings from carving which will take less time or slice the whole pumpkin into 20cm thick wedges, scraping out the seeds and stingy flesh. There is no need to peel, just scrape off the flesh once cooked.

Swap: If wished, you can swap the wholemeal/plain flour for self raising flour and omit the baking powder.

Vegan: Use a plant based milk if wishing to keep this bake vegan

Pumpkin Seeds: Pick out any large bits of pumpkin flesh from the seeds. Stir in 1 tsp. oil, either the paprika, or curry powder, and salt.
Cook in a dry frying pan, stirring until they start to puff up and pop. Cover and
stir frequently until toasted. You can also bake at 180c for 10-15 mins, stirring
half way through, or pop in an air fryer at 180c for 10 mins, stirring half way
through. Watch carefully as they burn easily

Keyword pumpkin, vegan

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Nutritional Benefits:

Pumpkin is rich in alpha and beta carotenes which are powerful phytonutrients shown to help prevent certain cancers, protect against type 2 diabetes, heart disease and inflammation.  The carotenes are converted to vitamin A by the body, which is essential for good eye health and vision. They are fat soluble so should be eaten with a little fat to help absorb the nutrients. Pumpkins are also rich in vitamin C and E. These  vitamins have an important role in maintaining healthy skin and protecting against sun damage.

Pumpkin seeds are nutritional powerhouses rich are rich in protein, zinc, an antioxidant mineral which boosts the immune system, iron (important for healthy blood cells and energy levels), omega 3 fatty acids, antioxidants, magnesium, selenium, calcium and many other nutrients . They also contain heart healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids and can  benefit your heart, liver and immune system as well as helping to fight the onset of diabetes .They also contain tryptophan; an amino acid which is needed by the body to produce serotonin. This brain chemical helps regulate mood, appetite, digestion, sleep and memory. Low levels are linked to depression.

Wholemeal Flour: contains more B vitamins  than white (needed to release energy from nutrients and a healthy nervous system) and vitamin E (assists with wound healing and healthy red blood cells), iron, selenium, zinc as well as insoluble fibre, essential for good digestive health and  stabilising blood sugars.