Fiery Pumpkin Bread - or is it cake?

This is perfect for that change in season, when the leaves on the trees start turning golden and you know the colder months are well on their way. Pumpkins also happen to be in season, and Halloween is just around the corner.

This pumpkin bread also works as cupcakes, perfect if you want a snack on the go. They aren't too sweet and are just the right amount of moist.

I think this is going to make it to my "annual classics" list. Because that's a thing, right?

Enough blabber, let's hop to it!

Watch the video on how to make them here: (or keep reading for written instructions)

Ingredients:

350g raw pumpkin

1.5 cups of water

175g white rice flour

75g tapioca flour

2 tsps baking powder

2 tsps yeast

2 tsps ground ginger

0.5 tsp nutmeg

0.5 tsp cayenne pepper

Pinch of salt

1.5 tsps ground cinnamon

100g brown sugar

55g butter at room temperature cut into cubes

1.5 tsps clear honey

3 eggs at room temperature

90g (5tbsp) sweetened condensed milk

50g of dark chocolate chips

35g roughly chopped walnuts

How to:

1. Start by chopping up the pumpkin into small cubes of about 1-2cm³. Place in a saucepan with 1.5cups of water. Cover and place on a high heat. Bring to a boil and let cook for 10-15 minutes, until the cubes soften. Drain the excess water and lower the heat to medium. Continue to cook the pumpkin until completely soft. When you stir it with a wooden spoon they should fall apart effortlessly. Continue cooking until the pumpkin takes on the consistency of baby food, use a potato masher to get it all nice and smoooooooth then let it cool completely.

2. Next we’re going to prepare the dry ingredients by sifting the white rice flour, the tapioca flour, the baking powder, the yeast, the ground ginger, the nutmeg, the cayenne pepper, the pinch of salt, and the ground cinnamon into a bowl. Also take this opportunity to sift the brown sugar as it often forms clumps, and we don’t want that. Nuh-uh.

3. Now to start that actual cake making.*squeal* Place the butter in a large mixing bowl with the honey and whisk together until the butter is soft and fluffy. Add the sifted brown sugar (or even sift it again) and one of the eggs to the fluffy butter, and whisk together until mixture has lightened in colour and thoroughly mixed together. Add the other two eggs one by one, whisking well between each addition. This is the best opportunity to add air to the cake. This is also the best time to sing Whip It (nope, not sorry).

4. Sift those dry ingredients we prepared earlier into the large mixing bowl. This is the second opportunity to add air and therefore fluffiness to the cake. Stir together with a metal spoon.

5. Stir in the condensed milk, then add the cooled pumpkin purée and watch as it all turns bright orange! Then you can finally add the dark chocolate chips and the chopped walnuts to the mixture, and stir together - making sure everything is combined and nothing stays stuck to the bottom.

6. Pour the mixture into a 24cm loaf pan and place in an oven that has been pre-heated to 180°C for 50minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. This also works as cupcakes if you want to make 24 individual cakes, just remember they’re smaller so they only take about 20 minutes to cook.

7. Let the cake cool slightly, remove from the pan and then let cool completely.

Admire your handy work (very important step):