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Pumpkin Cake Recipe
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When you live in the South, where
the summers are very long and very hot, Fall never comes too soon. Cooler
days mean baking days and one cake I particularly enjoy is this honey colored
Pumpkin Cake with its shiny chocolate glaze. This cake is full of flavor
and keeps fresh for days, thanks to the pumpkin puree and canola oil. The
chocolate glaze is a delicious mixture of semi sweet chocolate with enough
butter, corn syrup, and brandy to make it flow easily down the sides of the
cake. Try to make this cake the day before serving, so the flavors of the cake
and chocolate glaze have time to soften and mingle.
The unique ring shape of this Pumpkin Cake comes from using a bundt pan, a
fancy tube pan created by an American, H. David Dalquist, back in 1950.
The story goes that a group of Minneapolis Jewish women from a local
Hadassah wanted a better pan for baking their bundkuchen. They went to
Dalquist's company, Northland Aluminum Products, with their problem and he
created a ring shaped tube pan with fluted sides made from cast aluminum.
He named the pan "bundt" (by adding the letter 't' to the word
"bund" which is German for "gathering") and while sales of this pan were a
little slow at first, they skyrocketed once Ella Helfrich from Texas, used
the pan for her Tunnel of Fudge Cake that won the 1966 Pillsbury Bake-Off
contest. The beauty of this pan is that the inner tube conducts the heat
into the center of the batter so it cooks evenly, which
is especially good for heavy cake batters.
One ingredient called for in this recipe, that you may not be familiar
with, is wheat bran. It adds a mild earthy taste and coarse flaky texture
to this cake. Wheat Bran is the outer layer (shell) of the wheat kernel
and even when ground it is not considered a flour but a fiber. Unprocessed
wheat bran can be found in most grocery stores (on the baking isle or in
the organic section) or else in health food stores. One popular brand is
Bob's Red Mill which comes in a 10 ounce (283 gram) plastic bag.
I admit that I normally use canned pumpkin puree in this recipe, as I
find it almost as good as fresh. But if you find yourself with a few extra
pumpkins that were not carved into Jack-O-Lanterns, you might want to make
your own puree. First off, you want to use the smaller pumpkin varieties
like Sugar Pie, Baby Bear or Cheese Pumpkin (approximately 5-7 lbs., 2 1/2
- 3 1/2 kg.). To make the puree, first cut the pumpkin in half lengthwise,
remove seeds and stringy fibers, and then place cut-side down on a greased
baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) for approximately 45
minutes to 1 1/4 hours (depending on size) or until easily pierced with a
knife. Scoop out the pulp and puree in a food processor until smooth. To
extract all the liquid, strain through a cheesecloth lined strainer. Cool
the puree before using.
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Pumpkin
Cake: Preheat the oven
to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter
(or spray with a non stick vegetable spray) a 10 inch (25 cm) bundt pan.
In the bowl of
your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the eggs, oil, vanilla extract,
and sugar until well combined (about 2 - 3 minutes). Add the pumpkin puree and
beat until incorporated.
In a separate bowl, whisk
together the flour, wheat bran, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Add the
flour mixture to the pumpkin batter and beat just until incorporated. Stir in
the nuts. Pour the batter
into the prepared pan. Bake for approximately 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted
in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then
invert and remove the cake from the pan. Cool completely before
frosting.
Chocolate Glaze:
Melt the chocolate, butter, and corn syrup in a stainless steel bowl placed over
a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat, stir in the brandy, and let
cool to room temperature. Pour the glaze over the top of the cooled bundt cake,
letting the glaze flow down the sides. Keeps several days at room temperature.
Makes one - 10
inch (25 cm) bundt cake.
Sources:
Anderson, Jean.
The American Century Cookbook. Clarkson Potter/Publishers. New York: 1997.
Mendelson, Susan &
Roitberg, Deborah. Still Nuts About Chocolate. Douglas & McIntyre.
Vancouver. 1992.
Smith, Andrew F.
The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. Oxford University Press.
New York: 2007.
Wolf, Burt &
Aronson, Emily & Fabricant, Florence. The New Cooks' Catalogue. Alfred A.
Knopf. New York: 2000.
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Pumpkin
Cake:
4 large eggs
1 cup (240 ml) canola oil
1 teaspoon pure
vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups (350 grams)
granulated white
sugar
2
cups
or 1 - 15 ounce can (425 grams) pure pumpkin (pumpkin puree)
2 cups (260 grams) all
purpose
flour
1 cup (45 grams) wheat
bran
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon
baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground
cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup (100 grams) chopped
walnuts or pecans (or 1 cup (170 grams) mini chocolate chips)
Chocolate Glaze:
6 ounces
(170 grams) semi sweet chocolate, chopped
4
tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2
tablespoons light corn syrup
1
tablespoon brandy (optional) |
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