Pumpkin moist pound cake with white chocolate and raisins

Name: Pumpkin moist pound cake with white chocolate and raisins
Prep time: 25 min
Yield: 20 Servings
Ingredients: Brown Sugar: 160g/ 5½oz; oil: 100ml/ ½Cup; Butter: 100g/ 4oz; water: 60ml/ ¼Cup; Whole wheat flour: 300g/ 2½Cup; Semolina flour: 50g/ ½Cup; baking powder: 1tsp; Baking soda: 1tsp; ground cinnamon: 1tsp; ground dry ginger: 1tsp; Salt: ¼tsp; Pumpkin: 600g/ 4 cups; Date honey: 2 tbsp; White chocolate: 75g / ½Cup; Raisins: 75g / ½Cup

Simply the best pumpkin pound cake for winter

Features:

Cuisine:

1 hr 25 minutes
Serves 20
Medium

Ingredients

160g/ 5½oz Brown Sugar
100ml/ ½Cup oil
100g/ 4oz Butter
softened at room temperature
60ml/ ¼Cup water
300g/ 2½Cup Whole wheat flour
50g/ ½Cup Semolina flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp Baking soda
1tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp ground dry ginger
¼tsp Salt
600g/ 4 cups Pumpkin
peeled
2 tbsp Date honey
75g / ½Cup White chocolate
75g / ½Cup Raisins

Directions

There’s something in the winter air that makes me bake a pumpkin cake.

It doesn’t matter which pumpkin cake, there are many recipes out there but the common idea is the intoxicating pumpkin cake getting out of the oven, it’s crispy on the outside and moist and tender on the inside.

I’m kind of old fashioned when it comes my pumpkin cake, I like the pound cake version, no Bundt style or any glazing whatsoever. A good pound cake does not need glazing, it just takes the attention from the cake and it can hold on its own perfectly good.

Thoughts on pumpkin cake

First, let’s discuss the ingredients used here, I have chosen a different flour set in order to add some fibers and nutritional values than the regular white flour.

I used a combination of whole wheat flour and semolina flour. I want to get into a slightly grainier texture that absorbs less fluids in order for this cake to be more like a semolina sandy texture and less of a sponge cake, the taste of whole wheat and semolina is a winner.

What then makes a good moist pound cake? I would say it’s the ratio between the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients which are followed by proper baking (i’ll discuss baking shortly).

In this recipe, there is a wide variety of wet ingredients, oil-butter mix, eggs and most important a cooked pumpkin which absorbed a big amount of water by the time it’s pureed.

A good pumpkin cake deems strong spices, oriental dominant ones like ground Cinnamon and ground ginger. There is something about the pumpkin that supports those flavors and when all combines together makes them milder and refreshing and not over taking the cake.

So, what’s the story on baking a pumpkin cake?

On one hand, we want the cake to be moist and tender so we don’t want to overbake it but on the other hand we don’t want it to be undercooked. Anyone who’s ever baked a pound cake knows that you have one shot in making the cake successful, taking the cake to early and then getting it back to the oven for another baking if not ready, will not work, the texture will be ruined and so does the taste.

So, I recommend about 45-50 minutes after baking starts to check with a toothpick every 5 minutes to see if it comes out dry because the windows of opportunity for a great pumpkin cake is narrow.

pumpkin cake

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Steps

1 Done 20 minutes	preparing the pumpkin Cut the pumpkin into fairly big bites and place in a small saucepan. Bring the pan into a gentle simmer and continue cooking on medium temperature for about 20 minutes until soft. Puree the pumpkin and place in a strainer to cool down and lose liquids for 30 minutes.
2 Done 10 minutes	making the pumpkin cake mixture Preheat the oven to 170°c/ 340°F. In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, place the butter, oil and sugar. whisk for 2 minutes until the mixture is nice and smooth, add the water and mix for another minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl, turn mixer to medium speed, add the eggs one by one and mix for another 2 minutes. Add the whole-wheat flour, semolina flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt and mix for 3 more minutes. Add the date honey and the pumpkin puree and mix for another minute. Throw in the white chocolate and raisins and gently mix only until incorporated, about 15 seconds.
3 Done 1 hour	baking the pumpkin cake Pour the mixture into a big 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan (23 x 13 x 7cm) loaf pan. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 1 hour. After 45-50 minutes poke the cake with a toothpick every 5 minutes to check if the cake is ready. When ready take out of the oven and cool down for 3 minutes. the pumpkin cake can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Serve in room temperature.