Pumpkin Cake

So I started a new job recently which has given me the opportunity to actually have time to work on this blog.  At my new job I have quite a bit of flexibility to pretty much do whatever I want when it comes to desserts and cold dishes, and being that it's October I thought what better way to honor the month (which is by chance also Celiac Awareness Month) to be completely obsessed with all things pumpkin.  In the following weeks, I'll be posting all things pumpkin from my own experiments.

 

First thing first, I've been using homemade pumpkin puree for my recipes.  To make pumpkin puree you simply cut sugar pumpkins in half, scoop out the seeds, put them skin side up onto a sheet pan, add a cup of water to the sheet pan and roast at 350 for 1 hour to 1.5 hours until the "meat" is all the way cooked. Then just scoop the insides out and puree it in a food processor.  I'd recommend the food processor over a blender, I tried to do it in my blender first and it was an epic failure, but my food process had no issue with it.

Now at work all week I've been making Pumpkin Cake, that wasn't gluten free and it was so very good.  Yes, I cheated and ate some, I did have to test it out.  However, I decided to try and make it gluten free.  I dug in Saturday morning for a full day of experimentation, modifying the recipe I had been making all week at work.  Oddly enough my first attempt came out amazing.  Some of my modifications were on purpose, some were accidental mostly because I realized after I already started I didn't have enough sugar, which is why it's half white sugar, and half brown sugar.  This cake came out amazingly moist and spongy.  From my experience, almost all my gluten free baking has turned out like bricks.  My sister even told me how she would have never known "there was something wrong with it".  And while I don't have a recipe listed, this goes really well with a cream cheese frosting, but I ate it just plain.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Cake Recipe

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

2/3 c vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 c pumpkin puree

2 eggs

1 c GF All purpose flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)

1 tsp xanthum gum

1.5 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

Sift the flour, xanthum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices together and set aside. Combine the sugar and oil until well mixed, I do this all by hand with a whisk.  Add the vanilla and pumpkin and mix.  Add the eggs one at a time, then slowly add the flour mix until blended.  Grease and flour a 9" cake pan, and bake about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.