This Spiced Creole Pumpkin Cake – Gato Zironmon– is soft, moist and dense but not heavy. The crumbs are soft and tight, and the cake will not fall apart when eaten with a fork. It is packed with heaps of pumpkin flavour and spices.
What types of pumpkin to use?
Pumpkins are available in a spread of shapes, sizes, colours, and textures and serve a large number of various functions. Some are very sweet with moist flesh while some others are fairly bland and have dry texture. The preferred pumpkins for this cake are the Butternut and Kent, also known as Jap pumpkin. The pumpkin has to be mature approaching ripe. Young immature pumpkin will be watery and will not have the necessary level of sweetness.
Butternut Pumpkin, sometimes referred to as Butternut Squash, tends to have an oblong bell like shape, with yellowish skin and an orange flesh. It has a slightly sweeter and nuttier flavour compared to other pumpkins. Its dry, dense, yet sweet interior makes it perfect for cake making
Jap Pumpkin, also known as Kent Pumpkin, has green skin mottled with yellow and brown patches, with orange flesh. It is inherently sweet and nutty and perfect for cakes.
HOW DO I PICK THE BEST QUALITY PUMPKIN?
You need mature pumpkin, approaching ripe, for this cake. First, inspect the pumpkin to see if it has any cuts, bruises, or peculiar discolorations on its skin. If the pumpkin does not look 100% on the outside, chances are it will not be of the best quality once you take it home and cut it open. Small visual imperfections are fine as pumpkin skin is tough and will protect the flesh. Simply place that pumpkin to one side and keep looking. If you find a pumpkin that visually seems to meet the grade, hold it up to your ear and give it a firm knock. A healthy and mature pumpkin will produce a solid woody sound, not unlike when you knock on a wooden door or table.
HOW TO STORE PUMPKINS
Fresh pumpkins can last for weeks providing you keep them whole, at room temperature and away from moisture. Once cut, pumpkins can last for two to three days if stored in the fridge. It is also a good idea to keep pumpkin away from fruits like apples and pears as they release ethylene gas which can shorten the shelf life of your pumpkin.
TIPS FOR CUTTING AND PREPARING PUMPKIN
Start by giving the pumpkin a quick wash in cool water. You don’t have to go overboard with scrubbing, since you’re not eating the outer skin, but rinse away any dust, dirt, or debris from the outside and dry it off with paper towels. If the pumpkin has a long stem, go ahead and trim it off.
Place the pumpkin on a stable surface and ensure it is stabilised. You can stabilise your pumpkin by cutting off the stem end, then turn it so it is cut-side down-you’ll be much less likely to lose control of the pumpkin when it is not wobbling on your cutting board.
Use a sharp chef’s knife and halve the pumpkin by aligning the blade with the center of the stem and driving it down through the pumpkin cutting the pumpkin into two halves from top to bottom. Depending on the size of the pumpkin, you may have to cut the pumpkin into smaller wedges. Once you have cut the pumpkin into manageable chunks, use a spoon and scrape out all the seeds and stringy pulp from the cavity. The next step is to remove the skin from the pumpkin pieces. If the skin is tough you can place the pumpkin pieces flat and use a large sharp knife to carefully remove the skin . If the skin is not too tough you can use a potato peeler to do the job.
The last step is to cut the pumpkin chunks into desired pieces, give it a good wash, drain, and keep.
Cooking the Pumpkin
There are two ways for you to cook your pumpkin. You can either boil it or steam it. I recommend that you use the steaming method because when you boil pumpkin, it absorbs quite a bit of water and it also tends to loose some of its flavour. Steam the pumpkin for about 20 minutes or until tender.
Remove the pumpkin for the steamer, set aside to cool completely and to drain off any excess liquid. Place in a bowl and use a fork to coarsely mash or purée.
Some pumpkins contain more liquid than others and you may find that the purée is a bit watery. If so, transfer the purée to your strainer or cheesecloth-lined colander and let it drain for at least an hour. You can accelerate the draining process by covering the purée with plastic wrap, then place a plate over it weighted down with some cans to press out the liquid. Too much water will affect the texture of the cake.
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Canned Pumpkin Purée
If you cannot access fresh pumpkin to make your purée, or you just do not want to bother preparing fresh pumpkin, you can buy tinned or canned pumpkin purée . You will find that the taste of the cake is comparable.
Brown Sugar
You will notice that we have used brown sugar for the cake. You may use white sugar if you so choose, but if you use brown sugar you will find that your cake is more flavourful. The molasses flavours of brown sugar pair so perfectly with pumpkin. Apart from using brown sugar for flavour, I use it for other baking science reasons (brown sugar = delicious molasses flavours + acid that will react with the bicarbonate of soda to help the cake rise).
What is Bicarbonate of Soda ?
In this recipe, we have added one teaspoon of baking soda also known as bicarbonate of soda.
Bicarbonate of soda is a raising agent often used in baking. It is an alkali which is used to raise breads and full-flavoured cakes such as gingerbread, fruit cake, chocolate cake and carrot cake. It needs an acid (as well as moisture) to activate it so is often combined with cream of tartar, yogurt, buttermilk or milk.
Bicarbonate of soda gives off carbon dioxide, which expands in a mixture. Once the mixture is cooked, the carbon dioxide is replaced by air, leaving a light cake or bread. As with all raising agents, use the amount specified in the recipe. Adding extra bicarbonate of soda can result in a peaked or collapsed cake, a strong unpleasant flavour and a greenish tinge.
Why did I Add Baking Soda?
Self-raising flour contains baking powder in a proportion that is perfect for most cakes. However, during the making of the pumpkin cake, we omit the creaming stage which means that less air is incorporated into the batter during the mixing stage. The baking soda adds that little extra leavening to compensate the shortage of air in the batter.
How to make this Creole Pumpkin cake – Gato Zironmon
The first thing you do is to preheat your oven to 180 °C
The next step is to prepare your baking tin. Choose a round tin of approximately 22cm in diameter and 7cm deep. Grease the inside of the tin with some butter or, just give it a spray the inside with cooking oil. Then line the base and the sides with baking paper. Doing this, I never have an issue with the cake sticking.
Prepare your pumpkin as detailed above.
Soften the butter until it starts to melt then combine the mashed pumpkin, sugar, eggs and melted butter together in a bowl and add vanilla essence, cinnamon and nutmeg powder.
In a separate bowl mix flour, baking soda and salt.
Finally, bring it all together. Gradually add the flour to pumpkin mixture and mix thoroughly with a large spoon. Make sure to give a good mix between each addition until you have a smooth batter.
Pour the batter into the greased tin and place it in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes to one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
When the cake is cooked allow it to stand in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. This is also an important step to make sure the cake doesn’t crumble and break or stick to the sides while you’re trying to release it.
Here is the recipe for Spiced Creole Pumpkin Cake – Gato Zironmon
This Spiced Creole Pumpkin Cake – Gato Zironmon– is soft, moist and dense but not heavy. The crumbs are soft and tight, and the cake will not fall apart when eaten with a fork. It is packed with heaps of pumpkin flavour and spices.
- 600 g cooked mashed pumpkin
- 50 g butter
- 100 g brown sugar
- 250 g self-raising flour
- 125 ml milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 tsp grated orange zest
- ¼ tsp cinnamon powder
- ¼ tsp nutmeg powder
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Quickly wash the pumpkin in cool water to rinse away any dust, dirt, or debris from the outside and dry it off with paper towels. If the pumpkin has a long stem, go ahead, and trim it off.
-
Place the pumpkin on a stable surface and ensure it is stabilised. You can stabilise your pumpkin by cutting off the stem end, then turn it so it is cut-side down—you'll be much less likely to lose control of the pumpkin when it isn't wobbling on your cutting board.
-
Use a sharp chef's knife and halve the pumpkin. Depending on the size of the pumpkin, you may have to cut the pumpkin into smaller wedges. Once you have cut the pumpkin into manageable chunks, use a spoon and scrape out all the seeds and stringy pulp from the cavity.
-
Remove the skin form the pumpkin pieces. If the skin is tough you can place the pumpkin pieces flat and use a large sharp knife to carefully remove the skin. If the skin is not too tough you can use a potato peeler to do the job.
-
Cut the pumpkin chunks into desired pieces, give it a good wash, drain, and keep.
-
There are two ways for you to cook your pumpkin. You can either boil it or steam it. I recommend that you use the steaming method because when you boil pumpkin, it absorbs quite a bit of water and it also tends to loose some of its flavour.
-
Steam the pumpkin for about 20 minutes or until tender.
-
Remove the pumpkin for the steamer, set aside to cool completely and to drain off any excess liquid. Place in a bowl and use a fork to coarsely mash or purée.
-
Some pumpkins contain more liquid than others and you may find that the purée is a bit watery. If so, transfer the purée to your strainer or cheese cloth-lined colander and let it drain for at least an hour. You can accelerate the draining process by covering the purée with plastic wrap, then place a plate over it weighted down with some cans to press out the liquid. Too much water will affect the texture of the cake.
-
Preheat oven to 180 °C
-
Grease the inside of a round cake tin, (approximately 22cm in diameter and 7cm deep) and line the base and the sides with baking paper.
-
Soften the butter until it starts to melt.
-
Combine pumpkin, sugar, eggs and melted butter together in a bowl and add vanilla essence, orange zest, cinnamon and nutmeg powder.
-
In a separate bowl mix flour, baking soda and salt.
-
Gradually add the flour to pumpkin mixture and mix thoroughly with a large spoon.
-
Pour mixture into the greased tin and place in oven
-
Bake for about 45 minutes to one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean
-
When cooked allow to stand in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely
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Serve with honey or maple syrup and cream or ice cream
- You require mature pumpkin for this dish. Young pumpkin will be too watery and will have less sugar content.
- If you cannot access fresh pumpkin to make your purée, or you just do not want to go through the pain of preparing fresh pumpkin, you can buy tinned or canned pumpkin purée . You will find that the taste of the cake is comparable.
- You will notice that we have used brown sugar for the cake. You may use white sugar if you so choose, but if you use brown sugar, you will find that your cake is more flavourful. The molasses flavours of brown sugar pair so perfectly with pumpkin. Apart from using brown sugar for flavour, I use it for other baking science reasons (brown sugar = delicious molasses flavours + acid that will react with the bicarbonate of soda to help the cake rise).
Any suggestions or comments about this post
I hope you will enjoy cooking this dish. Please let me know how it turned out for you. If you have a different version of the recipe or have related questions, please leave your comments below.
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