For the rest of the month, I’ll be sharing my favorite healthified Thanksgiving recipes with you. Today we’re starting off with a super moist cake. My family usually doesn’t like pumpkin recipes, but they liked this one. A lot. And especially with the orange hard sauce.
The cake doesn’t need extra sugar, but if you really want to impress people, use the hard sauce. People flip out over it.
In case you’re new here, this doesn’t taste whole grain. I don’t like things that taste healthy or whole grain. It tastes like any normal pumpkin gingerbread would. :)
I got these little pumpkins from Aldi for .99 and I feel like they need to be in EVERY pumpkin related post I make for the rest of my days. I love my .99 pumpkins.
For some fantastic tips on how to make your Thanksgiving dinner a bit healthier, check out 10 Tips For A Heart-Healthy Thanksgiving from What Would Cathy Eat?
Ingredients:
Dry:
3 1/2 cup (450 grams) whole spelt, whole wheat pastry, or whole wheat flour
2 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
3 teaspoons ground ginger
Wet:
4 eggs
1 cup (200 grams) unrefined or brown sugar
2/3 cup (200 grams) honey
1 cup (240ml) olive oil – you can replace up to 1/2 of this with apple sauce, but I don’t think it’s quite as good
1/4 cup (60ml) water
15 ounces (425 grams) pumpkin puree
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350°F / 175°C. Mix together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and add the rest of the wet ingredients. Add the dry mix to the wet. Spray a 12 cup / 10″ bundt pan with cooking spray. If you don’t want to make the orange sauce, I think it’s nice to sprinkle some sugar or cinnamon sugar in the pan, and shake the pan around until it’s well distributed. Fill it with the batter, and bake for 1 hour – 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. This recipe can also be halved and baked in a 6 cup bundt pan, which is what I always do. If using a 6 cup bundt pan, bake for 40 minutes.
Orange Hard Sauce:
1 1/2 cups (195 grams) powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick / 113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons brandy
Zest of one orange, about 1 teaspoon
Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Mix well! It can be made 4 days ahead of serving and stored in the fridge. It’s a bit difficult to spread when cold, so be sure to bring it to room temperature before serving.
7 comments on "100% Whole Grain Pumpkin Gingerbread" — Add one!
Rachel – Let me know how it turns out! I hope you love it. :)
This looks so yummy!
Can't wait to try it out, love that it's "healthy" too!
But you've got Trader Joe's and that's way better! Aldi is cheap but just blah.
Cool, waiting for the posts :-) I loved aldi while in Europe, I loved their prices!
Thanks. I'm excited too! I have so many ideas and so little time.
Excited to see what you come up with! This cake sounds dreamy. Mmm.
Yum! Thanks for participating in the Healthy Thanksgiving Challenge.