Growing up in Cape Town, Autumn was a relative non-event. Sure there were deciduous trees that lost their leaves, but it wasn’t spectacular. My mom’s garden had flowering plants year round so there was always color. When I made my first October visit to the Appalachian mountains, I was in awe. The amazing vistas in rich colors I’d never seen the likes of, were picture perfect like the American calendars of my childhood.
I have now spent more Autumns in the US than I ever spent in South Africa, and “Fall,” as I now know it, is a favorite time of year. I love the crispness in the air after the heat of summer, sleeping with the windows open, the rich-colored turning leaves and all recipes associated with the season.
Since tasting my first pumpkin latte a few weeks ago, I’ve been hankering to bake something pumpkinny. Over the weekend we hosted some eagerly anticipated overseas cousins and I wanted to serve a special treat for tea as they arrived. Then I was poking around on Pinterest and came across this cake recipe pinned from prairiecottagerose’s blog. It looked scrumptious. I quickly gathered up the ingredients and set to baking.
Not one to make a recipe without altering it in some way, I cut back on the suggested 2 cups of sugar by 1/4 of a cup, and I added ginger…..when I visited the new Whole Foods, I’d bought [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][among other things], a little bag of crystallized ginger so had it on hand. I chopped some finely and added it to the cake mixture along with a generous teaspoon of ground ginger.
I have 2 Baby Bundt pans, which are so often just the ticket. A recipe for a regular Bundt cake split into the two pans gives you a cake to eat and a cake to take or freeze.
There is nothing complicated about this recipe. It’s very easy and the taste is really great. The cake is a little dense. I was so excited to see our newly arrived overseas family that I forgot to photograph a slice of cake. They loved the cake, which was still a little warm when they arrived. Even after weekend nibblings, there was some leftover so I was able to pack 4 little slices for them to take on the road!
PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon each of salt, ground allspice & ground cloves
4 eggs
1 can pumpkin (16 oz)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup mini chocolate chips
[Optional: 1 teaspoon ground ginger and 2-3 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger.]
Preheat oven to 350. Combine dry ingredients in a large mixer bowl until well blended. Add
remaining ingredients except chocolate chips. Mix well. Stir the chocolate chips in by hand.
Pour into a greased Bundt pan. Bake 1 hour & 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool in pan 5 minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar when
cool, if desired.
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