‘Tis the season

Kicking off to a seasonal start to the blog with these fun Pumpkin Cakes. In every village in the Three Valleys we see pumpkins growing at this time of the year, be it in veg patches, on walls, roadsides and in Villarlurin even up trees.

It’s a great one for the kids as they will see pumpkin in a new light and get them in the mood for Halloween in a few weeks…


Makes 12

200g self-raising flour

1 tbs baking powder

Pinch of sea salt

3 eggs

175g caster sugar

200g uncooked finely grated pumpkin

Finely grated zest of 2 orange

100g full-fat cream cheese

25g unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes

150-175g icing sugar, sifted

Edible flowers (marigolds, fennel)

Preheat the oven to 180c. Lightly grease or line a 12 hole muffin tray with muffin cases. (I often run out of these and use cut up squares of grease proof paper) You could do steps 6-8 at an earlier stage.

  1. Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt.
  2. Beat the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric whisk for 5-6 minutes until the mixture is thick creamy and pale.
  3. Fold in the flour, half at a time, using a large metal spoon.
  4. Fold in the grated pumpkin and half of the orange zest.
  5. Carefully spoon the mixture into the paper cases so they are 3/4 full and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly golden and springy to the touch. Leave in the trays for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
  6. Beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
  7. Add the icing sugar and other half of orange zest and beat until it is light and creamy.
  8. Cover and put into the fridge to firm up before using.
  9. When cool top with the icing and decorate.