Pumpkin Spiced Cake

" Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful. "

                                                                                                               -  John Maeda

After all the Navrathri pooja and celebrations, I'm back into track. Got a chance to meet like minded people , lots of learning and it was full  of fun and giggle. Somewhere striked,“ The greatest step towards a life of simplicity is to learn to let go.”

As you all know, Fall (Autumn) is here and also pumpkin is everywhere ... ha ha. Yes, all the shops are now filled with pumpkin.We picked up some too .

First thing that came to my mind on seeing these beauties is the Starbuck's pumpkin spiced muffins.The freshness of the pumpkin and the warm and aromatic spices ...mmm still drooling.

Ingredients

Pumpkin Puree ............................... 1 cup * see notes
Dark Brown Sugar ............................ 1 cup
Granulated Sugar ............................... 3/4 cup
Canola Oil ....................................... 1/3 cup
Water ............................................. 1/3 cup
Flex Seeds ..................................... 2 tbsp * see notes
Vanila Extract .................................. 1 tsp
All Purpose Flour .............................. 1 cup
Whole Wheat Flour ............................ 1 cup
Cinnamon Powder ............................... 1 1/2 tsp
Nutmeg Powder .................................. 1/2 tsp
Allspice Powder ................................. 1/2 tsp
Baking Powder .................................... 1 tsp
Baking Soda ......................................... 1 tsp
Ginger Powder ...................................... 1/2 tsp
Salt ......................................................... a pinch
Plain Yogurt ............................................ 2 tbsp

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Prepare the cake tin by applying some oil or butter and dust with flour.
3. Cut the pumpkin into quarters and bake them in the oven for 45 min at 350 F. Cool it, peel the skin and blend it with a tbsp of water to make puree. Alternately you can just put the pumpkins in a vessel and cover with a lid and keep this vessel in a pressure cooker and cook till one whistle. Cool it and scrape the skin and puree it with 1 tbsp water.
4. Slightly roast the flex seeds and blend it with 1/3 cup water . Set aside.
5. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and sift well.
6. Mix all your wet ingredients and beat well with a hand mixer.Add Sugar to this and blend well.
7. Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in parts and mix with a spatula . Do not over mix as it will make the cake feel hard.
8. Cook for about 25 minutes until the tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
9. Let cool for some time and transfer to a wire rack to allow it to cool completely.

 Personally , we don't prefer frosting. But you can add caramel frosting or cream cheese frosting or simply drizzle some honey .

Notes

• You can substitute with store bought pumpkin puree too.
• You can replace flex seeds by 2 large eggs too , if you eat eggs.