Drizzled Pumpkin Orange Tea Loaf
Drizzled Pumpkin Orange Tea Loaf
Ingredients
- butter, for greasing
- 200g light brown sugar
- 4 medium free-range eggs, separated
- 250g pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and grated
- grated zest and juice of 1 small orange
- a few drops of vanilla extract
- 75g chopped walnuts
- 75g ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped
- 200g self-raising flour
- a pinch of sea salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 100g ground almonds
- For the orange drizzle:
- 125g icing sugar
- 2 tbsp orange juice
- grated zest of 1/2 orange
Method
- Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3. Lightly grease and line a 900g loaf tin with baking parchment.
- In a bowl, beat together the sugar and egg yolks until fluffy, pale and creamy. Add the grated pumpkin, along with the orange zest and juice, vanilla, walnuts and apricots. Sift the flour, salt and spices and fold into the mixture, along with the ground almonds, moving the spoon in a figure-of-eight movement.
- In a clean, dry bowl, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks, then fold gently into the pumpkin mixture. Do not beat or overmix.
- Spoon the mixture into the lined tin and bake for 50–60 minutes, or until well risen and golden brown. You can check whether the cake is cooked by inserting a thin skewer into the middle – it should come out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for five minutes, then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.
- To make the orange drizzle, mix the icing sugar and orange juice together in a bowl until smooth. Drizzle over the top of the loaf and then scatter over the orange zest. Leave to set.
- Cut into slices to serve. The loaf will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days, or in a cool place for two to three days.
OR YOU CAN TRY THIS…
– Use raisins, dates or dried cranberries instead of apricots.
– Use chopped pecans, hazelnuts or almonds.
– Use butternut squash instead of pumpkin.
Extracted from The Squash & Pumpkin Cookbook by Heather Thomas (Ebury Press, £9.99)
