Pumpkin and Oat Flour Cake (No Wheat)

Name: Pumpkin and Oat Flour Cake
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 65 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups cooked pumpkin (drained well: wet purée stops the cake setting); 1 cup honey (the only sweetener in the recipe); 5 eggs; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 cups oat flour (ground oat flour, not rolled oats); 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1 teaspoon ginger, powdered or grated; 1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

Cooked pumpkin blended with oat flour, honey, cinnamon and ginger, with walnuts through it. No wheat flour and no sugar beyond the honey. Serves fourteen.

Total: 1 5

JUMP TO RECIPE

Cooked pumpkin blended into a batter of oat flour, honey, cinnamon and ginger, with walnuts scattered on top. No wheat flour anywhere in it.

Drain the pumpkin

This is where the cake usually fails. Squash is mostly water, and cooked pumpkin that has not been drained carries enough of it to stop the batter setting in the middle.

Press it in a sieve, or let it sit in one for ten minutes, before it goes into the bowl. The purée should hold its shape on a spoon rather than run off it.

Oat flour is not rolled oats

Oat flour is oats ground to a powder. Rolled oats are flattened whole grains, and they behave completely differently: they absorb liquid slowly and stay as visible flakes.

If you only have rolled oats, blitz them in a food processor until they are a fine powder. Two cups of oats gives roughly two cups of flour.

No gluten, so no careful handling

Wheat flour develops gluten when it is worked, which is why most cake recipes tell you to mix gently and stop as soon as the flour disappears.

Oat flour has no gluten to develop. Mixing everything in one bowl until smooth, which is what step two does, cannot toughen this batter. The trade-off is that the cake is denser and more tender, and it crumbles more easily when warm.

Honey browns faster than sugar

A cup of honey is the only sweetener here, and honey caramelises at a lower temperature than granulated sugar. If the top is going dark before the middle is set, lay a piece of foil loosely over it.

Thirty-five minutes is what the recipe steps call for. Test with a knife in the centre rather than trusting the clock.

More with pumpkin

Pumpkin dessert — the spoonable version.
Pumpkin soup — the savoury one.
Mashed pumpkin — as a side.
Ahuyama — which squash to buy.

Pumpkin Cake FAQ

Why did my cake not set in the middle?

Almost certainly wet pumpkin. Cooked squash holds a lot of water and needs draining before it goes into the batter. It should hold its shape on a spoon rather than run off.

Can I use rolled oats instead of oat flour?

Not directly, but you can make oat flour from them: blitz rolled oats in a food processor until they are a fine powder. Two cups of oats gives about two cups of flour.

Does it matter how much I mix it?

Not here. Oat flour has no gluten to develop, so unlike a wheat cake this batter cannot be toughened by over-mixing. Mix until smooth and stop there.

The top is browning too fast.

Honey caramelises at a lower temperature than sugar, so it colours sooner. Lay a piece of foil loosely over the tin and carry on baking until a knife comes out clean.

Can I use sugar instead of honey?

Yes, roughly three quarters of a cup of sugar for the cup of honey, plus a little extra liquid since honey brings moisture as well as sweetness. The cake will brown more slowly.