Fall Recipe: Orange Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing

Here is a delicious recipe that can be used as a wonderful cake, breakfast bread, magnificent muffins or party cupcakes, depending on the type of pan you use. This yummy vanilla cream cheese icing is easy to make and compliments this cake/bread so perfectly.

INGREDIENTS: 

• 1 small orange (optional)
• 1/3 cup of butter softened
• 1 1/3 cups of white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of canned pumpkin or fresh prepared pumpkin
• 1/3 cup of water (or orange juice, if you don’t use the whole orange)
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• ½ teaspoon of baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon of ground cloves
• ½ cup of chopped pecans or walnuts (whichever you prefer)
• ½ cup of raisins (optional) 

DIRECTIONS: 

1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a Bundt cake pan with cooking spray.

2.   Cut orange into wedges, remove seeds and place entire pieces into food processor. Pulse until finely chopped; set aside.

3.   In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Then, stir in pumpkin, water and ground orange. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and cloves.  Stir into batter just until moistened. Stir in nuts and raisins. Spoon into prepared Bundt pan (or loaf pan for bread).

4.   Bake for one hour or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 min. before removing from pan. Apply cream cheese icing. 

PLEASE NOTE:  If you choose to make bread instead of the cake, grease a loaf pan and bake for about one hour. For muffins or cupcakes, line the pan with paper liners or spray with cooking spray. Bake for about 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  

LOW-FAT VANILLA CREAM CHEESE ICING

1 (8 oz.) of Reduced Fat Cream Cheese, softened

2 cups of confectioner’s sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla 

Mix softened cream cheese with sugar and vanilla until lumps disappear.  Frost your cake or bread and watch it all disappear.  ENJOY! 

OPTIONS:

Bake with Fresh Pumpkin – If you decide to use fresh pumpkin instead of canned, here is the baking method to follow. Cut the pumpkin in half and discard the stringy pulp and stem.  Place face down on cookie sheet and cover with foil.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 1.5 hrs. Once it is cool, scoop out the flesh and mash it.

Subtle Orange – This recipe is great with or without the orange. The orange adds a zesty, pungent flair to the taste of this wholesome batter. If you would rather not add the orange, you might try substituting orange juice in place of the 1/3 cup of water to capture a more subtle orange taste. After experimenting around with this recipe, I learned that my family liked it better this way.

ROASTED SEASONED PUMPKIN SEEDS

Make the most out of your jack-o-lantern this Halloween. When you carve your Jack-O-Lantern this Halloween, why not scoop out the seeds to roast them for a healthy treat?  Roasted pumpkin seeds are high in fiber and vitamins B and E.   

INGREDIENTS:

1 ½ cups of pumpkin seeds

2 teaspoons of butter (or olive/vegetable oil)

Seasoning(s) of your choice  

Ideas: Salt, Sea salt, Parmesan Cheese, Cinnamon & Sugar, Cayenne Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Basil…..or whatever seasonings turns your taste buds on.  

INSTRUCTIONS: 

1.   Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Extract seeds from most of the heavy pulp and strings but keep some of this gooey stuff on the seeds because it actually adds more flavor.

2.   Toss the seeds in the melted butter or oil with seasonings of your choice.

3.   Spread the prepared seeds onto a cookie sheet in a single layer.  Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until golden brown.