This is a super aromatic pumpkin cake made with  the pumpkin carving leftovers and a homemade blend of fall spices that will warm your house and soul. The home made pumpkin spice puree is made of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, aniseed and all things nice and gives a lovely gooey texture to the cake that reminds of a banana bread. The pumpkin spice mixture is super delicious and I suggest you make a big batch because you can easily have it on its own with a spoon. I made the cake using homemade oat flour (by blending the oats in a food processor) and freshly squeezed orange juice, so this one is a super healthy Halloween treat for the kiddos too. 

Tip: You can make the pumpkin spice puree in advance and refrigerate the extra quantity in an air tight container to spread on your morning porridge or slice of bread. 

Ingredients 

For the pumpkin spice: 

• 300grs of pumpkin or squash, cut in cubes
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2tsp ground ginger
• 1/4tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2tsp ground clove
• 1 aniseed (optional)
• 3tbs maple syrup 

For the cake mix: 

-300ml freshly squeezed orange juice (approx 3 large oranges)

-3tbs coconut oil

• 3 1/2 cups of oats
• 3 eggs
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground clove 
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence 
• 2tbs maple syrup 
• 1 cup crashed walnuts
• A handful of cranberries

Preparation 

• Lay the pumpkin on a tray lined with parchment paper and roast for around 45mins, until golden 
• Remove from the oven and let it cool
• Mix the pumpkin with the rest of the puree ingredients in a food processor and blend well  to get almost a liquid consistency
• Melt the coconut oil in a pot and use a small quantity to grease the cake pan (I used a rectangular one),  leave the rest to use in the cake mixture. 
• To make the cake you can use an electronic mixer or mix manually with a kitchen spoon: mix first all the dry ingredients (oat flour, baking powder and spices) and then start gradually adding the liquid ingredients ( pumpkin spice puree, orange juice, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla essence, eggs) and mix well. Add the crashed walnuts and cranberries at the end and fold. 
• Pour the mixture into the greased baking tray, cover with tin foil and bake for around 35-40 mins at 180c until it starts browning and your knife comes out almost dry (it will never come out completely dry as the pumpin puree gives this cake quite a gooey texture). Remove the tin foil the last 10 minutes of the baking.