There are lots of pumpkins carved at this time of year, and waste not, want not as my grandmother would have said.
Any excess filling can be grated and used to make these very tasty little pumpkin buns.
There are similarities with a carrot cake, in texture and flavour, but these have a very seasonal feel.
The addition of oil keeps the crumb of the cake soft and moist.
I find sunflower oil works best, as it has very little flavour of its own, it allows the other ingredients to shine.
Mixed spice has a lovely warming quality with a combination of cinnamon, ground coriander seeds, caraway seeds, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.
It adds an autumnal feel to the buns. I worked in a bakery on the east coast of the United States where pumpkin pie was a staple.
We used a specially blended spice mix known simply as pumpkin pie spice, and it was sprinkled and added to much more than the pumpkin pie; for many Americans its sweet aroma signals the arrival of Fall.
If you happen to find some it would work beautifully in these buns.
Spiced Pumpkin Buns
recipe by:Michelle Darmody
The addition of oil keeps the crumb of the cake soft and moist. I find sunflower oil works best, as it has very little flavour of its own, it allows the other ingredients to shine.
Servings
12
Preparation Time
20 mins
Cooking Time
20 mins
Total Time
40 mins
Course
Main
Ingredients
200g self-raising flour
1 tsp bread soda
1 tsp ground mixed spice
3 eggs, lightly beaten
100ml sunflower oil
60ml milk
160g golden caster sugar
zest 2 oranges
1 tsp vanilla
200g pumpkin flesh, grated
for the icing:
200g cream cheese
2 tsp honey
1 tsp orange juice
zest 1 orange
½ tsp vanilla
50g icing sugar
Method
Preheat your oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4 and line a bun tin with 12 paper cases.
Sieve the flour, bread soda and mixed spice together and set aside.
Add the eggs, oil, milk, sugar, zest and vanilla to a large bowl and beat them until combined.
Add in the grated pumpkin and combine that as well.
Stir the flour mixture, getting around the sides of the bowl with a spatula to ensure all of the ingredients are mixed together to form the batter.
Spoon the batter into the prepared bun tin.
Bake in the centre of your oven for about 20 minutes until golden on top.
Once cool enough to handle, remove the buns from the tin and place them on a wire rack to cool completely.
Whisk all of the ingredients for the icing until smooth.
Fill a piping bag and swirl the icing onto each cooled cake.
Decorate with berries or with spooky edible Halloween decorations.
Baker's Tips
- You do not need to use a particularly fine grater to grate the pumpkins; the rough holes on a box grater would suffice. The pumpkin softens as the buns are baked and blends in with the other ingredients in the batter.
- If you do not have access to pumpkins, butternut squash works just as well.
- Pumpkin contains a lot of water in its flesh which will make your buns nice and moist. However all pumpkins vary and if you find there is a lot of excess liquid when you are grating your pumpkin flesh give it a quick squeeze between your palms to remove some of it. Weigh the pumpkin after you squeeze it.
- If you do not have mixed spice you could use a teaspoon of ground cinnamon instead.
- To get a jagged edge finish on the icing like in the picture, you will need a star shaped nozzle for your piping bag. You can use a round one, it will just give a different finish, more like an iced cupcake. Either way the icing will taste delicious.
- When filling a piping bag with icing it is best to push the nozzle into the bag right to the tip so it is firmly in place then put the bag nozzle down into a mug. Folder the edges of the bag over the rim of the mug. This will keep it in place as you fill it with the sticky icing.
- The buns freeze very well before they are iced. Take them out of the freezer well in advance and let them defrost fully before topping them with the cream cheese icing.
- You can eat these buns without the icing for a simpler treat.
3 delicious variations
Dark chocolate chip buns
Adding 100g of dark chocolate chips into the batter creates a nice version of these buns.
I find dark chocolate works better as it adds a contrast to the sweetness that is naturally found within pumpkin flesh.
If you do not have chocolate chips break a bar into small even size pieces.
It is nice to then top these with some piped ganache or chocolate buttercream icing.
Golden raisin & nuts
You can add raisin and chopped nuts to the batter which will give little pockets of fruity sweetness as well as adding in different textures.
Stir 30g of golden raisins and 30g of mixed chopped nuts at stage 5 in the recipe.
Ensure they are mixed throughout the batter before spooning it into your waiting bun cases.
Ginger pumpkin buns
The mixed spice adds a lovely warmth to the buns but if you like a little more oomph you can substitute it for half a teaspoon of ground ginger and then add 30g of chopped crystallised ginger to the batter as well.
This version is nice with a handful of raisins thrown into the batter as well.
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