What You Need:

1 large pumpkin

How to Make It:

Using a very sharp knife remove the stem from the pumpkin.
Cut the pumpkin into 8 wedges.
Remove the seeds and pulp making sure that the pumpkin is completely clean.
Place the pumpkin wedges into a large roasting pan.
Bring the oven temperature to 325 degrees.
Place the pumpkin wedges in the oven, uncovered and roast 60 minutes.
Reduce the heat to 300 degrees and continue baking 2 hours.
The pumpkin meat should be fork tender and no liquid should be visible under the skin that has formed.
Turn off the oven but leave the pumpkin wedges in the oven with the oven door slightly cracked to ventilate for 2 more hours.
Remove the wedges from the oven and cut away any skin or exceptionally dry pieces of meat.
Place the wedges into the blender or food processor.
Puree until you achieve the smooth texture you are looking for.
Use the puree in your favorite pumpkin dish or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Serving amount depends on the size of the pumpkin.

When removing the dry parts of the meat after roasting remember that even though it is dry it is still tender enough to use. The parts that may be too dry and not usable will be around the area of where the stem was cut away. Also when you puree the meat you will have to scrape and stir the pieces for a few minutes. They are too heavy to move on their own until they begin to liquefy and loose the heaviness.

What You Need:

2 1/2 C flour
2 tsp. orange zest, grated
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 C butter
1 1/2 C brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 C buttermilk
1/2 C pumpkin puree
1/4 C molasses
Powdered sugar

How to Make It:

Place the flour and orange zest in a large mixing bowl.
Add the baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger and mix until well combined.
Place the butter in a separate bowl and mix on low speed with an electric mixer until creamy.
Add the brown sugar to the creamed butter and mix until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Pour the buttermilk into a large mixing bowl.
Add the pumpkin puree and molasses and mix until completely combined.
Place 1/4 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture and mix to combine.
Place 1/4 of the buttermilk mixture into the butter mixture and mix to combine.
Continue in this manner until al the ingredients are combined together.
Bring the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
Spray a large baking pan with a non stick cooking spray.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.
Bake 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool slightly and the garnish with the powered sugar.

12 Servings

The orange zest and molasses make the cake moist and delicious. It’s even tasty without the powdered sugar on top.