Ingredients
Serves 8
dry ingredients
220g flour
150g sugar
1 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
1/4 tsp of powdered clove
1/2 tsp of allspice (4 epices)
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of salt
wet ingredients
2 eggs
10 cl of olive oil
250g of pumpkin puree
Preparation
1- In a medium bowl add your dry ingredients, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and your spices. Give this a whisk with a hand whisk.
2- In a bigger bowl add your wet ingredients, pumpkin puree, olive oil, and eggs. Give this a whisk. Turn your oven on to 170c / 350f.
3- Add your dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula.
4- Butter your pan, pour your batter in and pop it into the oven. Bake for 35-45 minutes depending on how fast your oven bakes.
5- Let it cool, depan and enjoy a simple and delicious cake.
Step 1
When I'm baking with my daughter I like to pull out all the ingredients first. She is almost 3 years old here and this makes it easier for me to manage rather than pulling out the ingredients as I go.
Uncle Alex monitoring the scale as Indhia adds flour spoonful by spoonful. Add all the dry ingredients into a bowl.
It's nice to have a fun kitchen apron for your kiddo. We call upon "Mr.Dog!" each time we are going to cook.
This is a good bowl to practice egg cracking on because it's large, heavy enough and the edge is good for cracking.
If eggshell falls into the bowl use a larger piece of shell to scoop it out. Shell sticks to shell much easier than a spoon or fingers!
In this case pouring in the olive oil directly into the bowl should be guided by an adult as there is no going back. Feel free to pour it into a vessel first and hand the vessel to the kiddo, especially if they are younger.
It's good to take your time with all the ingredients in this cake. It's great practice for them to add each one, one at a time at a slow pace, not rushed even though it can take up to 3x the time it would take you..
She wanted to add the wet ingredients into the dry with her little spoon. Fine. We let her explore this and for her to ask for help.
Uncle Alex holding the bowl and Indhia using a spoon to scoop it through. Use a rubber spatula to scoop the remainder of the batter into the pan.
She wanted to test out different spoon sizes for mixing. A soup spoon vs. a coffee spoon.
She then wanted to test out her whisk. If you have the time + patience, let them try different mixing utensils. It's through their own experience they learn best.
Use a waded up paper towel or fingers to butter the pan with a small piece of butter. Make sure to get the sides too.
With the help of Uncle Alex and her kiddo spatula Q slowly transfers out the batter into her butter pan.
Uncle Alex finishes the job making sure all the batter gets in and also showing Q the magic of a rubber spatula.
While the cake is baking they clean up. I always encourage some clean up with Q but I don't hold her to get every crumb. I'm more interested in the action and consistency of cleaning up after a kitchen task.
Look at that beauty. Q was proud to take Uncle Alex through the baking process.
Time to dig in. We prefer this cake warm. Enjoy.
One of our favorite books during my daughter’s 3rd year is this cutie French book called “Un automne avec M.Henry” by Fanny Ducasse. The star is Mr.Badger, a badger that lives a lovely simple life enjoying the small moments of the day such as going on an autumn walk, hanging with his friends and cooking. It’s full of psychedelic autumn illustrations and some great recipes that Mr.Badger provides his readers. This pumpkin cake is one of them and we’ve made it several times. Simple, quick and delicious for a cozy autumn afternoon snack.
We had a dear friend visiting from the US, Uncle Alex and I thought it would be fun if my daughter and he made this cake together. Since she has made it before and knows her way decently around the kitchen, I hoped this would be a nice way for her to gain some confidence.
Uncle Alex was of course game and they made the cake together. It was so cute and fun. A very special moment for me because I met Alex when he was 3 years old and babysat him for a long time. A full circle moment and these are some of the moments I love best.
Although Uncle Alex guided her throughout the process, she rocked it. Calm and confident throughout the whole process and of course proud of the final product. This is a simple cake to make and as always the spices don’t need to be perfectly measured so there is wiggle room for kid “creativity!” Enjoy!
