in praise of pumpkin

i love pumpkin.  it's creamy, sweet, colorful, satisfying.  it's distinctive flavor always reminds me of the holidays, making it an instant comfort food despite its crazy amount of health benefits.  this stuff is awesome.  it's rich in vitamin c, vitamin e, high in fiber and in just a single one cup serving of pumpkin, you're fueling your body with over 245% of your RDA of the antioxidant vitamin a and you're doing it in under 50 calories.  pretty neat, huh?  pumpkin is a staple item on my grocery list each week and for one really good reason.  i mean, yeah all this health stuff is great and all, but first and foremost...it's just plain super tasty.  and um, versatile?

crunchy spicy

warm and be-streuseled

rich and creamy

as you can see, i generally tend to stay on the sweeter side with a lot of my pumpkin eats, but pumpkin definitely isn't limited to those of us with a sweet tooth.  pumpkin can be used to make all kinds of awesome soups, sauces, stews, breads, roasts, and more in addition to all the yummy puddings, pies, pastries, and desserty treats.  but, for the sake of consistency (and because this is what i actually ate this morning) i'm going to keep this post light and sweet and let you know all about the delight that is this microwave (yes, really) pumpkin cakebread:

oh so dreamy...

it beckons!!

this was nothing short of amazing.  the consistency is moist and dense like a holiday dessert bread with just enough sweetness to make you think of a little cake, but not overwhelm you like eating a whole one probably would.  it's incredibly satisfying.  i was full for hours after eating this little guy.  also, super healthy, gluten free (if that's a concern of yours), and has the option of being vegan as well.  plus, it's absurdly easy.  just 10 minutes or so buys you a friggin cake.  for breakfast.  just for you.  sweet, right?
so, having made and loved ashley's incredible microwave cocoa buckwheat bakes several times in the past, i was really inspired to create my own version of these with a slightly different flavor.  enter the pumpkin.


breakfast pumpkin cakebread


makes one cakebread serving (how personal!)



wet ingredients:

• about 1/4 cup unsweetened 100% pumpkin puree
• 3 T soy (or any) milk
• 1 T agave or honey
• 1 egg white (or you can sub a flaxegg for a vegan cake: 1 T flaxmeal mixed with 2 1/2 T water and allowed to sit for 5 minutes)
• 1 1/2 t vanilla extract 

dry ingredients:

• 1/4 cup ground raw buckwheat flour (i just grind my raw, untoasted groats in my coffee grinder till powdery)
• 1 T raw buckwheat groats
• 2 ts flaxmeal
• 1 T rolled oats or quick oats
• 1/2 to 3/4 ts cinnamon 
• dash of nutmeg
• dash of fenugreek (optional)
• 1/4 ts baking powder
• 1/4 ts stevia
• around 1 T raisins (more or less if you'd like)
• crushed walnuts (optional)

mix all the wet ingredients together in a bowl with a fork. once combined, start adding each dry ingredient one at a time to ensure thorough mixing. scrape the batter into a greased microwave safe bowl/dish/container (i just used a little cooking spray on a 2 1/2 cup tupperware container) and cover with a paper towel. microwave for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. eat it right out of the dish you cooked it in, or for fun, you can flip it over into a plate for a free standing cake. i love being able to make different shapes this way. sure, they're usually just squares or circles since my tupperware is all boring, but the kid in me is still impressed every time i manage to flip a perfectly tupperware-shaped-cake onto my breakfast plate in no time at all.

for this round, i kept it simple and just smoothed a little bit of low fat cream cheese on my cake with a little drizzle of agave, some cinnamon and strawberries, but this would also be amazing with melty peanut butter, cashew cream, maple syrup, or one of my current fav creations: peanut butter yogurt icing (1/4 banana mashed up with 1 ts or so of peanut butter, melted in the microwave and mashed in with a T or so of greek yogurt with a little cinnamon and/or stevia if you'd like. mmm warm and creamy fluff). play around with it and see what you like! cake for breakfast! for real! martha stewart doesn't even KNOW how good a thing this is. bam!