Pumpkin-Walnut Cake

Pumpkin-Walnut Cake

From The Essential Eating Well Cookbook

Yum!! I absolutely love fall and all the fun foods it brings. We made this cake for a grill-out with friends. It looked beautiful and tasted great but I would recommend making it for a brunch or afternoon coffee get together. It seemed to be more like a coffee cake than a dinner dessert but was delicious. I loved the pumpkin and spices – perfect for fall. I also doubled the glaze recipe (couldn’t resist) and it was well worth it. I am not sure there would have been enough if I hadn’t doubled the recipe.

Servings: 16

Cake:

½ cup walnuts, divided

1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp. salt

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground allspice

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

¼ tsp. ground cloves

2 large eggs

 1 large egg white

 1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar

 1 15-ounce can unseasoned pumpkin puree

1/3 cup orange juice

¼ cup canola oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Carmel-Walnut Glaze:

2 T. packed light brown sugar

2 T. 1% milk or evaporated skim milk

2 T. butter

1.       To prepare cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 12-cup Bundt or tube pan with cooking spray. Dust pan with flour, tilting to coat and tapping out excess.

2.       Spread walnuts in a shallow pan and bake until fragrant, about 5 minutes: let cool. Chop walnuts and set aside.

3.       Whisk whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a medium bowl.

4.       Combine eggs, egg white, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add pumpkin, orange juice, oil, and vanilla; beat until smooth.

5.       Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Set aside 2 T. of walnuts for the glaze and fold the rest into the batter. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

6.       Bake the cake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

7.       To prepare glaze and finish cake: Combine brown sugar, milk, and butter in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Cook for 1 minute. Reove from heat and stir in the reserved 2T. walnuts.

8.       Turn the cake out onto the rack; place the rack over a baking sheet (or I just put mine right onto the cake stand to catch the glaze). Drizzle warm glaze over the top and sides of the cake. Transfer to a serving plate; spoon any glaze from baking sheet over the cake. Let cool.

Nutrition Info: 214 calories; 7g fat; 1g sat fat; 28mg chol; 4g protein; 281mg sod