Marble pumpkin cake

The Halloween season is here, pumpkins are growing everywhere and it would be a sin not to use them in our food. 

For us, zucchini lovers, autumn creates the perfect transition between the season in which everything abounds (goodbye eggplants and zucchinis, see you next summer) and the season in which everything is scarce and overpriced. Since I don’t like the subtle sweet taste of pumpkins in salty dishes, I exclusively use them for making desserts (again, I miss the zucchini’s versatility). 

So here you have an easy way how to get rid of one half of a pumpkin. The oil and pumpkin in it ensure the result is moist so if you don't like dry cakes, this one is for you ;-)=

You’ll need (for a 35x25x4cm pan):

For the batter:

• 2 cups flour (again, use any kind you want I used for this recipe I cup whole grain rye and 1 cup all-purpose flour)
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup oil (I use sunflower)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 eggs

For the pumpkin filling:

• ½ hokkaido pumpkin
• 250g curd cheese (or any cheese you are used to bake with)
• 100g brown sugar
• 1 egg
• cinnamon powder

1) Peel the pumpkin, get rid of the seeds, chop it to pieces and boil it till it’s soft. Then get rid of the water and wait till the pumpkin cools down.

2) Mix everything for the batter in one bowl.

3) Smash the pumpkin to pieces with a fork in a different bowl (this way you will have little pieces of it but if you hate biting into “meaty” chunks of pumpkin go ahead and blend it till it’s smooth like a purée) and then add the rest of the ingredients which go in with the pumpkin.

4) Prepare your pan with either parchment paper or with the old-school method: use something greasy (oil, butter, lard) and flour to make sure the cake doesn’t stick to the pan.

5) Alternately pour the two mixtures onto the pan so that you create whatever layering you desire.

6) Bake it for about 35 minutes at 180°C.