Let's just take a minute and think about the first person who decided to eat a pumpkin. Now, this pumpkin is as hard as a rock, a crazy orange color, and the insides smell funny and are full of stringy guts. Not to mention the fact that you have to cook it for hours before it's edible. This was an adventurous individual indeed. But let's not forget that we have him to thank for pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice lattes, and of course, pumpkin cake.
Unlike our Johnny Pumpkinseed friend, I was feeling lazy when I was creating this recipe, so I made it a bundt cake. The laziest of all cakes, it doesn't require decorating and you don't even have to wait for it to cool before drizzling the glaze on top. This is perfect for a holiday dinner when you're behind on the cooking. You can let it bake during your meal and then smugly carry a warm cake out of the kitchen like it's no big deal.
The Science.
At first, I had a hard time making this cake with a robust pumpkin flavor. I used my Orange Gingerbread Cake as a basis for my recipe, replacing the molasses with an equal volume of pumpkin. This produced a cake with a wonderful texture, but I thought I could give it more oomph. If I added more canned pumpkin to give it a really strong flavor, there was too much moisture in the cake and it became gummy. After many taste tests from my friends, I began to realize that people were associating the spices in the cake with pumpkin flavor, and the actual pumpkin didn't have much to do with it at all.
I did some research, and found that this is caused by two factors. The first is that cinnamon has a very strong flavor, and our tastebuds are saturated by it very quickly. Cinnamaldehyde is the compound that gives cinnamon its pungent, spicy flavor, and it stimulates the same taste receptors as hot peppers [1]. We can taste very low concentrations of cinnamaldehyde, but we cannot differentiate any increase in flavor past 0.5mg/mL [1]. The significance of this is that the cinnamon in the cake is so pungent that it largely overwhelms the pumpkin flavor. Secondly, we have been psychologically conditioned over time to associate cinnamon flavor with the holiday season, so this flavor is more strongly correlated to fall treats than actual pumpkin [2]. So in the end, all I needed to do was use more spices in the cake, rather than increase the amount of pumpkin.
I did some research, and found that this is caused by two factors. The first is that cinnamon has a very strong flavor, and our tastebuds are saturated by it very quickly. Cinnamaldehyde is the compound that gives cinnamon its pungent, spicy flavor, and it stimulates the same taste receptors as hot peppers [1]. We can taste very low concentrations of cinnamaldehyde, but we cannot differentiate any increase in flavor past 0.5mg/mL [1]. The significance of this is that the cinnamon in the cake is so pungent that it largely overwhelms the pumpkin flavor. Secondly, we have been psychologically conditioned over time to associate cinnamon flavor with the holiday season, so this flavor is more strongly correlated to fall treats than actual pumpkin [2]. So in the end, all I needed to do was use more spices in the cake, rather than increase the amount of pumpkin.The Recipe.
Cake:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup buttermilk
Preheat oven to 350oF.
Coat a bundt pan with baking spray. Mix dry ingredients in a large
bowl. In a medim bowl, beat together sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and pumpkin on
medium speed. Alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk, and beat just
until smooth. Pour batter into pan and bake on center rack 45 minutes,
or until tester comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert onto wire rack.
Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup ginger ale
Combine sugar and ginger ale in a small bowl. Drizzle over warm cake and serve immediately.
To give your tablescape an appropriate autumnal feel, you can litter it with chrysanthemums, pumpkins, and other gourds. Perhaps some fall ambiance will aid in the psychological conditioning that our flavors are dependent on.
1. Yokomi, N. and Ito, M. "Influence of composition upon the variety of tastes in Cinnamomi Cortex." Journal of Natural Med., 2009. Vol. 63(3): pp261-266.
2. Seo, H et al. "Odor attributes change in relation to the time of the year. Cinnamon odor is more familiar and pleasant during Christmas season than summertime." Appetite, 2009. Vol. 53(2): pp222-225.
