A spooky sweet tooth Halloween treat

Halloween is approaching, so if you have a spooky sweet tooth while the children are trick or treating, have an indulging moment with this deliciously sweet pumpkin cake and toffee sauce. Perfect for cuddling up and enjoying over a frightening film at night!

Serves 20

INGREDIENTS

• For the cake
• 550 gram(s) (1lb 4oz) pumpkin or butternut squash, cut into wedges
• Butter to grease
• 250 mls sunflower oil
• 275 gram(s) light muscovado sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 225 gram(s) self-raising flour, plus extra to dust
• 5 mls bicarbonate of soda
• 10 mls ground ginger
• 5 mls each of ground cinnamon and nutmeg
• 1 ground cloves and ground allspice
  For the toffee sauce
• 300 gram(s) light muscovado sugar
• 284 carton double cream
• 50 gram(s) unsalted butter
  
  METHOD
  
  
• Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan oven) mark 6. Put the pumpkin on a baking sheet and roast for 40min until tender.
  
  
• Grease a 23cm (9in) Kugelhopf tin generously with butter and dust with flour.
  
  
• Remove pumpkin from oven and allow to cool for 15 min. Reduce oven temperature to 180°C (160°C fan oven) mark 4. Spoon out 250g (9oz) pumpkin flesh, put in a mini processor and whiz to a purée.
  
  
• Put the oil and sugar in a freestanding mixer and whisk for 2min, then whisk in the eggs, one at a time.
  
  
• Add flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice and fold in. Add the purée and stir in gently.
  
  
• Pour into the prepared tin. Bake for 40-45min until the cake is risen, springy and shrinking from the edges. Leave to cool in the tin for 10min, then use a palette knife to ease the cake away from the edges. Turn out and cool on a wire rack.
  
  
• For the sauce, put sugar, cream and butter in a small heavy-based pan. Heat gently to dissolve sugar, then simmer and stir for 3min to thicken slightly. Pour into a jug.
  
  
• Drizzle the toffee sauce over the cake and serve.
  
  
  
  Check out more Halloween inspired recipes at Good Housekeeping!