Oh my gosh, a recipe! Maybe it was the flip of the month, or maybe just the slight dip in temperatures to get me back in the kitchen recently. I hope the trend continues! For now, let’s embrace it with this orange ginger pumpkin cake.
I went different on this version of using everyone’s favorite fall gourd in baking. This recipe has: no cinnamon, no pumpkin pie spice, no cloves, no cream cheese frosting.
It’s almost like the anti-pumpkin cake (pumpkin cake in the traditional sense, that is. Oh yeah, I have one of those.). Instead, I’ve swapped out the vegetable oil for a blood orange infused olive oil and added both fresh and ground ginger for a still-spiced but spiced-differently combination. Also the frosting? That’s a sour cream one, for a slight tang and extra sweetness. 
I was going back and forth with a friend the other day on whether or not to ice this at all because too much of any topping would completely obliterate the subtle but definitely-there flavors of this cake. I wanted to stack this in rounds like a traditional cake, but doing so I thought would make this a frosting cake rather than a pumpkin cake. I opted to go one layer on it, and in doing so, really retained the flavor that I was desperate to preserve. Just enough spice, just enough sweet. Just perfectly enough. For that time of the year when some of us have already OD’d on Halloween candy on at least one occasion, here’s a good cake to keep our sugar levels in check, but still happy with some cake.*
Oh and now I’m IN IT, and will prooobbably make pumpkin bread this weekend. Probably-definitely. 
*To be clear, this is not a free-of-anything cake. It’s not gluten, sugar, diary or fat free. It’s just not as extra as some other fall cakes that are out there.
Orange Ginger Pumpkin Cake
This orange ginger pumpkin cake uses blood orange oil and both fresh and ground ginger for a fresh twist on traditional pumpkin cake.
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 1 15-oz can canned pumpkin
- 1/2 cup blood orange infused olive oil
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 4 large eggs
- 3 TB fresh ginger, minced or pureed
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- For the frosting:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup whole fat sour cream, room temperature
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Step 2 Grease and line a 13 x 9″ square pan with oil, parchment and granulated sugar. Set aside.
- Step 3 In a medium bowl, beat together the sugar, oil, applesauce and eggs until smooth and well combined. Add the pumpkin and gingers and beat well. Add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix until well combined, but be careful to not overmix.
- Step 4 Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake until a test comes clean, about 35-45 minutes. Set aside to let cool.
- Step 5 While the cake cools, make the frosting. Beat the butter and salt (preferably in the bowl of a stand mixer) until whipped and smooth. One half cup at a time, alternate the sour cream and the sugar, beating well between each addition until the frosting is smooth. Set in the fridge until the cake cools completely.
- Step 6 Once the cake is cool, frost and enjoy! Be sure to keep this cake in the fridge and bring out to room temperature before serving.
