Pumpkin and honey cakes

Pumpkin cakes or toñas de calabaza are one of the oldest sweets in the entire province of Alicante, and in particular, a very typical sweet from the Vega Baja region. Outside our borders, this sweet pastry is quite unknown, so today I am going to give you all the tricks and tips to make some cakes that are finger-licking good.

As with all traditional recipes, in each town or home, the same recipe can vary in certain ingredients, etc., but always maintaining the same essence of the recipe. Likewise, we can find this same sweet with or without pine nuts; with or without anise; dipped in honey; sprinkled with sugar, etc., what does it matter… if when you take a bite, it transports you back to your childhood: that is the recipe!

The essence of this sweet is in its juicy, tender and orange crumb –due to the pumpkin– and the nuance that the anise gives it is something out of this world. The final touch to die for is its golden crust subtly impregnated with honey.

KitchenAid , De Buyer Perforated Silicone Mat and T&G Wooden Shovel

Ingredients

• 600 g of strong flour (13% protein)
• 270 g pumpkin puree
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons of anise seeds
• 14 g instant dry baker's yeast
• 200 g of white sugar
• 125 ml mild olive oil
• 1 beaten egg to paint the cakes
• Sugar for sprinkling
• Honey diluted with 1 tablespoon of water

De Buyer Perforated Silicone Mat and T&G Wooden Paddle

Preparation

Previous indications:

For this recipe, it is important to use a strong flour with 13% protein. The pumpkin can be steamed (in my case), roasted, or cooked, it doesn't matter, but it must be cold and drained. My advice is to make it in advance and let it drain overnight, so that it will be perfect in the morning.

Using KitchenAid The kneading time is about 15 minutes, if you are going to use, for example, a hand mixer with dough hooks, the time will be a little longer. If you do not have a machine, it does not matter, you can also do it by hand, you just need more time and patience.

After kneading, the dough should be soft and elastic. Let it rest for 5 minutes before handling it. After this time, the dough will be a bit sticky but perfectly manageable. You can grease your hands with a drop of oil to make it easier, but never add more flour than indicated. After the first rising (3 hours) you will see that the dough is perfect, smooth and elastic. This is the time to make the 8 pieces of about 160 g ≈ each. At this stage, it may also be good to grease your hands a little to make the work of making balls and shaping easier.

To bake the cakes, my advice is to bake them 4 at a time, never more than that amount because as they grow they can “kiss” and will no longer be as round. For this size of cake, the baking time will be about 15 minutes at 170 ºC. As soon as you take the cakes out of the oven, you should leave them on their tray, brush them with the honey mixture and let them cool completely before removing them from the tray. You should never take them out of the tray while they are hot because they are very delicate until they cool.

Elaboration:

1. Steam the pumpkin in a saucepan. Let it cool on a strainer. Mash well and set aside.
2. In the KitchenAid bowl, add the olive oil, sugar, anise, eggs, dry baker's yeast and pumpkin puree. Blend all the ingredients with the paddle attachment until all the ingredients are combined.
3. Add the sifted flour all at once and start kneading with the KitchenAid dough hook at low speed for 15 minutes. The dough should be soft and elastic. To check that the dough is ready, let it rest for 5 minutes and check that the dough is a little sticky but manageable.
4. Don't get carried away and add more flour, we don't want a huge lump, it's best to grease your hands with a drop of oil.
5. Grease a large bowl and cover the dough with cling film until it doubles in size. This process, now that it's warm, can take about 3 hours ( in winter, 3 to 6 hours ). When it doubles in size, degas and divide the dough into 8 cakes, each weighing about 160 g. Shape them into balls and place them on trays lined with a perforated silicone mat or, failing that, with baking paper. –Do not put more than 4 cakes per tray–
6. Cover the trays with greased plastic wrap and let them double in size. As it is still warm, this process will take 1 hour and a half. In winter, this final rising can take quite a while; my advice is to leave the shaped pieces covered with plastic wrap in the oven (with it turned off) overnight. In the morning they will be ready to bake.
7. Preheat the oven to 200 ºC with top and bottom heat (without fan) with the rack in the central position.
8. We heat some honey in the microwave, once it is liquid we add a teaspoon of water, stir and set aside.
9. We brush the cakes with beaten egg very gently and immediately put them in the oven, lower the temperature to 170 ºC and bake for 15 minutes. They should be golden but not burnt. We take them out of the oven and let the tray rest on a rack. At this point, while they are still hot, we brush them with the honey + water mixture. Finally, we can sprinkle some sugar on top.

Storage: This cake will keep for 2 or 3 days wrapped in plastic film. My advice to keep them soft for longer is to wrap them one by one in plastic film, then put them, for example, 4 by 4 in zip bags and store them in the freezer. This way, you will always have cakes like the first day. You just have to take them out in advance and let them defrost at room temperature.

De Buyer perforated silicone mat and T&G wooden paddle