A Question for the Collective Palate....

[Hammster]

of our Great Food board members.
I'm making this cake, which is a T&T favorite here at our house, but I'm considering using canned pumpkin instead of applesauce this time. I have found this cake to be pretty versatile in the types of nuts and dried fruits that can go into it, but I haven't messed with the "structure" of the cake. So, sort of 2 questions in one. How does the combo of pumpkin and chocolate strike you from a taste POV and also is there enough moisture in the pumpkin for a 1 to 1 swap with the applesauce?

I'm gonna make it in about an hour. Quick replies are appreciated.

Chocolate Walnut Cranberry Cake

Ingredients
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup plain soy milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350º.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine applesauce, milk, and oil; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Stir in cranberries and walnuts. Spread into a 10-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray (batter will be thick).

Bake at 350º for 45 minutes or until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Didi Emmons, Cooking Light, MARCH 2005

[apple*tart]

I think pumpkin and chocolate taste great together! I love pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

Based on my experience baking with pumpkin, I'd say it will probably add more moisture to the cake than the applesauce did. My guess is that you won't be able to taste the pumpkin much over the cocoa powder. If you want a subtle flavor, it should be great. If you want to enhance the pumpkin flavor, you could add pumpkin pie type spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger). You could also up the pumpkin even more, using it in place of the soy milk as well?

I think this recipe sounds delicious, whether you can taste the pumpkin or not. Please post about what you ended up going with and how it turns out!

[Terri_A]

Pumpkin + Chocolate = Yummmmmm! Do it, and report back!!!

Sorry, but I can't help with the technical aspect - Good luck!

[JJeannette]

With that much cocoa in the cake, it probably won't matter which you use. as far as flavor.

As far as the moisture content--you should be pretty close--if anything, I'd think you might need to add a tiny bit of water when using the pumpkin puree--or maybe another tablespoon of oil---.

[wallycat]

YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM! and yes, pumpkin should hold moisture.

[Natasha]

I had to respond because I liked the title about "the collective palate"

Chocolate and pumpkin are not a combination I especially enjoy, though I looove each individually. Of course that's just me, and if I were somewhere where this cake was being served, I'd certainly be happy to have some. Just not a flavour combination I seek out.

I agree with the others about the pumpkin providing enough moisture, especially since canned pumpkin seems to be more watery in the past year or 18 months than I remember it being previously.

Good luck and enjoy!

[Hammster]

Ok, it's in the oven. Thanks for all the suggestions and feedback. I adjusted the recipe as follows. I left out 1/4 cup of the cocoa and added in 1 extra tbsp of canned pumpkin as the batter seemed drier (stiffer) than usual with the applesauce. Probably less moisture in the canned pumpkin after all. I also added a small grating of nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp ground ginger. Dried cranberries and walnuts are in this incarnation. I'll report back later once it's done and has cooled and been tasted.

[sneezles]

I just finished baking a batch of pumpkin muffins that I subbed chopped chocolate for the raisins as I love the combo of chocolate and pumpkin!

[Hammster]

Update.
Couldn't really taste the pumpkin, but could taste the spices. Also the cake came out a bit more dense than when using applesauce. But it was plenty moist, so pumpkin will work as a good substitute if you don't have some applesauce handy.

[oct2189]

Hammster, applesauce has about 1g fiber per 1/2 cup, pumpkin has 5g fiber per 1/2 cup. That difference will create more density.

[Hammster]

Thanks Jill. That makes sense. I didn't think to check the nutrition label to see if would be more dense. I probably could have backed off a bit on the pumpkin and used a bit more milk and it would probably be lighter. It's still totally edible, but just a slight difference in density which is ok with us. And the fact that it's not dry is good too.

[apple*tart]

Aside from the density, your results are pretty similar to the ones I've had! I noticed that for some recipes, I have to up the baking time. Did you test your cake before you took it out to make sure it was completely done? Underbaking may result in a more dense feel. I've also had to up the leavening agent in some recipes to get them to rise the same (like pumpkin pancakes, for example). That's something else you might experiment with.
Thanks for sharing your results!

[Hammster]

Originally Posted by apple*tart

Aside from the density, your results are pretty similar to the ones I've had! I noticed that for some recipes, I have to up the baking time. Did you test your cake before you took it out to make sure it was completely done? Underbaking may result in a more dense feel. I've also had to up the leavening agent in some recipes to get them to rise the same (like pumpkin pancakes, for example). That's something else you might experiment with.
Thanks for sharing your results!

Yeah, I did test it before removing it from the oven. Time was well within the usual baking time with applesauce. It's most likely due to the pumpkin being more dense than applesauce. As I mentioned, I added a bit more as the batter seemed too stiff. In hindsight it may have been better to use less (or at worst, the same) amount of pumpkin and thin the batter with additional milk or oil. And actually I did use a smidge more baking soda in that I didn't level off the baking soda in the measuring spoon. So instead of 1/2 tsp it was probably more like 1/2 + a pinch.

Actually, DW and I seem to like it better with the pumpkin as it really is more moist than with the applesauce. So, I may just make it again with these tweaks in mind.

[apple*tart]

I figured you probably did, but I thought I'd throw that out there. Here's another random thought - if I'm not mistaken, apples are more acidic than pumpkin. And, if I remember right, dutch-process cocoa isn't acidic (or is only very mildly acidic). So there may not be enough in your recipe to react with the baking powder. I wonder if a squeeze of citrus juice or some buttermilk in place of the soy milk might not boost the rising power of the recipe as well.

[Hammster]

Originally Posted by apple*tart

I figured you probably did, but I thought I'd throw that out there. Here's another random thought - if I'm not mistaken, apples are more acidic than pumpkin. And, if I remember right, dutch-process cocoa isn't acidic (or is only very mildly acidic). So there may not be enough in your recipe to react with the baking powder. I wonder if a squeeze of citrus juice or some buttermilk in place of the soy milk might not boost the rising power of the recipe as well.

Well, I have to confess. I use good ol' Hershey's baking cocoa so I don't even know if it's Dutch Process. Also, I use regular 1% milk instead of soy milk. So, who knows... LOL.

[apple*tart]

Nothing wrong with that! I was just going off the ingredient list you posted. I don't think regular Hershey's is dutched, so it was probably enough to react with the soda.

You'll have to forgive me, I've been obsessing about baking with pumpkin all fall!

[Hammster]

Originally Posted by apple*tart

You'll have to forgive me, I've been obsessing about baking with pumpkin all fall!

No worries. I was thinking, after my last post, since pumpkin is orange that maybe it has more acid than apples? Either way I like working on this "little" problem. As the first test result was just fine, anything to improve it will be that much better.

[apple*tart]

I was basing my guess about acidity on canning conventions, of all things: applesauce can be canned in a boiling water bath without the addition of citrus, but pumpkin must be canned in cubes in a pressure cooker.

[ctr264]

I made this late last night after reading your post. The combo of chocolate and cranberries made me make it. I didn't have either applesauce or pumpkin, so I subbed plain yougurt instead, used 2% milk and cocoa -- from the health food store and not sure what kind it is.

The cake was moist, but very dense, didn't really rise at all, is it suppose to be like that? Also, it seemed a little bitter, could it have been the cocoa? (Did use the full amount of sugar.)

All in all, 4 out of 5 of us liked the cake. If I could eliminate the bitterness and increase the amount of dried fruit, I could see this as being made many times.

Any suggestions appreciated.

[Hammster]

Originally Posted by ctr264

I made this late last night after reading your post. The combo of chocolate and cranberries made me make it. I didn't have either applesauce or pumpkin, so I subbed plain yougurt instead, used 2% milk and cocoa -- from the health food store and not sure what kind it is.

The cake was moist, but very dense, didn't really rise at all, is it suppose to be like that? Also, it seemed a little bitter, could it have been the cocoa? (Did use the full amount of sugar.)

All in all, 4 out of 5 of us liked the cake. If I could eliminate the bitterness and increase the amount of dried fruit, I could see this as being made many times.

Any suggestions appreciated.

It was likely the yogurt that is the culprit. You need the extra sweetness from the applesauce or pumpkin. Having said that, mine has never been bitter but always has a strong chocolate flavor. It's not usually real dense. Maybe like a cakey brownie than an actual sponge type cake. The yogurt probably threw off whatever leavening proportions are needed to get some rise out of the cake. Wrong amount of water, or what have you. Oh, you can always up the dried fruit no problem. Just use fewer nuts to keep the 1 1/2 cups total quantity of nuts and fruit pretty close. You could even just use all dried fruit if you like.

[ctr264]

Thanks for the input. I will try it again with the applesauce.

I was determined to make it last night and yougurt was the only thing I could come up with!

That said, I cut the cake at 5 and it's already 3/4 gone.