pumpkin chia cake

Months ago when on yet another since-abandoned health kick I discovered Chia seeds. Chia are little seeds that absorb water and turn into a highly nutritious gel - looks kind of like frogspawn. They are a ‘superfood’ - high in omega-3, fibre and protein so I thought “woohoo, lets try it” Needless to say they have spent a while in the pantry.

Recently my FIL let me loose in his veggie patch and I came home with a basket load of pumpkins, rhubarb, silverbeet and a massive zucchini. What followed was a week of the usual vegetarian suspects - Pumpkin, silverbeet and chickpea curry, pumpkin soup, rhubarb crumble etc. But what we all really craved was a cake. Now it was the end of the month (if you are from a single income household that gets paid monthly you will know the words to this song - sing along) so I was out of pretty much all my pantry staples, including eggs, but I still had flour, marg, sugar and sultanas. I had some cold mashed pumpkin leftovers in the fridge and of course the Chia in the pantry. I made a gel with the seeds hoping I could use it as an egg substitute and so the Pumpkin Chia cake was born. It was delicious. The missing egg wasn’t a problem and the chia seeds added a beautiful texture and moistness, not to mention buckets of goodness. Serve it warm with a bit (lot) of butter.

125g marg/butter
1 cup sugar
2 serves ER chia gel*
1 cup mashed pumpkin
1 cup SR flour
1 cup plain flour
2 cups sultanas

*ER (egg replacement) chia gel (per serve) - 1 Tbsp chia mixed with 3 Tbsp lukewarm water and allow to sit 5-10 mins until 'gloopy'.

Cream butter and sugar until pale. Stir in chia then pumpkin. Fold in sifted flours then sultanas. Bake in 8" (20cm) round tin in a moderate oven (180°C/160°C Fan Forced) for approx 1 hour or until cooked.

why???

the time has come to sort out my copious amount of random jottings and dog-eared recipes. What better place than a blog.
I am a wife, mum and ‘housewife’. Being a wife - I love it. Being a mum - adore it. Being a housewife - haven’t a clue.