Pumpkin Cake with Vanilla Almond Icing

I am a sucker for cake with icing, especially when the cake has all nutritious ingredients like this one. When we were grocery shopping last night, I promised my fiance I would make him a cake so he would leave all the boxed cake mixes at the store. I came across this recipe earlier this week and I immediately thought of it as he was asking for some cake.

I ran 10  miles this morning so after dinner, I was still pretty hungry. I enjoyed a piece of this cake and....I couldn't resist....I added some of my banana cream on top (2 bananas, 1 stevia packet, 1/4-1/2 cup of non-dairy milk in the food processor, processed until smooth).

Man, these pictures look so good it is making me want another piece! :)

Recipe adapted from Straight up Food by Cathy Fisher

Pumpkin Cake Ingredients (Serves 9)

10 dates, pitted and diced

³⁄₄ cup water

1 ½ cups oats, ground into flour (I processed oats in the magic bullet until a flour consistency was reached)

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 15 ounce can cooked pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup non-dairy milk

 2 stevia packets

Method

Preheat oven to 375. Place the dates into a bowl with the water and soak for at least 15 minutes. Place the oat flour and pumpkin pie spice in a large mixing bowl. In a blender, blend the soaked dates, the water the dates soaked in, the vanilla, and the non-dairy milk until smooth (2 minutes). Pour the date mixture into the bowl of oat flour. Then add the pumpkin and mix thoroughly. Spray a glass or non-stick 8x8 baking pan with cooking spray then transfer batter to pan. Bake for 25 minutes.
Let the cake cool 10-15 minutes minimum before cutting and serving. Top with Vanilla Almond Icing (see recipe below). The "Banana Cream" I mentioned above is highly recommended. This cake is not overly sweet so the Banana Cream really tasted excellent with the pumpkin cake. Store cake in the refrigerator.

Vanilla Almond Icing Ingredients

½ cup almonds soaked in ½ cup of water for 15-30 minutes

6 dates, pitted and diced, soaked in ½ cup of water for 15-30 minutes

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

After the almonds and dates are done soaking, drain the almonds. Process drained almonds, un-drained dates (use date water), and vanilla until desired creaminess is reached. I used the Magic Bullet, but you could use a food processor or blender. Add a small amount of non-dairy milk if the icing is too thick.