Autumn flavours and fridge cleanup

Hokkaidó pumpkins are becoming very popular around here. When we were kids, my parents used to roast pieces of pumpkin in the oven from time to time and I remember liking those.  Most pumpkins available here were huuuge, but today at Tesco, I came across a very silly-sheep-friendly small one that fitted into my backpack (together with other shopping) very easily.

It is the first time that I tried to roast one, so I just took the seeds out, cut it up into small chunks and roasted in the oven (gas mark four). They are nice - soft and taste a little bit like sweet potatoes.

As I made a terrible mess with it, I decided I might as well clean the kitchen and I found some really bendy good-for-nothing carrots, so I quickly googled a carrot and pumpkin cake recipe and made my own version of that. The original recipe contained a lot of ingredients that were currently not present at my home (like coconut and nuts…ts!!! Who has that, right???!), so I just made my own version by mixing in anything that was available in absolutely totally inaccurate amounts (see the recipe below).

Also, since I have my totally awesome cups for making cupcakes from Poundland, I almost never bake cakes in a baking tray at all... I add a bit more baking powder to make them rise and make cupcakes instead!

Here's the recipe:

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1 and ½ teaspoons of  baking powder

1 cup of the cheapest ordinary whatever type of sugar

1/3 cup of vegetable oil

2 average-sized eggs

2 small (and very bendy)  carrots, grated

a sprinkle of ground cinnamon

a sprinkle of salt

a splash of lemon juice

some pumpkin, grated

some ginger, grated

a few dates, cut up to small pieces

________________________

mix

fill the cups

bake

let cool (optional)

stuff your face