By Fall. Colette's fall art competition entry, boudin balls. The season of gumbo weather and hunting mornings and the slow darkening of the days that matches the slow darkening of the roux, and both are beautiful, and both are necessary, and the dark is where the flavor lives.
The dinner table conversations are getting deeper as the kids get older. Colette talks about art and meaning and the responsibility of the artist to preserve what\'s disappearing. Rémy talks about food philosophy and sustainability and the relationship between the hunter and the hunted. These are my children, cher. These are the people the roux built. They think in layers. They see in seasons. They understand that the food on the table is not just fuel but language, and the language is Cajun, and the Cajun is alive.
Colette brought home her competition ribbon and Rémy started talking about the ethics of the hunt before his plate was even warm, and I sat there thinking about what you bring to a table like that — a table already full of meaning. You don’t add more weight. You bring something that smells like the season itself, something honest and unpretentious, something that says fall is here and fall is good without needing to explain itself. That’s this pumpkin snack cake. It’s not gumbo, but it’s kin to it — warm, spiced, the color of a roux halfway to dark — and it sat on that table like it belonged there, which it did.
Pumpkin Snack Cake
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 16
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- Powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and lightly flour it, tapping out any excess.
- Whisk the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves until evenly combined.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil until smooth and well incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition, then stir in the vanilla extract.
- Combine and finish the batter. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture in two additions, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour. Stir gently after each addition until just combined — do not overmix.
- Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Bake for 28–32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the edges just begin to pull from the sides of the pan.
- Cool and serve. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before slicing. Dust with powdered sugar if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into squares.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 218 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 35g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 145mg