Winter squash (ie: PUMPKINS) have finally appeared at the farmer’s market, which – more than the date on the calendar, the sale on Halloween candy in the big box stores, and the marketing pushes from every single entity on the internet is my sign that fall is afoot. And while I always shed a few tears for the passing of summer, am SO GLAD that the shift is here. I feel it in my bones, and smell it in my kitchen.
It’s a weekly ritual of mine – through the fall and winter – to roast a whole pumpkin. I crank on the oven at a low temperature, pop a whole pumpkin onto a sheet pan lined with foil, prick it with a knife a few times and slip it into the oven to roast while I go about my business for the day. Within a few hours, the sultry smell of sweet creamy squash fills the house + proceeds to flavor and scent many of our meals in the days that follow.
We had a cozy day earlier this week, perfect for kicking off this time of year and so I cranked on the oven. The pumpkin I picked up from the farm stand was a big guy with plenty of lovely flesh for pumpkin curry, and a few loaves of pumpkin bread — a new recipe that’s simple, straightforward, and easy to make in one bowl but with a special twist. I packed an entire loaf for my lady friends and I to enjoy on my bachelorette hike in the following day, and will be taking loaves to share with our guests at our intimate wedding this weekend. We’re expecting beautiful fall colors, cozy weather, lazy mornings, long hot springs soaks and leisurely walks in the forest — all just the kind of thing that warrant a slice of cake in a pocket. (It’s just as lovely spread with ghee, or butter when just warm when sitting at home drinking tea, just saying.)
But this isn’t just “any” slice of pumpkin cake – this loaf has a special ingredient; a double whammy if you will. It contains a healthy sprinkle of my own Rooibos Chai Mix – a warming, soothing tea that I’ve been drinking on repeat since the weather started to turn, and an incredible, subtle flavoring that spices this bread, AND boosts it’s nutritional benefits. I share the recipe below so you can brew it, AND swirl it into your cake this season. Read on!
One of the first things you’re likely to think of as “optional” when it comes to a baking recipe are the spices. But in this case, and in the case of nearly all baking recipes, spices are one of the most important ingredients from an Ayurvedic perspective. For flavor – yes, to make whatever you’re making taste amazing. But also, this is where the nutrition is.
Spices are the subtle foods that boost our meals energetically. The create flavor, and they have special superpowers like making something easier to digest, lessening the intensity of other ingredients, heating, cooling and reducing inflammation in the body and more. Talking about digestion when you talk about cake isn’t glamorous, I know. But without strong digestion, none of our food makes us feel very good AND, we don’t absorb or process it properly. If we’re going to have that slice of cake, we want it to boost us not just weigh us down, right?
Flour, on it’s own, is sticky and heavy. Like a wet blanket of sorts. It’s also super nourishing, grounding and soothing. There are certain seasons where foods like this are less welcome – summer as an example. Our bodies are taxed trying to keep us cool at this time of year, and our metabolism is running at full throttle. This might seem like a great time to put a wet blanket in our bodies — this is when we would digest it best, right? Actually, not. BUT, when we add spices that warm, soothe, and amplify our digestive processes, we can eat wheat without it being SO wet or blanket-like.
Fall is a lovely time to eat wheat and gluten. This is the time of year when our digestive strength is returning, and our bodies need replenishment from a full-on summer. Adding spices like anise, clove, cinnamon, black pepper, and fennel helps boost digestion, improve nutrient absorption, warm the body, and make digesting foods that contain wheat much easier.
The spice blend I use in this recipe contains five spice mix (clove, cinnamon, black pepper, anise, and fennel,) as well as cardamom, ginger, and more cinnamon…the most warming spice of it all.
The rooibos chai tea blend that I include below is a lovely tea to drink on it’s own, and to add to this cake as a super flavoring agent (and so many other things, for that matter.) Traditionally, chai is made with black tea, which contains some caffeine. I opt to go with rooibos most of the time for it’s very mellow vibe, smooth flavor and soothing properties.
In Western culture, chai has become a coffee alternative, but in Ayurvedic medicine, chai is a healing drink used in cooler months to generate inner warmth + radiance, as well as to reserve nutrients, nourish the body and soothe the senses. We have different recipes to balance each of the three doshas in Ayurveda, but this recipe that I’m sharing with you is well suited to all doshas.
If you choose to brew the Rooibos Chai as a drink, combine 1 Tbsp loose tea in a tea bag with 4oz boiling water. Allow to steep for 10 minutes and the zhoosh up according to your dosha constitution. Here are some tips for how to brew for your prakruti (present state of being:)
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