pumpkin chocolate loaf with olive oil glaze

I fell in love with pumpkin loaf (really a cake) in America but had never made my own. Feeling a bit like my American boy was being deprived of his birth right, I decided to have a bash at making it with my boys. There are tons of recipes but one was speaking to me more than the rest…the kabocha, olive oil and bittersweet chocolate cake from the Gjelina cookbook.

When I was in LA recently I went to Gjelina in Venice for dinner. I loved it so much that 9 hours later I went back for breakfast. I’d have kept going back if only I hadn’t had to come home to England. Luckily the restaurant has a cookbook that I bought and had delivered, so it was waiting for me when I arrived home. It is packed with amazing recipes and I’m slowly working my way through it. I’m pretty sure it is my cookbook of the year so I’d urge you to treat yourself to a copy, you can buy it by clicking here.

My last teaching trip to California fell in early October. So I was assaulted with pumpkin spice at every turn. In principle, the mixture of pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg is a good thing, but things have got a bit crazy stateside and I feel like that spice mix is in everything – body lotion, lattes, granola, candles, air fresheners. It has even started to appear over in England in coffees at a certain chain. We’re not yet at peak pumpkin spice here so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way and we can just enjoy it as it is meant to be – in pies and cakes.