Pumpkin Loaf aka Spicy Golden Loaf

Having a child who is fussy about food is incredibly frustrating at the best of times.

And at the worst of times? It's a bit of a nightmare.

My now 6-year-old hasn't eaten a good dinner since before he was 2.

Let that fact sink in a little.

That's approximately 1500 nutritious dinners prepared lovingly by me that have NOT BEEN TOUCHED.

If we can get him to the table, he will eat plain pasta with extra virgin olive oil, homemade pizza (no sauce and topped only with cheese, olives and tinned pineapple) and takeaway fish and chips.

The list of foods he will eat is incredibly small and shrinking by the week.

We've done feeding therapy sessions with an occupational therapist and speech pathologist, and seen a GP, naturopath, dietician and psychologist.

So where does that leave us?

Well, it leaves us trying to pack in nutrition wherever and whenever we can.

At the moment breakfast is the only decent meal he will consume in a day.

It is usually a smoothie which I cram to the brim with good stuff like avocado, chia seeds, oats, yoghurt, protein powder, nut butters, berries, greens and more. Something like My Favourite Green Smoothie but with organic full cream milk.

Lunch usually comes home completely untouched so needless to say he is STARVING when he gets home.

So that leaves afternoon tea.

I try to make it a good one!

Hiding vegetables in cakes and muffins etc is not new, but it is definitely my favourite way to increase their nutrition. These have been some of favourites:

'Apple' Crumble Slice (without any apple!)
Chocolate Beetroot Cake
Pumpkin Fruit Cake
Chocolate and Zucchini Muffins
Sweet Potato Brownies

Pumpkin, zucchini, carrot, sweet potato and beetroot all work beautifully in baked goods. Add in a good unrefined sweetener and some sweet spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla and you have a delicious sweet treat that will fill them up and give them some much need veggies.

Today I had a lot of pumpkin to use up so I whipped up this pumpkin loaf cake which I am calling a 'Spicy Golden Loaf'. It is beautifully moist with lovely warm flavours of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, orange and molasses.

A slice of this with a glass of milk will happily fill up even the fussiest tummy.

Spicy Golden Loaf

100g butter, at room temperature
100g coconut sugar
2 large eggs
1 ts vanilla extract
1 ts blackstrap molasses
zest of 1/2 orange
1 cup mashed pumpkin
1 2/3 cups wholemeal spelt flour
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 ts bicarb soda
1 ts cinnamon
1/2 ts nutmeg
1/2 ts ginger
1/4 ts cloves

Beat together the butter and coconut sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time beating until smooth.

Add the pumpkin, vanilla, molasses and orange zest and mix until well combined.

Add the dry ingredients and fold through until just combined.

Pour mixture into prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until golden brown and the middle springs back when pressed gently.

Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Delicious warm from the oven or at room temperature. Serve with butter.

Do you have a fussy eater?

What are your strategies? Let me know below!

Susan