PUMPKIN BUNDT CAKE WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE AND PECANS

     With Fall just around the corner, pumpkins are already piled up at the markets. I have to say, this is one delicious cake--moist, spicy and sure to please everyone. This recipe uses the canned variety so you don't have to wait until the holidays to make it. It's a little known fact that there is more beta-carotene in pumpkin when it is cooked. Like many orange vegetables, pumpkin is loaded with vitamins and minerals as well as fiber. Save a spoon of pumpkin for your dogs since it's really good for them. The recipe is from the award-winning The Supernatural Kids Cookbook, illustrated by Alexandra Conn and with a foreword by Bridget Fonda.

                                                         Preheat oven to 350 degrees

3 cups whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups raw sugar
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 15 oz can of pumpkin (approx. 2 cups cooked, mashed pumpkin)
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans (walnuts work well too)

Butter and flour a bundt pan.

Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

In another bowl beat the eggs and sugar together until light and creamy. Add the oil and pumpkin and continue beating. Slowly stir in the flour mixture a bit at a time. Finally fold in the chips and the nuts.

Pour batter into the bundt pan and bake for 60 minutes. Allow the cake to sit for at least 30 minutes before you turn it upside down onto a platter. Wait about half an hour more and then dig into your masterpiece.