Pumpkin and Chocolate Loaf

Preparation method

1. Start by preheating the oven to 170°C.
2. Grease and line your baking tin with baking paper.
3. In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon before grating some of the nutmeg into the bowl and setting the bowl to the side.
4. Take your precooked pumpkin, placing it into a blender to blitz. In a large mixing bowl, add the now pureed pumpkin with the buttermilk and whisk.
5. Either in a microwave or in a saucepan, melt the chocolate before pouring into the pumpkin and buttermilk mixture before adding the vanilla extract and whisking.
6. In a separate medium sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until they have turned light and fluffy.
7. Slowly add an egg at a time, mixing in each egg into the mixture before adding more eggs. When all the eggs have been mixed in, alternate between the flour and pouring the buttermilk liquid into the mixture, making sure to fold and combine each new ingredient before pouring more in.
8. When all the ingredients have been mixed together, pour the batter into your prepared loaf tin and place into the preheated oven to bake for an hour or until it has turned golden brown and when a skewer is placed into the centre, it comes out clean.
9. When cooked, remove the loaf from the oven and allow to cool for a minimum of 10 minutes before being removed from its tin and placed onto a cooling rack.
10. While the cake is cooling on the cooling rack, grate and zest before juicing the clementine. Mix together the icing sugar and the clementine juice until you have created a thick topping.
11. Pour the now made icing over the cake before sprinkling with the clementine zest and cutting to serve.