Well, I’ve had this pumpkin slice on the go for some weeks, so much so, I can’t remember where I got the original idea from.  I think an American site somewhere.  Anyway, I’ve just had to tweak and refine it a little more, but the family love it, even with my toned down sweetness.  Add extra sweetener to taste, if you think you need it.  Make it nut-free by using rice milk and coconut oil.  For a grain-free idea, see tips at the end.

Mill 1 minute / speed 9:

• 210g grains – I use a mix of brown rice+millet+jowar+buckwheat – use all rice, if you wish!

Add and sift 6 seconds / speed 6:

• 60g potato starch
• 30g tapioca starch/flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Generous pinch salt

Set aside

Mill 10 seconds / speed 9:

• 100g chopped dates (or medjool, if you prefer)
• add in about 50g of the flour mix – makes for a finer mill of the dates

Set this aside with the rest of the flour mix

Add and blend 20 seconds / speed 6:

• 600g butternut pumpkin puree* (sweet potato would be good too)
• 50-80g maple or rice syrup, depending on where you are on the sweetness scale!  For us, less is more …
• 120g almond milk
• 70g almond oil (or macadamia/coconut oil)

Add and blend 10 seconds / speed 5:

• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla vanilla/extract

Add and blend 15 seconds / speed 5, using spatula:

• 300g gf flour and 100g date mix
• 60g cocoa powder

Give the mixture a good manual mix with the TM spatula

Pour into a lined brownie tin

Bake at 175degs f/f 30-35 minutes (test if cooked, using a skewer in the middle and if it comes out almost clean, you’re done!  Gently pull away the greaseproof and cool on a wire rack.

Serve as is, with yoghurt, cashew vanilla custard, or simply spread with a chocolate avocado frosting:

Whizz up a few times until smooth on speed 3-4, scraping down the sides of the bowl in between times:

• 1 large and very ripe avocado, de-skinned and de-stoned
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder (sorry, forgot to measure in grams)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup (ditto)

Tips: 

*  If you have frozen pumpkin puree in ice cube blocks, throw them into the TM bowl and heat 5 minutes / 37 degs / speed 2 to defrost and then proceed with adding the remaining wet ingredients and blending.

For a grain-free alternative:

Mill 130g buckwheat and add 20g tapioca flour and 50g coconut flour + the other dry ingredients and sift. Also add an extra egg or you could try 1-2 portions chia gel.

In the grain free version that I’ve subsequently tried, I used some orange purée instead of pumpkin purée and found I had to cook for an extra 15 minutes. This may have been due to the fact that I baked it in a loaf tin as well. Just use a skewer inserted in the centre to test and add extra cooking time in 5 minute increments, as required. Even if there’s still a little ‘moistness’ on the tip of your skewer – this is fine. It just adds a bit of a fudgey texture.

Allow to completely cool and firm up before slicing. 😝