ORANGE-CRANBERRY-DATE PUMPKIN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F Grease a loaf pan.
• In a large bowl, beat together pumpkin, eggs, oil, vanilla, sugars, orange zest and grated ginger. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
• In a small bowl, whisk dry ingredients together. Beat into wet mixture until well combined. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
• Stir in cranberries, dates, and pecans, if desired.
• Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 60-70 minutes, until tests clean.
• Let cool in pan for 10 minutes and then loosen edges with a butter knife and turn out onto a cooling rack.
• To serve: Dust cooled cake with powdered sugar or frost with frosting or drizzle with icing.
• Optional Frosting: Cream neufchatel and butter together. Beat in vanilla, orange zest and nutmeg. Beat in confectioner's sugar until right consistency is reached. Add orange juice if it becomes too thick. Frost cake with frosting and sprinkle pecans over the frosting, if desired. You can also cut the loaf in half and frost in between layers.
• Optional Icing: In a 1-2 cup pyrex, melt butter and white chocolate chips in the microwave for 60 seconds. Stir until smooth with a fork. Stir in nutmeg and orange zest. Stir in milk and confectioner's sugar until smooth. Drizzle over cake.
• Wrap cooled loaf with plastic wrap or foil and store at room temperature or refrigerate. Refrigerate if frosted or iced.
• To freeze: Wrap cooled loaf tightly with plastic wrap or foil and place in a Ziploc bag and freeze it for gift giving at a later date. If you frost or ice it, you can put it on a cookie sheet and freeze it until firm, then wrap it and place in a Ziploc bag.