Originally posted July 13, 2011

Pumpkin Cake

Pumpkin Cake by Quite Curious

Photo by Quite Curious

The cake was soft on the inside, and had a nice crunchy sugar crust on the top. My 8lb sugar pumpkin made 3 cakes! I ended up giving one to my neighbor, one to my friend as a housewarming gift, and kept one for myself for breakfast this week.

Ingredients

  • 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup + 2 tablespoons pumpkin or squash puree (canned or homemade)
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons sugar for topping; I used crunchy turbinado sugar
  • 2 tablespoons pepitas (optional but highly recommended)
1 9×5 loaf serving 6 to 8

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

2. Sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

3. In another bowl, beat together the pumpkin puree, oil, sugar, and salt on medium speed (or by hand–that’s how I did it) until well mixed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. On low speed, add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Scrape down the sides again, then beat on medium speed for 5 to 10 seconds to make a smooth batter. The batter should have the consistency of a thick purée. Make sure not to overmix, or you will end up with a coarse, tough crumb.

4. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the top evenly with half the topping sugar, then the optional pepitas, and then the rest of the topping sugar. Bake until a tester emerges clean from the center, about 1 hour (I left mine in about 15 minutes longer).

5. Let cook in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes. Then invert the cake onto the rack, turn right side up, and let cool completely. Serve at room temperature. The cake will keep, well wrapped, at room temperature for 4 days or in the refrigerator for about 1 week.

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