Pumpkin Cake

Autumn may be in the dying days but don’t fret – I have some perfect autumnal recipes to share with you guys!

I know, another pumpkin recipe… Cliche, but we live. It’s a super simple pumpkin cake with real pumpkin puree in the recipe – which makes a change to usual. I’ve seen so many recipes for pumpkin cake that don’t actually contain pumpkin puree but spices to simulate that… Not here.

Simple, spongey and seasonal – it a winner. It has strong pumpkin flavour and it makes the cake super tender, it may not sound ideal but trust me, it works.

The recipe is super easy and enjoyable – so why not try something new?

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

 

Ingredients:

Cake:

350g granulated sugar.

350g butter, room temperature.

4 eggs.

1 tsp

100g pumpkin puree.

375g plain flour.

2 tsp baking powder.

Pinch of salt.

 

Buttercream:

125g granulated sugar.

30ml water.

35g egg yolks.

1 whole egg.

250g butter, at room temperature.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

 

Decoration:

White chocolate spread – for the drip.

Autumn leaf sprinkles, for the bottom and top of the cake.

 

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep. Start by weighing up all of ingredients, preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and get any equipment you may need such as a stand mixer, 6 inch cakes tins and spatulas.

Start by placing the butter and sugar into mixing bowl and beat together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour in consistency. The amount of time it requires will vary on the softness of your butter as well as other impacting factors.

Once you’ve achieved the perfect consistency, you can go ahead and add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. Once the eggs have been fully worked in, you can add in the vanilla and mix to incorporate.

To replace some of the eggs, I have used pumpkin as this sis the best and most efficient way of incorporating pumpkin into the recipe. Add in the pumpkin puree and mix until fully incorporated.

Give the bowl a good scarping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in from earlier on.

Now you can add in the plain flour, baking powder and salt. Place them in and mix on a low speed to start with, working your way up to a medium-high speed, just until you have a clear cake mixture.

Give the bowl another good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully incorporated from earlier on.

Now divide the cake mixture between your three cake tins, spread the batter until level and place in your preheated oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until, a tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre.

While your cakes are in the oven, you can make the simple syrup and buttercream.

For the simple syrup, place equal amounts of sugar and water into a saucepan and place on the hob. and allow to come to a boil before removing from the heat and allow to cool fully before using it.

Now for the buttercream, I won’t bore you. I already have a blog post on how to make it, with a little more detail. So I’lll leave you a link to my Italian meringue buttercream – which is the buttercream I’m using for this cake.

Once you  have the cake layers, simple syrup and buttercream made – you can start to assemble the cake. Level your cake layers by removing the uneven tops of the cakes (these make delicious snacks), brush over the simple syrup, ensuing each sponge has a generous amount.

Take your cake stand/plate/board, smear a small amount of buttercream into the centre of it – this Is the glue that will keep the cake in place. Place your first layer of cake on and press it down to secure it into place.

Top that layer of cake with buttercream, spreading it out to be level and consistent, then place your second layer of cake on top and react until you have your naked cake assembled.

Now give the cake a coating of buttercream. I’m keeping things super simple and want a rustic look, so not looking to make it perfect – a little rough and ready but all tasty!

Pipe the buttercream on and level it out as best you can using a cake scraper – make it as smooth or as rustic as you’d like. Chill in the fridge until firm.

At the bottom of the cake, use some sprinkles to the add some colour and decoration – save some more for the top edge once the drip has been applied. Warm up your white chocolate spread until its a thick but spreadable consistency, place into a piping bag and pipe the drips around the edge. Use the same sprinkles around the top edge of the cake, to hide the rough edges from the white chocolate.

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.