With all these pumpkins around at the moment, we thought that there must be something tasty to do with them other than your standard pumpkin soup. Luckily, Benjamina or @BakedByBenji (who you might recognise from The Great British Bake Off and her fabulous cookbook, The New Way to Cake) came to the rescue and whipped up THE most delicious cake for us (we’re still drooling over it now). In fact, it was so delicious that we’re just going to stop talking and give you the recipe…
Benji’s Pumpkin Spice Cake with Pumpkin Seed Brittle
This recipe serves 8 lucky people.
You’ll need:
For the Cake:
1 Medium Cooking Pumpkin
200g Light Soft Brown Sugar
2 Medium Eggs
100ml Oil
1 ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
Zest of ½ an Orange
185g Plain Flour
1 ½ tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
¼ tsp Salt
1 ½ tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground Ginger
¼ tsp Nutmeg
For the Brittle:
30g Unsalted Butter
100g Caster Sugar
For the Cream Cheese Icing:
100g Unsalted Butter
100g Icing Sugar
180g Cream Cheese
Handful of Walnuts, roughly chopped
Step One
Start by making the pumpkin puree. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Slice the pumpkin in half and scoop out the insides. Separate the seeds, pat them dry and set aside. Chop the pumpkin into large chunks and place on a baking tray, skin side up. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the flesh is softened. Let the pumpkin cool before scooping the flesh out of the skins.
Step Two
Place the roasted pumpkin into a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth. You’ll need approximately 175g (you can store any remaining puree in the fridge or freezer).
Step Three
Place the seeds on a baking tray, sprinkle with a little sea salt and roast for 6-10 minutes until crisp and golden. Let them cool completely and set aside.
Step Four
Grease and line an 8 inch cake tin. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla until combined. Stir in the orange zest followed by the pumpkin puree.
Step Five
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and stir gently until fully combined. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Step Six
To make the brittle, place the roasted seeds onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Heat the sugar, butter and 2 tbsp of water in a small saucepan over a medium heat, stirring occasionally. Let the mixture boil for 2-4 minutes until it turns a golden amber colour. Carefully pour the caramel on top of the seeds and leave to cool completely. Once firm, break the brittle into rough shards and set aside.
Step Seven
For the icing, beat together the butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes until smooth. Add in the cream cheese and beat for another minute until combined. Spread the icing evenly on top of the cake and decorate with the brittle, chopped walnuts, and extra green pumpkin seeds if using.
Step Eight
Tuck in!
Thank you Benji for sharing this delicious recipe with us!
Looking for even more foodie inspiration? Why not check out some of our other blog posts?
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