Ah….. Just had the most delightful weekend with Bridge and E., who journeyed many, many hours on the Fung-wah bus to visit. We revived them with Redbones ribs on Friday after their nightmare trip up from NYC, then walked all over Boston on Saturday and came home to cook and relax by the fire. Mostly the guys relaxed by the fire while Bridge and I cooked, starting with a pumpkin crumb cake that AT: The Kitchen printed last week. While we cooked the boys munched on some lovely snacks:
That’s bread and amazing olive oil from NYC, brought by B&E. (It’s a Puglian olive oil from Murray’s, incredibly flavorful and bright green!) Prosciutto and marcona olives picked up in the North End, and some pepitas for seasonal flair.
So, the cake. Basically this is a pumpkin pie that has mated with a coffee cake. And it is delicious.
You start with a dry mix that is then turned into the crumb topping and the cake layer. You also make pumpkin pie filling to pour in between. It’s simple but not exactly quick, and I was really glad we had the dishwasher up and running since you end up with lots of dirty bowls! So fun to cook with Bridge, though, and I was glad her cat Joe wasn’t there to sit on the cake once it was done. He seems to resent her baking at home!
Bridge whips up the pumpkin filling:
Layer one (cake batter), spread in place:
I pour in layer two, the pumpkin (Bridge is a better action photog than I am!):
Layer three, the topping lovingly hand mixed by Bridge (isn’t crumb topping always the best part? Mm, butter and sugar…):
Cross-section:
The next morning, ready for breakfast:
I have eaten approximately my body weight in cake in the last two days, since I really can’t refuse things with pumpkin pie in them. I’d like to experiment, though, with a crumb cake that is just pumpkin CAKE and topping, rather than the layer of pie filling. The cake part is great with the filling but would be dry on its own…I wonder if I could sub in pumpkin for sour cream in my mom’s coffee cake recipe and play with that? Good thing I have months of fall left!
So fun! I don’t know if I can eat pumpkin again until Thanksgiving, but the cake was wonderful! As was your braised pork. Ooh la la. xxxxx
So fun! I don’t know if I can eat pumpkin again until Thanksgiving, but the cake was wonderful! As was your braised pork. Ooh la la. xxxxx
You’re giving me major autumn envy! I was already enticed by the spread of olive oil, prosciutto and rustic bread, but then I scrolled down to the cake. That… looks… amazing! I may need to buy an oven, and search out a can of pumpkin pie filling somewhere… -X
Argh, that was me… Though I’m sure Bordeaux would like that cake too. -X
Oh Xander, I don’t know how I’d manage to get through an autumnless year. It’s definitely my favorite time of year, from the food to the temperature to the clothes! Surely somewhere in Bangkok there is an oven you could borrow, though? (Just look for plain pumpkin, not the filling–you want to add the seasoning and sugar yourself.)
How thoroughly envy-inducing! I am making this awesome pear and champagne cake (from fabsugar) for M’s bday (tomorrow! happy birthday M!). When I made the cupcakes (to test it out) I thought of you the whole time and how I wish I had had my camera with me to send to you. My favorite trick for making baked goods extra light and moist is egg whites and club soda. (I didn’t leave any chunks of the pear so it didn’t at all taste like cooked fruit, thank god).
xoxox, miss you
Baking isn’t too common a home activity here, so apartments never come with ovens. Bordeaux and I have been eyeing a few little ovens for sale, and I think we’re about to break down and buy one. If for nothing else, to make this cake, and because Bordeaux’s gone for too long without beskuit- a kind of South African biscotti.
And thanks for the tip- there are plenty of plain pumpkins here, so that shouldn’t be a problem. -X
yummy!
thats extremely good !
So jealous!
A thought (though who knows how helpful it will be):
There’s this famous Weight Watchers/diet recipe for cupcakes that is absolutely to die for. You just take a box of cake mix, 4 Tbsp water and a can of plain pumpkin, mix them all together and bake. The recipe is typically done with Devils Food cake mix, but I like it best with Spice Cake mix. That might make a wonderful base for your crumb-cake idea. The pumpkin makes the cake incredibly moist (and high in fiber!) and the combo of Spice Cake mix and pumpkin is thoroughly autumnal.
Well, now I am thinking of pumpkiny foodstuffs. Have you tried pumpkin butter? (same deal as apple or pear butter) Trader Joes usually has it in stock this time of year, yummy on some good bread slightly toasted.