Pumpkin Cake
Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1999 ed.), pg. 94.
Another pumpkin recipe but hey, it is that time of year. This is an easy-to-make and assemble cake that is moist and delicious. Definitely not for the diet conscious! I thought the 2 cups of sugar sounded excessive and I might substitute some apple sauce to counter that. I may try that in the future. However, this is a great cake just the way it is listed.
I found that I did not have allspice in my pantry. Fret not - you can use equal amounts of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 TBS. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
1/2 tsp. powdered cloves
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. salt
5 oz. (1 cup) raisins, dark, light or mixed
3 1/2 oz. (1 cup) walnuts, broken into medium sized pieces
2 cups pumpkin
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups safflower oil, corn oil, or other salad oil
4 eggs
Optional: Confectioners sugar
Preheat oven to 350. Butter or spray a tube or Bundt pan. Generously dust with bread crumbs.
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| Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, allspice and salt. |
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| Add a tablespoon of the sifted mixture to the raisins in a small bowl. Use your fingers to toss the raisins to coat them. Stir in the nuts and set aside. |
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| In a mixer bowl, mix together the pumpkin, sugar and oil. |
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| Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well. |
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| Lower the speed and add the sifted dry ingredients, beating until smooth. |
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| Stir in the nuts and raisins. Turn into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour or until cake tester comes out clean. |
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| Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before removing. When cool, the top of the cake can be sprinkled with confectioners sugar. |
I have been making this cake for years and it never fails. I usually make it plain and in a 10” tube pan or in a Bundt pan. I use 1 15 oz can. Would love to lower the sugar content by 1/4 to 1/2 cup and the oil to 3/4 cup to 1 cup. Have you tried the apple sauce replacement? I have used 2 cups ap flour and 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour for great results too! To me no other recipe comes close to the original, whether it be cake or bread.
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried the applesauce replacement in this recipe. However, I have done that in the past for many recipes and it usually works fine. This would be a good experiment!
ReplyDeleteI just made this recipe for my mother's 73rd birthday, on her request. Used a mix of regular and golden raisins mixed with craisins to up the seasonal flavor! Taking a radical turn, I baked 12 cupcakes (in papers) and two 8" rounds... that's how much batter this cake makes (leading me to wonder about halving the recipe and how that might work). I boldly/foolishly took the chance to butter and flour the cake pans, being daunted by the butter/paper/butter method in the recipe. I gave them plenty of time to cool and they came out of the pans beautifully!!! Made a 2 layer cake with apple butter in the middle. Baked it Saturday, eating it this Wednesday, let's see how it stands the test of time.
ReplyDeleteThat is great Emily - let us know how it holds up. And happy birthday to your mother!
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