apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Pumpkin crumb cakes - they're one of our favorite pumpkin recipes. This is a flexible recipe; you can make it in one big pan, or as individual babycakes like we did here. There's tender yellow cake on the bottom, spiced pumpkin filling sandwiched in the center, and crunchy crumbly streusel on top. We love the dark, rich pumpkin in the center!

The list of ingredients here looks long, but it's really quite simple. We make up one dry mix of flour and sugar that gets used for the cake base and the streusel topping, and then mix that with butter and spices for each. If you have your pumpkin all ready this should come together quickly.

Pumpkin Crumb Cakes
makes one 13x9 cake or 18 individual cakes

Dry Mix
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder

Cake Batter
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 dry mix

Pumpkin Filling
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup dark brown sugar
2/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Crumb Topping
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon water
1/2 dry mixture (see above)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Heat the oven to 350°F. Sift together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder for the dry mix.

Beat the butter until whipped and creamy and then beat in the eggs and vanilla. Beat in about half of the dry mix of flour and sugar. Set aside.

Whip together the eggs, pumpkin puree, milk, brown sugar and spices for the pumpkin filling. Set aside.

Mix the rest of the dry mix with a stick of butter, an extra half cup of flour, and the spices. Add a tablespoon of water and mix with fingers until loose and crumbly.

To make a full pan of crumb cake, grease a 9x13 baking pan and pat the dough into the bottom. Pour the pumpkin filling over top and sprinkle the crumb topping over it. To make individual cakes instead, repeat using 4-ounce paper souffle cups. After they are baked, let the individual cups cool for an hour then cut the paper cups away with scissors for individual cakes.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until the filling is set inside. Let cool for at least an hour before slicing.

Related: Recipe: Pumpkin Tortilla Soup

Originally published October 11, 2007