Sunday Mornings: Pumpkin Coffee Cake

We are still working our way through the pumpkin puree we made from the volunteer pumpkins that came up in our garden last year. I’ve made pumpkin bars this week, we’ll be having pumpkin pancakes (again) soon, but I had one last bit of pumpkin that I needed to use up and decided to find a way to use it in a coffee cake. The girls and Mr. Losing It are very fond of coffee cake, and I like having leftovers to serve the girls for an easy breakfast on Monday morning.

There are lots of pumpkin coffee cake recipes out there, some more complicated and involved than others, but I finally settled on this one I found at allrecipes.com. The recipe only calls for a half-cup of pureed pumpkin, but a commenter noted that she had used a full cup of pumpkin and then baked the cake in a 9″ x 13″ pan (versus the two 8″-round cake pans called for), and since a cup of pumpkin is what I had left I decided to try her method. I also didn’t have the pumpkin pie spice that’s called for, so made my own spice mixture and it came out just right!

Our volunteer pumpkin crop

Everyone here liked that this cake was not “too pumpkin-y,” but more delicately flavored and spiced. The cake is very moist, and the crunchy streusel topping is perfect, not too crumbly or overwhelming. Although it’s not overly sweet, the cake could also work as a dessert, and would be wonderful served warm with ice or whipped cream.

PUMPKIN COFFEE CAKE

Streusel topping:

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 TBSP cold butter
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Cake:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup canned or cooked pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare the streusel topping: In a small bowl or food processor, combine the brown and regular sugar and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the pecans and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and 1 cup sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the sour cream, pumpkin puree and vanilla and mix well. In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients, and then add to the sour cream mixture in small batches, beating on low speed until just blended. Pour into a greased 9″ x 13″ pan and cover the top with the streusel topping. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

I hope you’ll join me and link up one of your favorite breakfast or brunch recipes! (Remember, Mr. Linky and WordPress.com don’t get along too well, so you won’t immediately see your link. I’ll get it posted though! And, be sure to leave a comment.)

1. Two Ingredient Biscuits and Chocolate Gravy (Premeditated Leftovers)

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