Have you ever looked at a recipe and just knew it was going to turn out to be delicious?
Well, a few weeks ago I got that feeling and it took me by surprise – I never like to get too overconfident when I’m in the kitchen just to avoid the disappointing letdown if something doesn’t turn out the way I had it pictured in my head. However…. when I saw this recipe, something in my head told me it was going to turn out great – so great that I needed to make two of them so I can bring one to work to share with my coworkers.
I’m glad to tell you that that little voice in my head was right, and I’m sooooo incredibly glad that I made two coffee cakes. I know those coworkers that got to try it were glad I made two also!
Enter Part 4 of my latest obsession with pumpkin desserts – a rich, moist pumpkin coffee cake complete with a thick, crumbly layer of streusel topping and a vanilla glaze.
When I had my mind set on making two of these cakes, I pre-measured the streusel ingredients (minus the butter) and dry ingredients into separate tupperware bowls the night before, just to make my life easier when I’m ready to make them the next day. I have to say, it really did save me quite a bit of time on baking day, because all I had left to do was to measure out the wet ingredients and add the two together. I’m totally going to be prepping this way from now on!
These cakes were also made with a little love from Brian… here’s the story: when I decided on making two cakes, I realized that we would be short of pumpkin puree and ground cloves. The syrup we had on hand also expired August of 2011… so I sent him to Target to pick things up for me while I got things ready. You know baking season is in full swing when Target has absolutely no ground cloves whatsoever. None. So being the loving husband that he is, he drove to Wal-Mart just to get me the ground cloves that I needed. That deserves a pat on the back in my book :)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons pumpkin spice coffee creamer or milk
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x9 baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside.
- Combine the flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, add in the cold butter and mix until you get pea-sized clumps of butter. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Mix until combined. Using a medium bowl, add in the pumpkin, brown sugar, oil, maple syrup, and milk. Mix. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the baking pan, spreading out the batter with a spatula to create an even surface. Generously sprinkle the streusel topping onto the cake, pressing them slightly down into the batter.
- Bake the cake for 30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool.
- While the cake is cooling, make the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of creamer/milk together until smooth. If it's too thick, add another tablespoon of creamer/milk. Add more creamer/milk until desired consistency is reached. Drizzle over cake and enjoy!
- Store cake in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
When you mix everything up, the batter will be thick – don’t panic! That’s totally normal and it’ll turn out great in the end, trust me. What makes the dessert over-the-top amazing is the thick layer of streusel topping. I think I could probably bake a whole cake pan of the streusel and be okay with it. If you have pumpkin spice creamer on hand (which I did), use that instead of milk to make the glaze for a more intense pumpkin flavor! If you don’t have pumpkin creamer, you don’t have to go out and buy a whole bottle of it – using milk would work just fine too. Depending on how thick/thin you like your icing, add less/more milk to the powdered sugar accordingly. I went a little pumpkin-creamer-happy on one and the glaze turned out to be a little thinner than I would’ve liked. Either way, it’s not going to affect the taste or texture of your cake – it’s just a matter of personal preference.
Vanilla glaze dripping down the sides… don’t you want to just reach through the screen and catch some of that glaze with your finger?!
This cake can either be served warm or at room temperature, so there’s no need to wait for it to cool! It’s a good thing no cooling is required, otherwise I would probably have to leave the house for an hour so I wouldn’t be tormented by constant wafts of delicious smells!
Happy baking!
Recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction
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