BAKING,  CAKES,  DESSERTS,  TEA CAKES

Pumpkin Pie Spice and Walnut Loaf Cake with Buttermilk Frosting

2013/10/26 / 13 Comments

“Cake baking has to be, however innocently, one of the great culinary scams: it implies effort, it implies domestic prowess; but believe me, it’s easy.”
Nigella Lawson

Pumpkin Pie Spice and Walnut Loaf Cake with Buttermilk FrostingPumpkin Pie Spice and Walnut Loaf Cake with Buttermilk Frosting. I’ve waited to bake a pumpkin tea cake for long. This humble fall vegetable is entirely charming, so full of promise, yet so underrated!

pumpkin loveOver the years, the season has continued to inspire me. It’s a culinary delight to see the number of pumpkin dishes falling into the inbox day after day. From pumpkin soups, to waffles, to chili, scones, smoothies and so much more tumbling in, it was but natural for me to roast more pumpkin. Felt right!

Pumpkin Pie Spice and Walnut Loaf Cake with Buttermilk Frosting I roasted a large batch the other day. Half headed for pumpkin soup. That recipe inspired my mother to make a similar soup, a vegetarian version. She roasted a bunch of vegetables on the side, didn’t use stock, and yet came up with a winner! The remaining puree was reserved for cake!

Pumpkin Pie Spice and Walnut Loaf Cake with Buttermilk Frosting This Pumpkin Pie Spice and Walnut Loaf Cake with Buttermilk Frosting is based on the buttermilk pound cake which I make very often. I tried to keep it nice and healthy, with a generous dose of whole wheat flour. The pumpkin and pie spice added a nice deep dimension to it. I knew the kids would love it. The boy LOVES anything with pumpkin pie spice.

Pumpkin Pie Spice and Walnut Loaf Cake with Buttermilk Frosting The frosting was simple, yet finger licking good. Quite close to tasting like a salted butter caramel sauce, but sans the caramel. It’s quick and easy to make. Complimented the cake really nicely.

Pumpkin Pie Spice and Walnut Loaf Cake with Buttermilk Frosting As always, it’s difficult for my fidgety hands to leave well alone. I had a rather large cinnamon scroll that a sweet cousin had sent me. And I thought some marzipan art was in order. Despite being rushed for time, my hands got down to kneading the last remaining marzipan from Finla. I had a field day.

Pumpkin Pie Spice and Walnut Loaf Cake with Buttermilk Frosting Making pumpkins with marzipan is no rocket science. It’s a step back into playschool and such a load of fun. I made some a few years ago for this cake with homemade marzipan. I love the way simple garnishing can add a pop of colour and add oomph to a loaf cake. 

Pumpkin Pie Spice and Walnut Loaf Cake with Buttermilk Frosting It tastes just as good without the ‘decor’ but the kids {read young adults} fought for marzipan bits and bobs! I love the slight bitterness the marzipan has. Not to sweet and a 100% delicious.

[print_this]Recipe:  Pumpkin Pie Spice and Walnut Loaf Cake with Buttermilk Frosting 
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Summary: This Pumpkin Pie Spice and Walnut Loaf Cake with Buttermilk Frosting is based on the buttermilk pound cake which I make very often. It’s healthy with a generous dose of whole wheat flour. The pumpkin and pie spice added a nice deep dimension to it. Buttermilk frosting and marzipan make it festive.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients:

  • Pumpkin Pie Spice and Walnut Loaf Cake
  • 100g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 120g vanilla sugar
  • 130g brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 200g fresh pumpkin puree
  • 1tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 80g plain flour
  • 120g whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • pinch salt
  • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 50g walnuts, finely chopped
  • 125ml buttermilk
  • Buttermilk frosting
  • 25g butter
  • 25g buttermilk
  • 75g icing sugar
  • 1 tbsp cornflour dissolved in 1 tbsp buttermilk

Method: 

  1. Pumpkin Pie Spice and Walnut Loaf Cake
  2. Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease a 9 X 11″ loaf tin, line the bottom.
  3. In a bowl, whisk together both flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the walnuts, stir well to distribute evenly.In a large bowl, crream the butter and both sugars until lligh and fluffy.
  4. Beat in the eggs, followed by the vanilla extract.
  5. Next beat in the pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice.
  6. Add a third of the flour mix and beat in on low speed, then a half the buttermilk. Repeat again, ending with the flour mix.
  7. Turn into prepared tin and bake at 180C for about an hour, until the tester comes out clean.
  8. In the meantime, make the frosting and cool completely.
  9. Buttermilk frosting
  10. Place all ingredients in a heavy bottom pan and bring to a simmering boil, stirring constantly until the frosting thickens.
  11. Remove from heat, strain into a bowl or jar and cool completely.

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deeba
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About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.

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13 Comments

  • Jamie

    2013/10/26 at 10:20 pm Reply

    Oh, Deeba, even the most simple things turn into works of great beauty in your “busy fingers”! Stunning! I remember you making these pumpkins a couple of years ago and I want to make them now. But the cake is fabulous, a great new pumpkin recipe for me, which I love. Simple loaf cakes like this make the perfect breakfast in our house. Another winning recipe, darling!

  • gloria

    2013/10/27 at 5:08 am Reply

    absolutely lovely!!! wait I show Esperanza (my daugther ) yours cute and Little pumpkins, today we make some pumpkin cupcakes (I think I will post Monday) and she garnish all them and look wonderful!!
    I love your cake look absolutely georgeous!!
    xo

  • shooting star

    2013/10/28 at 4:29 pm Reply

    last winter I made pumpkin soup for the ailing father in law and he loved it!!!

    pumpkin is truly a cool vegetable 🙂

  • Peony

    2013/10/30 at 2:11 pm Reply

    The pie cake looks awesome…and it looks so tempting…will go really well with kids…
    Thanks for sharing the recipe…

    Peony

  • Miriam katuumuri

    2013/10/31 at 5:11 pm Reply

    Hi Deeba,

    I love reading your blog, and am very happy that you’re doing what you do… teaching people to cook with healthy ingredients is so important in fostering a healthy life and more importantly a healthy future. Today I am contacting you because I too am trying to do my part in getting people to eat and live healthier. In 2008 I set on a quest to look for the ideal cooking pot, one that would give me all the nutrients from the food being cooked without adding its own ingredients or contaminants. It was a personal happening that led me to do this and all my research pointed out in one direction — Pure Clay. After several years of research and travel I set out to make my line of pure clay cooking pots and their made in the USA. I had benefited so much from cooking in these pots that I had to share it with the world.

    We choose to keep our raw material pure because the health benefits are overwhelming this way and greatly surpass that of cookware made from other kinds of manufactured clay like ceramic etc. I have come to read and love your blog greatly and would like you to consider taking part in our Affiliate Program so we can together promote this extremely healthy way of cooking to all your readers. You can find all the information about our cookware at miriamsearthencookware dot com or PureClayCookware dot com and sign up for the affiliate program by clicking on the affiliate tab on top.

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    Good luck with your blog.
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