Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Ginger Streusel
Somehow we are over halfway into the month of September, and I feel like I have barely shared anything with you all! I do not understand how the time seems to fly by so quickly. I do believe that this month has seemed to whirl past me only because it still feels very much like summer around here. The weather is starting to turn slightly to chillier mornings and evenings, but the afternoons are hot and muggy. We have gotten a few days of rain, which has been so lovely after a very hot and dry summer. It is nice to see the plants perk up after only having drinks from our well, which we try not to use too often. There really is nothing like a good, deep rain!
As the sky has been moody the last few days, it only seemed right to bake something to enjoy for tea time. I thought it might be fun to experiment and see if I could figure out how to make a pumpkin coffee cake. The results came out fantastic! This cake is dense but still very fluffy and soft, and it tastes like your favorite pumpkin coffee. Cinnamon takes over this cake in a good way, and I love the little hint of ginger in the batter and the streusel topping. It feels like a spiced cake but even better.
INGREDIENTS & RECIPE:
pumpkin coffee cake:
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup buttermilk or whole milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
cinnamon sugar filling:
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
cinnamon ginger streusel:
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
Pinch of kosher salt
1/4 cup salted butter, melted
glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1-2 tbsp whole milk
directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 9x13-inch baking pan and set it aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, mixing in one at a time, until smooth. Stir in the pumpkin puree, milk, and vanilla until combined. It may look a bit separated at this point.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Add this to the wet ingredients and whisk until a uniform batter has been reached. It will be a thick batter.
In a small bowl, make the cinnamon sugar filling by mixing together the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Set this aside.
In another small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and melted butter with a fork until it resembles coarse crumbs, kind of like a graham cracker crust.
Spread half of the pumpkin coffee cake batter into the prepared pan, reaching all four corners. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar filling evenly over the batter. Spread the remaining cake batter over the cinnamon sugar filling. Top evenly with the cinnamon ginger streusel and press it in gently.
Bake the cake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake rest in the pan for about 30 minutes before slicing and serving. Personally, I let it come to room temperature so that the icing does not melt.
To make the icing, whisk together the powdered sugar and milk until the icing is the consistency of molasses. Add more or less milk to thicken or thin the icing out, as desired.
Cut the cake in 12 squares and serve drizzled with icing and a hot cup of coffee or espresso.
Don’t forget the icing! That makes everything better. This cake makes 12 slices, so if that seems like too much for you, you can easily cut the recipe in half and bake it an 8x8-inch dish. I have done this many times if we are only baking for ourselves. This cake also freezes quite well.
I hope that you enjoy this delightful little taste of autumn!
xoxo Kayla
