In case you are still frantically hunting a dessert for Thanksgiving next week, or if you just plain like pumpkin any time of year then I have a dessert for you! A brown butter pumpkin cake. Need I say more?
(Adapted from Rachel Ray)
Ingredients:
115 g unsalted butter
1 cup of canned pumpkin puree
1 cup of sugar
2/3 cup of light brown sugar
1/4 cup of buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ginger
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of all spice
dash of cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
3/4 teaspoon of salt
(For frosting)
4 oz of cream cheese
1/2 cup of icing sugar
1 cup of heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1/3 cup of hazelnuts (tasted and chopped) *optional*
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C) and grease/line two cake tins. In a skillet cook the butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it’s completely melted and turns golden brown. After 4-6 minutes it should start smelling nutty. Remove the butter from the heat and pour into a small bowl to cool.
In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, sugars, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, mix together the flour, spices, salt and baking soda. Then add the dry ingredients into the wet ones and stir until just combined. Lastly mix in your bowl of browned butter.
Divide the batter between your two cake tins and bake for 25-30 minutes. After you remove your cakes from the oven and set them aside to cool, you can start preparing your frosting. Mix together the icing sugar and the cream cheese. Then whip in the heavy cream and the vanilla. Continue to whip until the frosting is thick and smooth. It should hold stiff peaks. This usually takes about 3-4 minutes.
Spread half your frosting on one cake, and top with the other cake. Spread the remaining frosting on top of that and decorate the edges with your hazelnuts.
Do you have a favourite Thanksgiving recipe?
