This has to be my new all time favourite cake, and believe me it takes a good deal to get to that top spot! Delicious pumpkin and chocolate chip cake, with a cream cheese maple icing and caramelised pecans what’s not to love?!
This cake is absolutely worth going out and getting a tin of pumpkin puree (I picked mine up in Waitrose and they have it all year round but plenty of supermarkets will stock it at this time of year too). This is the tin you’re looking for – Libbys Pumpkin Puree. The recipe doesn’t use the full tin but you can easily use up the leftover adding it to a homemade soup or casserole.
Ingredients:
Cake
250g butter, softened
175g caster sugar
175g soft brown sugar
4 eggs, large
250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 ½ tsp mixed cake spice
140g chocolate chips
300g pumpkin puree
Frosting
100g cream cheese
3 tbsps maple syrup
250g icing sugar
Maple Caramelised Pecans
4 tbsps maple syrup
15g butter
100g pecans
Preheat the oven to 160c (fan)/180c/Gas Mark 4 and grease a Bundt tin extremely well.
I’m using a full size Nordicware Bundt tin, but the mixture doesn’t take up the full tin, the cake is equivalent to a 9” round cake tin in volume if you don’t have a Bundt pan. Alternatively you could bake it in a tray bake style tin – when it comes to baking you’ll need to keep an eye on the bake time and test the cake with a skewer to check it’s done.
So on with the cake, cream together the butter and sugars until very light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure to keep the mixture aerated beating it well after each egg.
In a bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, mixed cake spice and chocolate chips.
Add the dry mix and the pumpkin puree to the butter sugar egg mix and stir in until well combined.
Spoon into the tin and level with the back of a spoon.
Bake it in the oven for 50 minutes until springy to the touch and when tested with a skewer it comes out clean (avoiding the chocolate chips!)
Allow it to cool in the tin for 30 minutes. This allows the cake structure to set up so that it comes out of the tin easily. Set yourself a timer.
After 30 minutes cooling invert the tin over a wire rack, a sharp tap or two should release the cake and you can lift away the tin.
I lost just a little of the crust oo the top – hey I’m not going quibble over a tiny patch!
Leave it to cool fully and on with preparing the maple caramelised pecans.
You will only need half of the maple caramelised pecans for decorating the top of the cake but I don’t mind snacking on the other half. I’ve found this is the smallest quantity I can successfully do without scorching the pecans in the pan.
Place the maple syrup and butter in a small pan and heat gently until the butter is melted.
Add the pecans and stir frequently, continue to heat and stir the pecans until they are fully coated and the maple syrup is extremely thickened.
Set out a sheet of non-stick baking paper, spread the coated pecans out over the sheet and allow to cool.
Once the cake has cooled and the pecans set make up the frosting.
Beat together the cream cheese and maple syrup. Sift in the icing sugar and mix well. Transfer it to a jug, this makes it much easier too drizzle.
Trim the cake so that it sits level and place onto a serving plate. Pour the frosting slowly over the top.
Chop a little of the maple caramelised pecans into rough pieces and scatter these and some of the whole ones over the top.
Serve (and make sure you get the biggest slice!)
Ruth Clemens, Baker Extraordinaire
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