Pumpkin Butter Cake

Buttery and velvety
I've decided to tackle a pumpkin this long weekend, in the form of 3 recipes, mainly due to the size (but only 1.5 kg that is) and each recipe requires pretty much only a quarter or more. The first portion was without a doubt awarded to the recipe that I've bookmarked the moment Ann teased us on her Facebook! It's exactly the way it's described, smooth and dense with a perfect velvety bite :)

But wait, there was clearly a large problem before that! Being a pumpkin-noob, I took a look at my blunt cleaver and back at the pumpkin, a moment of pure intimidation and panic loomed -- what-have-I-just-carried home! But the story obviously ended well since I managed to produced this lovely cake :) I merely adapted sheer force with the edge of the cleaver to break into the flesh, with the other end (not the knife) flying across the kitchen!

No prize for guessing which piece hit the floor ;)
Ingredients
  • 240g plain flour, sifted
  • 200g pumpkin flesh, skin peeled and cut in cubes
  • 200g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 60g cornstarch
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 vanilla pod, scrapped
  • A handful of pumpkin seeds
Perfect for an 8-inch square cake pan
Adapted from Pig Pig's Corner

Directions
  1. Steam the cubed pumpkin by filling a pot with water and place the pumpkin in a bowl over a heat-proof stand 
  2. Cover the pot and let steam for 15-20 minutes
  3. Once pumpkin is soft, use a fork to mash it and set aside to cool
  4. Preheat oven to 160°C, dial it to the indicator that points to a fan with top and bottom heat 
  5. Using a stand mixer to beat sugar, butter and scrapped vanilla seeds until light and fluffy
  6. Add in eggs one at a time. Let each egg combine well before pouring in the next
  7. Blend in half the sifted flour until well combined 
  8. Add cooled pumpkin puree and mix well, followed by the second half of the flour 
  9. Beat for another couple of minutes until all traces of flour disappears
  10. Pour batter into a greased baking pan, sprinkle pumpkin seeds on top and bake for 45 minutes
Pumpkin-orange gratin dish to match the cake :)
Original recipe calls for 45-50 minutes but due to the size of my loaf pans (3.5 x 7-inch) with 1.5-inch batter, I only used 30 minutes and the skewer came out clean (with more to spare!), hence the gratin dish for the extra batter :) 

Pumpkin heaven!
I thought I owe it to Peggy to whip up a gluten-free pumpkin dessert :) So stay tune!


Tags: Baking