or scroll for handy tips and a little nostalgia.
The warm colours of autumn are a highlight of the season, and this Pumpkin Cake Recipe captures everything that’s wonderful about autumn.
There’s the pumpkin, of course, which comes into peak season as the weather starts to turn cool.
The maple cream cheese frosting and spiced crumble which sit atop this Pumpkin Cake also help to make it a perfect afternoon treat as the days start to fade a little earlier in autumn.
Choosing a pumpkin
Pumpkins, which are technically a fruit rather than a vegetable, should have “thick, unbroken skin” and “feel heavy for their size” according to the experts.
Once cut, look for “moist-looking interior and brightly coloured flesh.”
Pumpkin Cake: the ingredients
To make this cake, you’ll need:
- butter
- caster sugar
- boiled and mashed pumpkin
- eggs
- salt
- golden syrup (or light corn syrup, honey, agave or molasse)
- SR flour (or all-purpose flour with baking powder added)
- sultanas.
To make the maple frosting, you’ll also need:
- cream cheese
- butter
- icing sugar
- maple syrup.
And, finally, for the spiced crumble topping, you’ll need these ingredients:
- rolled oats
- sliced natural almonds
- cinnamon
- brown sugar.
All quantities can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Making Pumpkin Cake
The pumpkin really is the star of this cake. A sweet and flavourful pumpkin is perfect for baking cake.
The maple cream cheese frosting and spiced crumble add another layer of flavour to this Pumpkin Cake.
You can, though, spice things up even more by adding 1/4 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves to the cake mixture.
You could also substitute the caster sugar for brown sugar for a richer, more autumnal, colour and flavour.
Step-by-step instructions for making this cake can be found below in the recipe card.
Nana Ling’s Pumpkin Cake recipe
Keep scrolling for the tested and tweaked version.
(And if you have an abundance of pumpkin, you might like to also check out the Pumpkin Croquettes recipe.)
Pumpkin Cake
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cake
- 115 grams butter
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 1 cup boiled and mashed pumpkin
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon golden syrup (or light corn syrup, honey, agave or molasse)
- 2 cups SR flour (or 2 cups all-purpose flour with 3 teaspoons of baking powder added and whisked to combine)
- 1/4 cup sultanas
Maple Frosting
- 250 grams cream cheese
- 50 grams butter
- 1/4 cup icing sugar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Spiced Crumble Topping
- 1/4 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup sliced natural almonds
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
Instructions
Pumpkin Cake
- Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celsius (fan-forced).
- Cream butter and sugar.
- Add eggs and beat well.
- Add pumpkin and golden syrup. Mix well.
- Sift flour and salt into mixture, 1/3 at a time, folding through to combine.
- Stir through sultanas.
- Pour mixture into a well-greased large loaf tin.
- Cook in oven for 50 minutes.
- Allow to cool before adding frosting.
Frosting
- Whip cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer on high for 2 minutes.
- Add icing sugar and continue to mix for 3 minutes.
- Add maple syrup and mix well.
- Add to top of cake once the cake is completely cool.
Spiced Crumble
- Combine all ingredients in a large frying pan.
- Stir over medium-high heat until sugar melts.
- Cook for a few minutes and then spread out to cool on baking paper.
- Once cooled, sprinkle over frosting on top of cake.