PUMPKIN CAKE sweet recipe
A traditional soft and slightly moist PUMPKIN CAKE, made without butter and ready in a few minutes — a classic pantry cake perfect for breakfast or a wholesome snack.
Among my favorite Pumpkin Desserts this one certainly belongs: a simple preparation that reminds me of when I was a child and there weren’t many packaged snacks, but my grandmother was always ready to pull wonderful cakes out of the oven for snack time and I couldn’t stop eating them.
Super quick and practical, this Pumpkin Cake recipe is ready in 15 minutes: once the pumpkin is cleaned and blended raw, it is added to a very simple batter directly in a bowl and mixed with a spoon; in a few seconds you’ll have the batter for a Pumpkin Cake, as I used to call it when I was little — absolutely delicious.
The result? A cake with a soft, velvety and slightly moist texture thanks to the raw pumpkin, butter-free, with a bright color, perfect in its simplicity.
If you prefer, you can enrich it with a cream cheese frosting like the one used on Carrot Cake, the famous American cake.
This Pumpkin Cake recipe is ideal for every occasion: from breakfast to a sincere snack; easy to carry in a school backpack or to the office to start the day with energy and taste — I’m sure once you try it you won’t stop making it!
The same recipe can also be made as single-portion cakes for easier transport.
If you’re looking for more pumpkin recipes try also
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Cooking time: 45 Minutes
- Portions: springform pan diameter 8 2/3 in
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Autumn, Winter
- Energy 420.77 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 49.06 (g) of which sugars 25.03 (g)
- Proteins 8.81 (g)
- Fat 22.34 (g) of which saturated 2.25 (g)of which unsaturated 12.29 (g)
- Fibers 2.59 (g)
- Sodium 36.87 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 9 oz (about 1 cup) pumpkin
- 1 cup (about 100 g) almond flour
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp (about 180 g) granulated sugar
- 3 eggs (whole)
- 7 tbsp (100 ml) sunflower oil
- 1 sachet baking powder
- almonds (for decoration)
- 1 small pot (about 4.4 oz / 1/2 cup) whole plain yogurt (Whole plain)
Tools
- Bowl
- Food processor
- Spatula
- Springform pan
Steps
First, clean the pumpkin: remove the skin and the seeds, then slice and dice it. Put it in the food processor and grate it while still raw; set it aside. In a bowl, pour the whole eggs with the sugar and whisk with electric beaters until the mixture is pale and frothy. Add the sunflower oil and the yogurt and whisk again for a few seconds.
Add the almond flour to the mixture and fold with a spatula, then also add the all-purpose flour sifted together with the baking powder and incorporate well with a spatula until you get a homogeneous, lump-free batter. Finally, add the grated pumpkin and mix everything together.
Pour the batter into a previously greased and floured pan, decorate with a few blanched almonds and coarse sugar (optional) and bake in a preheated oven at 338°F for about 45 – 50 minutes. Before removing it definitively from the oven, do the toothpick test. Before removing the pumpkin cake from the pan, wait until it is completely cooled. You can dust it with powdered sugar.
NOTES
PUMPKIN: Regarding the type of pumpkin to use, any variety works but I recommend the Delica type for its soft yet compact and not too stringy flesh. It’s important that the blended pumpkin becomes as smooth as possible, leaving at most very small pieces. You can replace it with an equal amount of carrot purée following the same method to make a Carrot Cake with Almonds.
ALMOND FLOUR: You can use whole almonds instead of almond flour, but you will need to blend them into a flour first.
SUGAR: Granulated sugar can be substituted with brown sugar if desired.
VEGETABLE OIL: If you prefer, you can substitute the vegetable oil with the same amount of melted butter.
LEMON ZEST: To further flavor the cake you can add grated lemon or orange zest.
DECORATION: You can bake the Pumpkin Cake plain and dust it with powdered sugar once cooled, or decorate the surface before baking with blanched almonds and coarse sugar.
STORAGE
The pumpkin cake stays soft for up to 3 days if covered with plastic wrap.
