If you love soft, light, moist, and fragrant desserts, this pumpkin and amaretto cake is ready to enter your list of ‘must-haves’. It’s a cake that captivates at first glance with its beautiful slice color; a slice that, by the way, literally melts in your mouth! The pumpkin provides incredible softness, while the amaretti add that aromatic touch that makes the cake special without weighing it down. This dessert is proof of how these two ingredients always pair wonderfully (just think of the pumpkin tortelli typical of my area). In short… a perfect cake for breakfast, the kids’ snack, or to indulge yourself with something good without too much guilt! What are you waiting for? Try it out!
Other vegetable desserts I recommend trying:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 8 People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter
Ingredients for the Pumpkin and Amaretto Cake
The best pumpkin for this preparation is the Delica: compact, low in water, and with a sweet flavor. It has a green skin and is round and flattened.
Cream of tartar is used to stabilize the egg whites. It is found in all supermarkets in the baking aisle (yeast, vanilla, etc.). It is better not to replace or eliminate it. Moreover, in this cake, it combines with baking soda and helps with leavening. Read HERE to understand exactly what it’s for. If you wish to buy it online, you can do so by clicking HERE.
Marsala can be replaced with another liqueur of your choice or it can be omitted.
- 4 1/4 oz raw pumpkin pulp
- 1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 oz amaretti
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 1/2 tbsp milk
- 3 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 eggs (medium)
- 1 pinch cream of tartar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch baking soda
- 2 tbsp Marsala
- 1 pinch salt
- powdered sugar (for dusting)
Tools
- 1 Grater with large holes
- 1 Immersion Blender
- 3 Bowls medium
- 1 Bowl large
- 1 Spatula
- Electric Beaters
- 1 Cake Pan 22 cm in diameter
Preparation of the Pumpkin and Amaretto Cake
Separate the yolks from the whites, placing the yolks in a large bowl.
Wash the pumpkin pulp, dry it very well with a towel or paper towels, and grate it raw using a grater with large holes.
Gather it in a bowl, add the milk and oil, and blend it thoroughly with an immersion blender until you get a smooth cream without residues or filaments. Set aside.
Crush the amaretti into a fine powder using a meat mallet (or a glass).
In a second bowl, mix the white flour, almond flour, crushed amaretti, a pinch of salt, a pinch of baking soda, and the baking powder. Set aside.
Add a pinch of cream of tartar to the egg whites and start whipping them with the electric beaters, gradually adding two tablespoons of sugar from the total. You should obtain a stiff and glossy meringue. Set them aside.
Add the remaining sugar to the yolks and beat them for a long time with the electric beaters until you get a light and frothy mixture.
Then, add the liqueur and pumpkin cream and beat for a few more moments with the beaters.
At this point, add the dry ingredients in several batches, incorporating them with a spatula.
Once all the dry ingredients have been added, gradually fold in the stiff egg whites, mixing gently from bottom to top to avoid deflating the mixture.
Once you have a homogeneous mixture, pour it into a 22 cm diameter pan previously buttered and floured. I used a silicone decorated mold but buttered it anyway just to be sure not to ruin the cake and to release it without problems. Level the mixture with a spatula.
Bake the pumpkin and amaretto cake in a preheated static oven at 338°F (170°C) for 30 minutes. Perform the toothpick test to check for doneness: inserted in the center of the cake, it should come out dry and clean; otherwise, extend the baking time by a few minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely before removing it from the mold and transferring it to the serving plate. Once cool, you can sprinkle it with a light dusting of powdered sugar. The pumpkin cake can be accompanied by a delicious pumpkin and mascarpone cream (find the recipe HERE). Enjoy! Paola.
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