Spiced Pumpkin Buckwheat Cake

Spiced Pumpkin Buckwheat Cake

It’s Autumn and everyone’s showcasing their apple and pumpkin recipes.  I came across a gorgeous picture over on Instagram recently of a spiced pumpkin buckwheat cake by the lovely @Kaybaking64, who bakes beautiful cakes – do check out her feed on Instagram!  Kay’s spiced pumpkin buckwheat cake looked too good to overlook and I just had to give it a go.

Take one medium pumpkin, any variety will do.  Some are sweeter and some are drier in texture than others, which could affect the yield of pumpkin puree and of course the taste.  For this recipe I used the Japanese green pumpkin variety, called Kabocha.  This variety is particularly sweet and tastes like chestnuts.   One medium size pumpkin yielded about 800g of puree. You could make your pumpkin puree a few days ahead if you like then bag up the extra and freeze.  You will love the taste and texture and I’m sure you’ll never buy a can of sloppy Libby’s again!

Method:

Begin by making the puree.  Cut your pumpkin into large pieces and place in a large steamer or pasta pan and steam for approximately 20 minutes or until tender.  Once cooled you’ll be able to remove the flesh from the skin very easily. Reserve some of the water used for steaming in case your pumpkin is quite dry – mine was and I needed to add a few tablespoons of hot water during blending as it was getting too thick and sticky.  Once pureed set aside.

In a medium sized bowl combine the two flours, spices, baking powder, bicarb of soda and a pinch of salt and set aside.  In another mixing bowl beat the butter and the sugars together until pale and creamy.  Add your eggs one by one to the sugar & butter mixture, mix further then add the vanilla extract.  Now add in the pumpkin puree to your wet mix and combined until all ingredients are incorporated.  Don’t worry if the mix looks curdled, it will soon return to normal as you start to add the spiced flour.  Add the flour and spice mix gradually, one third at a time.  At this point you can decided whether your mixture is too thick or not.  If it’s very thick you can add a couple of tablespoons of milk.

Once you’ve achieved your desired consistency pour the cake batter into  a lined cake tin and bake in a preheated oven for 30-35 minutes at 160C.  Test with a skewer to check for readiness, if it comes out clean then it’s cooked.

If you would like to frost your cake I would recommend a cinnamon cream cheese frosting, which you could sprinkle with a few roasted pecans or walnuts for extra yum.

  

0 from 0 votes

Print

Spiced Pumpkin Buckwheat Cake

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

45 mins

 

A moist and deeply satisfying autumnal cake

Course: Cake

Cuisine: Baking

Servings: 12

Author: Gillian Thompson

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 200 g Pumpkin puree home-made if possible
• 80 g Butter softened
• 2 Eggs room temperature
• 40 g Muscovado sugar
• 70 g Caster sugar
• 60 g Buckwheat flour
• 60 g Plain flour
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1-2 tbsp Milk optional

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 225 g Cream cheese softened
• 60 g Butter softened
• 60 g Icing sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1-2 tsp Cinnamon or pumpkin spice mix

Instructions

For the Cake:

1. First cut the pumpkin into large pieces and place in a large pasta pan or steamer. Steam for approx. 20 minutes or until tender.
2. Once cooled removed the flesh from the skin, it will come away very easily. Reserve some of the water used for steaming.
3. Puree the pumpkin, add a couple of teaspoons of the reserved liquid if the puree is too thick and sticky. Set aside.
4. In a medium sized bowl combine the two flours, spices, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of salt and set aside.
5. In another mixing bowl beat the butter and the sugars together until pale and creamy.
6. Add the eggs one by one to the sugar & butter mixture, mix further then add the vanilla extract.
7. Add in the pumpkin puree to your wet mix and combine until all ingredients are well incorporated. Add the flour and spice mix gradually, one third at a time. At this point you can decided whether your mixture is too thick or not. If it's very thick you can add a couple of tablespoons of milk.
8. Pour the cake batter into a lined cake tin or loaf tin.
9. Bake in the oven at 160C for 30-35 minutes. Test with a skewer until it comes out clean.
10. Once cooked let it cool on a cooling rack for 5-10 minutes before taking out of the tin.
11. Let it cool completely before icing.

12. For the Icing:
13. Beat the softened cream cheese and butter together until combined.
14. Add the vanilla extract and sift in the icing sugar and spices and mix well.
15. Spread over your cake and top with chopped nuts (optional)

Related articles across the web

• Layered Matcha Mug Cake With Peach
• Famous Chocolate Cupcakes
• Neapolitan Cake
• A Coconut Cake Recipe Inspired by Our Latest Catalog