A cozy pumpkin loaf is one of my favorite autumn bakes, and this is the first of the season. It’s spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves, the pumpkin cooked down with them until dark and caramelized, and the top bakes into a sugary, crackled crust. It’s even better the next day, and honestly a very good excuse to have cake for breakfast.
Bakers Notes
The pumpkin purée should be unsweetened, with no added spices. I most often roast my own squash for purée and find canned pumpkin rather bland on its own. Cooking it down with the spices before it goes into the batter removes some of the water and deepens the flavor, so canned really works beautifully here.
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Caramelized Pumpkin Tea Cake
Description
Adapted from Tartine
Ingredients
1⅓ cups (300 g) pumpkin purée, homemade or store bought
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1⅓ cups (265 g) granulated sugar
1 cup (240 g) avocado oil
3 large eggs, room temperature
1¾ cups (230 g) all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 325°F. Butter a 9 × 5-inch loaf pan and line it with parchment paper.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
- Add the pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves to a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the pumpkin has darkened slightly and thickened, 6 to 8 minutes. This cooks off some of the water and concentrates the flavor. You should have about 255g.
- Transfer the pumpkin mixture to a large bowl and let it cool for 10 minutes.
- Whisk the granulated sugar and avocado oil into the cooled pumpkin. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture just until combined.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top and sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar.
- Bake for 60–70 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let the bread cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
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