Monday 28 March 2011

Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake

All along I prefer butter cake compared to those frosted cream cake, chiffon, fresh fruits or etc that is available in the bakery. And personally I crave for those traditional rich and moist butter cakes that served together with a cup of freshly brewed English tea that will refresh your soul for a great afternoon tea session.

After trying the 1st batch of Pumpkin Butter Cake that I made into small muffin cups, we love the soft texture, buttery taste as well as the natural flavour from the mashed pumpkin. And since I have another ½ portion of leftover pumpkin in the fridge, I decided to combine this recipe with the recent Marble Cake (HERE) that I have made and come out with the "Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake".

For these two recipes here, I used Lurpak Unsalted Butter which I prefer its smooth and creamy taste that is does not make you feel queasy even after having a slices of two of the cake. As for the pumpkin I used the Butternut because I love its sweet and nutty taste that is great for soups, casseroles, breads, and even cakes.

(adapted from 茄子, 袅袅烘焙香 HERE)
Ingredients For Pumpkin Butter Cake: (makes 6 muffins)
100g Pumpkin(without skin), steamed and mashed
150g Cake Flour/Top Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
100g Caster Sugar
100g Unsalted Butter, cubes and soften
3 Large Eggs

Toppings:
Some Pumpkin Seeds
Some Shredded/Sliced Pumpkin




Methods:-
1. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy, add in eggs one at a time and beat till well combined.

2. Stir-in vanilla extract then fold in the sifted flours (cake flour + baking powder) in two round till there is no trace of flour in the batter.

3. Add in mashed pumpkin (refer to the preparation method below) and preferably using a balloon whisk to give the mixture some quick stir to combine the pumpkin with the flour batter.

4. Spoon the pumpkin batter into prepared muffin case, top with shredded pumpkin or pumpkin seeds.

5. Bake in pre-heated 170 degree oven for about 15 - 18 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.


To Prepare The Mashed Pumpkin:


1. Place pumpkin cubes(without skin) into a microwave heatproof bowl together with 1 tablespoon of water.

2. Cook in high heat for 3 - 4 minutes with an interval stirring between each minute.

3. Mash the cooked and soft pumpkin with a fork and set aside to cool while preparing the batter. OR

4. You can steam the pumpkin cubes in a pot of boiling water using steaming rack for about 10 minutes or till pumpkin is soften.



As you can see from the photo despite of the beautiful swirl colours from the pumpkin and chocolate batter there are some setback of air holes which appears due to my oversight of mixing the two batters. But thanks God these flaws did not affect the texture and taste of this moist and buttery cake.

Ingredients For Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake: (makes 17cm cake )
120g Pumpkin(without skin), steamed and mashed
150g Cake Flour/Top Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
100g Castor Sugar
100g Unsalted Butter
3 Large Eggs
1 Tablespoon Dutch Cocoa Powder, sieved

Toppings:
Some Pumpkin Seeds, optional


Methods:-
1. To prepare the chocolate pumpkin butter cake, follow step 1 and 2 shown above for preparing the flour batter.

2. Scoop about 3 - 4 Tablespoons of flour batter into a small bowl together with 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder, whisk till well combined. Set aside.

3. Whisk in mashed pumpkin into the remanding flour batter.

4. Drop 1 - 2 spoons of the pumpkin and chocolate batter alternately into the prepared tin.

5. When all the mixture has been used up, tap the bottom on the tin on your work surface to ensure that there aren't any air bubbles.

6. Take a skewer and swirl it around the mixture in the tin a few times to create a marbled effect.

7. Bake the cake for 25 - 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

8. Cool the cake completely before removing it from the baking tin/case, cut into slices and serve with coffee/tea.




Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake on FoodistaChocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake

17 comments:

  1. I could not resist to a butter cake, give me some please.....

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  2. Me tooo Sonia. I love those rich butter cake.....

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  3. wen's delight28/3/11 11:12 pm

    Can just imagine how flavourful this cake will be and so pretty!

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  4. Lovely! I never thought of combining pumpkin and chocolate together.

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  5. both the cake and muffins look real delicious and i also like the way you topped the muffins with shredded pumpkin.

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  6. wow the cake looks so pretty with all the pumpkin seeds decoration! :)

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  7. Hi Ellena! Not only you are a great photographer but you bake beautiful sweets (as well as food!). I enjoy reading your blog, very, very much!

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  8. Thanks Wen, I love your recent Pandan Durian Chiffon too :p, sooo fluffy.

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  9. :) I got the inspiration from the marble cake that we loved.

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  10. Thanks Nami. But i am just a learner tooo... there are a lot of great food bloggers that have excellent blog and photos. And I must say yours look great too. I wan to try your recent "Orange Teriyaki Chicken Drumettes" they make us drool.....

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  11. Not_thekitchensink29/3/11 11:16 am

    This looks really good Ellena!

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  12. Kathy garolsky29/3/11 4:23 pm

    hello there, i just want you to know that i really enjoy looking arround in your website
    and thanks for sharing imformation im looking forward for more amazing post

    -kathy
    healthandwellnessconsultants.com

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  13. Too tempting to resist , boy o boy delicious recipe.

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  14. Hi Ellena! Check my site tomorrow since I'll be nominating you for Sisterhood Of The World Bloggers Award. ;-)

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  15. the cake looks so delish, especially after incorporating pumpkin seeds and pulp into it. adds new dimension into a classic.Well done, Ellena!

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  16. Wow... Ok..thanks. Will keep an eye on it.

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  17. How absolutely gorgeous! Looks so yummy and pretty!

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Regards
Ellena (Cuisine Paradise)

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