I stole this recipe for Streusel Pumpkin Cake from countryliving.com who stole it from lemontreedwelling.com who stole it from Simply Beautiful Homemade Cakes: Extraordinary Recipes & Easy Decorating Techniques by Lindsay Concher. This show stopping holiday dessert is actually easy to make. Homemade cake batter has pumpkin puree added to it before baking in 3 pans. While the cake layers are cooling frosting is made that has been flavored with vanilla and cinnamon. A streusel mixture is baked in the oven. When assembling each layer has some streusel pressed on top of the frosting. Extra streusel is sprinkled on top of the finished cake.
Did you know? A streusel is a crumbly topping consisting of flour, sugar, butter and various spices that is sprinkled on coffee cakes, breads, muffins and cakes.¹ (see more trivia in the Trivia tab)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line the bottom of 3 (8 inch) cake pans with parchment paper and grease the sides. Then whisk together 2 ½ cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt, 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground nutmeg and ⅛ tsp ground cloves.
Next, in a large mixing bowl, cream together ¾ cup butter and 1 ½ cups sugar on medium speed until light in color and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Then add ½ tsp vanilla extract and 3 tbsp vegetable oil and mix until combined.
Add 2 eggs and mix until well combined. Add 1 egg and 1 egg white and mix until well combined. Next add half of the flour mixture to the batter and mix. Then add 1 ¾ cup pumpkin puree with the remaining half of the flour mixture until well combined and smooth.
Divide batter evenly between the cake pans. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle come out with a few crumbs. Cool cake layers completely.
While the layers cool, make the streusel. Preheat oven to 350 F. Add ¾ cup flour, ¾ cup brown sugar, 1 ¼ tsp ground cinnamon and 6 tbsp butter to a medium bowl and mix with a fork (or pastry blender) until crumbly. Spread mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment.
Then bake for 6 to 8 minutes. Once cool, crumble it into pieces.
Next, make the frosting by mixing together 1 ½ cup butter and 1 ½ cup shortening until smooth. Slowly add 6 cups powdered sugar, mixing until smooth after each addition. Then add 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla extract, ¼ cup milk and mix until well combined and smooth.
Then slowly add an additional 6 cups of powdered sugar and mix until well combined and smooth. Spread ¾ cup frosting on top of the bottom layer of cake. Top with ⅓ of the streusel mix. Lightly press into frosting. Repeat with next layer.
Frost the top and sides of the cake, then pipe dollops of frosting around outside top edge. Add remaining streusel to top of cake in the middle.
Slice and enjoy!
If you liked the recipe for Streusel Pumpkin Cake you can try other Thanksgiving desserts like Pumpkin Torte with Orange Cream Filling, Praline Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Muffins or Pumpkin Pie Cookies.
Streusel Pumpkin Cake
This show stopping holiday dessert is actually easy to make. Homemade cake batter has pumpkin puree added to it before baking in 3 pans. While the cake layers are cooling frosting is made that has been flavored with vanilla and cinnamon. A streusel mixture is baked in the oven. When assembling each layer has some streusel pressed on top of the frosting. Extra streusel is sprinkled on top of the finished cake.
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cake
- ¾ cup butter room temperature
- 1 ½ cup sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 1 large egg white
- 2 ½ cups AP flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- 1 ¾ cup pumpkin puree
Vanilla Cinnamon Frosting
- 1 ½ cup butter room temperature
- 1 ½ cup vegetable shortening
- 12 cups powdered sugar divided
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp maple extract
- ¼ cup water or milk room temperature
Cinnamon Streusel
- ¾ cup AP flour
- ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 6 tbsp butter room temperature
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 F. Line the bottom of 3 (8 inch) cake pans with parchment paper and grease the sides.
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In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light in color and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
-
Add the vanilla extract and vegetable oil and mix until combined. Add 2 of the eggs and mix until well combined. Add 1 egg to the egg white and mix until well combined.
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Next add half of the flour mixture to the batter and mix. Then add the pumpkin puree with the remaining half of the flour mixture until well combined and smooth. Batter will be thick.
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Divide batter evenly between the cake pans. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle come out with a few crumbs.
Streusel
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Preheat oven to 350 F. Add flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and butter to a medium bowl and mix with a fork until crumbly. Spread mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Bake 6 to 8 minutes. Once cool, crumble it into pieces.
Frosting
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Mix together butter and shortening until smooth. Slowly add 6 cups powdered sugar, mixing until smooth after each addition.
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Add the cinnamon, vanilla extract, milk and mix until well combined and smooth. Slowly add the remaining 6 cups of powdered sugar and mix until well combined and smooth.
Assemble
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Spread ¾ cup frosting on top of the bottom layer of cake. Top with ⅓ of the streusel mix. Lightly press into frosting. Repeat with next layer. Frost the top and sides of the cake, then pipe dollops of frosting around outside top edge. Add remaining streusel to top of cake in the middle.
Recipe Notes
The original recipe calls for melted butter in the streusel. DON’T melt the butter for the streusel, when I did this I had a solid piece after baking that was too hard to break and would have broken a tooth if someone tried to bite into it. Cut in room temperature butter with the rest of the ingredients, and then bake.