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pumpkin torte with dreamy brown sugar frosting
Ah, yes, the end of pumpkin week. Sorry to ditch you yesterday, but I couldn’t cut this cake open to photograph it until this morning.
I made it a few days ago, but didn’t serve it until today when my friend threw a bridal shower for her little sister (our former babysitter, actually). When we ate it after it had sat in the fridge for a few days, it was still good, though the frosting was not as fresh (still delicious, though).
I think you’re really going to like it. This cake is just so dense and so moist and so versatile, you’ll be making it again and again. I am even planning on using this recipe for a pumpkin cake doughnut when I do doughnut week soon.
Also, the frosting is the best thing I have ever made, which is probably because it’s a recipe my friend Deborah shared with me. She’s a cake decorator extraordinaire. Go see for yourself. Click here for her blog.
Anyway, the frosting is amazingly easy, and completely dreamy. I think that’s what I should name it: dreamy brown sugar frosting.
If you want to make this recipe into pumpkin bread, just pour the batter into greased loaf pans and increase the cooking time to 45 minutes.
In this recipe, I baked it in half sheet pan (one of those jelly roll pans/cookie sheets we all love. If you don’t have one, get one. Better yet, get about four), and then cut into equal size pieces and stacked it. There were some leftover scraps, which we sampled, and which held us over until the wedding shower.
pumpkin cake
3 1/2 cups (525g) flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup (110g) vegetable oil
1 stick (112g) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup (200g) brown sugar
2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 15 ounce (400g) pumpkin puree
2/3 cup (80g) sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 degrees celsius). Spray a little bit of non-stick cooking spray in the bottom of a cookie sheet with sides (18×13″). And line with a piece of parchment paper (The spray just hold it in place—you could use butter, too). In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt, spices.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together oil, melted butter, and sugars. Add in eggs and whisk until well incorporated. Add in pumpkin, vanilla and sour cream. With a wooden spoon, or a rubber spatula, fold in dry ingredients, and stir until well combined. Spread out evenly in prepared pan and bake at 350 (180 C) for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick entered in the center comes out clean.
dreamy brown sugar frosting
8 ounces (100g) cream cheese
3/4 cup (150g) brown sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups (500 mL) heavy cream
1. While the cream cheese is still in the foil wrapper, use your hands to soften it for a few minutes (The idea is to get it soft while it’s still cold). In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until the sugar dissolves (test it by rubbing a small amount between your fingers—you shouldn’t feel any sugar granules)—about 2-3 minutes.
2. Switch to the whisk attachment, and with the mixer on low, pour in a small amount of cream. Whisk until it is incorporated. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to be sure everything is getting mixed in. Add a little more cream, and repeat the process, until all the cream is added, and the mixture is cohesive and well-incorporated. Slowly increase the mixer to high, and whip until the frosting looks like thick whipped cream. Be careful to not over mix.
to turn the above cake into a torte:
Cut off a long even strip of cake off the side (mine was 2″ wide). Then cut the rest of the cake into even sized pieces. Stack, and frost. Snack on any pieces leftover.
24 Responses to “pumpkin torte with dreamy brown sugar frosting”
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This is gorgeous, I will be making this very soon!!!
Wow this looks great! Pumpkin + brown sugar = amazing every time.
Am I missing something? I don’t see any pumpkin listed in the ingredients:) It sure looks good though!
A beautiful, tasty ending to pumpkin week
This is just beautiful…very very nice! Love the frosting!!
Wow, Jaime you’ve been busy making all of this yummy food. Thanks for all the great ideas.
Thanks for adding the pumpkin!
@Sue Thanks for reading it carefully enough to catch it!
Aye, Jaymala, I have missed a lot. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. My sister in law was over today talking about your blog. Recipes, posts that really touched her etc. Here I am reading even though I am longing for bed. You have sucked me in. Part of the reason why I don’t even touch the computer lately, I can’t, I get sucked in to beautiful blogs, and recipes, and stories, and then my family suffers the following day because mom is too tired. Jaime I love you! You are so wonderful, talented, beautiful. Thanks for sharing your life.
Shannon
Excuse me, did you say doughnut week?
Beautiful photography, well done blog!! Way to go, Jamie.
I echo Connie’s thoughts, doughnut week? This looks amazing. My family loves pumpkin cake, so we will definitely be trying this, but I must admit I am very excited about donut week!!!
This cake looks amazing! I’ll definitely be trying this soon!
Love pumpkin and your website…will try making this recipe.
[...] pumpkin torte I made the other day was really delicious, so I thought I should fry some of the batter for our [...]
Wow! That looks beautiful and simple at the same time. I really enjoy your site.
This looks delicious and I’m always looking for a good frosting recipe. I’m definitely going to give this a try, thanks for sharing!
I made this for our ward Halloween party. I made it into a sheet cake and turned it into a potions book. It was so cute and everyone loved it. The flavor is fantastic! I will be making this a part of my recipe collection.
Thanks!
HI
I was wondering if I could make this into a layer cake. What size cake pans would I use and how many cake pans. Also, how long is the cooking time.
If I were to make this into a cake, I would probably spread it between three 8 inch layers or 2 nine inch layers. With the three layers, check to see if it’s done around 15 minutes. With the 9 inch cakes, it will probably be done in 20.
Is there a substitute for cardamom? Also, could I replace the vegetable oil with butter?
Suzanne—as far as I am concerned, anything on the planet can, and should, be replaced with butter. So you go right ahead.
For the cardamom, you can just leave it out entirely—no harm done. But if you wanted to use a little dash of mace or cloves, that would work well, too.
If this isn’t magic,I don’t know what is. My torte is now chillin’ in the fridge but my husband and I managed to have a little nibble while putting the thing together and it’s divine.
Oh, thanks, Nikki! Isn’t the frosting good? I’m on a diet now, and could really use a slice of that cake!