Pumpkin Crumb Cake

This Pumpkin Crumb Cake is a twist on the American favorite “Pumpkin Pie”. This is actually a blend of two desserts: the Pumpkin Pie with its cinnamon and nutmeg laced custard and a Crumb Cake.

I have made this recipe for years but I always made the pumpkin custard then dumped a boxed cake mix on the top. We used to call it a Dump Cake. While living in Italy I had a serious craving for this delicious cake but there are no cake mixes and no canned pumpkin in Italy. So I had to come up with a recipe to make it homemade. The result is WAY better than the old version and you can feel better about eating “whole foods” rather than chemicals and food dyes that come in a box mix.

At the end of this recipe you will find tips for making the pumpkin custard from fresh pumpkin if you want to go all natural. Don’t forget the dallop of whipped cream on top and serve it warm! You will be in for a pumpkin spice delight!

Pumpkin Crumb Cake

Pumpkin Custard:

1 16 ounce can pumpkin or 2 cups cooked and pureed pumpkin (make your own)

1 1/2 cups milk

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

A couple of grinds of fresh nutmeg

Crumb topping:

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

1/2 cup of chopped walnuts (optional)

1 cup whipping cream

4 Tablespoons of sugar

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients for Pumpkin custard and whisk until combined, set aside

Combine all the dry ingredients for Crumb topping, chop butter into dry mixture and using a whisk or pastry blender continue cutting in butter until it resembles crumbs. This is the same technique as when making a pie crust.

Pour the pumpkin custard in a rectangle cake pan and sprinkle with the crumb topping. You may want to run a knife through the mixture a few times to encourage the custard to combine with the topping a little.

Top with chopped walnuts

Bake for one hour at 350 degrees

While the cake is baking you can make your whipped cream. Combine the sugar and whipping cream and beat with an electric mixture until soft peaks form. Keep in the refridgerator until you are ready to serve the cake. Give each serving of cake a dollop of whipped cream. Delicious!

Combine the custard ingredients together: eggs, sugar, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and pureed pumpkin

Pour the pumpkin pie custard into your dish

Slice the butter into the flour and sugar mixture

Cut the butter into the flour like you do for pie crust until it resembles crumbs — Cut the butter into the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt like you do for pie crust until it resembles crumbs

Run a knife through the crumbs and custard to incorporate a little

Place your cake into an oven preheated to 350 degrees F and bake for one hour

Pumpkin Crumble (pumpkin dump cake) Torta di Zucca

Tips to make this recipe with fresh pumpkin:

If you want to use fresh pumpkin like I do here in Italy, just peel and cube your pumpkin and then cook in a sauce pan with 1/4 cup of water. Bring to a boil and allow to cook until soft. The timing depends on how hot your heat is and how big the cubes of pumpkin are. Usually about 20 minutes. Add more water if the mixture gets dry. You don’t want it runny or to burn in the pan. When it is fork tender, allow to cool then pour into a blender or food processor and blend until it is smooth like baby food.

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