Whenever I get busy, this blog is the first thing to get neglected. I've been meaning to post this cake for a while, but it kept getting buried under other tasks on my to-do list.
Anyway: I've been doing a lot of baking this fall, and I've become a big fan of moderately sweet recipes that can work equally as desserts or afternoon snacks. Thus there has been a lot of gingerbread in my life, along with barely sugar-kissed apple pies and Orangette's clafoutis that I made with the last of the summer peaches. But my favorite recipe lately has been this pumpkin-apple coffee cake, adapted from a recipe I found on the blog Mennonite Girls Can Cook. It took me a while to find a recipe even worth adapting—I had a long sit-down with the Google trying to find instructions for pumpkin gingerbread, but most of what Google spit back at me were cream-cheese-frosting pumpkin cakes. I am quite happy with the results of this cake, though, and strongly suggest that you purchase some apple cider to accompany it.
Pumpkin Apple Coffee Cake
Streusel:
1/4 c brown sugar
1/8 c flour
1/3 c rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon
2 T cold butter
Cake:
1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c sugar
2 T molasses
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla
2 c whole wheat white flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp each cloves and ginger
1/2 tsp each baking soda and salt
Filling:
2 apples, peeled and sliced
Mix together the first four streusel ingredients, then cut in the butter until it resembles crumbs. Set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, followed by the pumpkin, molasses, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together the dry ingredients and mix with the wet.
Put half the batter in a greased 9" round pan, sprinkle with half of the streusel, and arrange the apple slices in a single layer. Repeat the batter and struesel layers on top. Cook in a 350 degree oven for 50-55 minutes.
