Saturday, October 22, 2011

Weekend Cooking: Pumpkin Latte Coffee Cake

My love of fall is no secret. Every year I look forward to the vibrant foliage, apple picking, football games, breaking out my sweaters, and, of course, the return of pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks (always with a nod to Book Psmith).  Fall is also the time of year I head back to the kitchen.

Knowing of my particular fondness for pumpkin spice lattes, Audrey sent a recipe for Pumpkin Latte Coffee Cake. Better Homes & Gardens recipes are usually a success, and this looked like the perfect seasonal treat to bake for my next book club meeting. A 'test bake'  on Thursday confirmed it.


PUMPKIN LATTE COFFEE CAKE

Makes: 12 servings
Prep: 30 mins
Bake: 350°F 45 mins to 50 mins
Cool: 45 mins

Ingredients

5 eggs
2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder or instant coffee granules
1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk*
1 recipe Streusel - see below
1 recipe Coffee Drizzle  - see below

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan; set aside. In a small bowl stir together two of the eggs and the espresso powder; set aside. In a medium bowl beat cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in the 2/3 cup sugar, the 2 tablespoons flour, and the vanilla until smooth. Beat in egg-espresso mixture; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl stir together the 3 cups flour, the baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds; gradually add the 1-1/2 cups sugar, beating until fluffy. Add the remaining three eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in pumpkin. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to pumpkin mixture, beating after each addition until combined. Spread half of the batter in the prepared baking pan. Spoon half of the cream cheese mixture by small spoonfuls on top of the batter. Add the remaining batter in spoonfuls; carefully spread over the cream cheese mixture. Top with spoonfuls of the remaining cream cheese mixture. With a knife, swirl batter to marble. Sprinkle with Coffee Streusel.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 45 minutes. Spoon Coffee Drizzle over coffee cake in a lacy pattern. Cool completely on wire rack.

Streusel:
In medium bowl bowl combine 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 1/3 cup rolled oats, 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, and 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice. Using a pastry blender, cut in 1/4 cup cold butter until crumbly.

Coffee Drizzle:
In a small bowl, stir together 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon light-color corn syrup. Stir in enough cooled espresso or strong-brewed coffee (1 to 2 tablespoons) to make drizzling consistency

Make Ahead Directions: Prepare as directed. Cool baked cake completely but do not spoon Coffee Drizzle over coffee cake. Wrap in foil; overwrap in plastic wrap. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. To serve, top with Coffee Drizzle.

*Test Kitchen Tip: To make 1 cup sour milk, place 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar in a glass measuring cup. Add enough milk to make 1 cup total liquid; stir. Let stand for 5 minutes before using.
_______________

This cake was delicious! The coffee/pumpkin flavor combination is amazing. Be forewarned though, this recipe uses a lot of bowls. It's also very filling, so cut pieces on the small side... you can always go back for more. My mother thought the cake might taste even better with nuts. I'll add pecans or walnuts next time and find out.

When I mentioned the cake on twitter, @sugarbakingblog sent a link to another pumpkin spice coffee cake with walnuts. I'll try that recipe later in the week and then decide which to serve at book club. I'll keep you posted...


Weekend Cooking, hosted at Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up over the weekend.


38 comments:

  1. Yay! I'm so glad you liked this (now I have to try it!) It does suddenly feel like baking weather again (60s all week! finallY!)
    Audrey

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  2. O.M.G. I am a huge fan of pumpkin (as I said on another post today) and I'm a coffee fanatic. What is not to love about this recipe?

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  3. This really looks good and filling like you said!! I like nuts in this type of cake too!

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  4. Wow, this looks fantastic! Worth all the bowls!

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  5. another pumpkin recipe! Love it!
    that looks so delicious...

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  6. This cake looks so moist :)

    I love the fall for alot of reasons, not least of which is that I can bake to my heart's content. I am going to save this recipe.

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  7. Oh, yum! I make a pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting that my family loves, but this looks like a fabulous recipe to add to my collection (and to drink with Green Mountain's Pumpkin Spice coffee!). Thanks for sharing! And, I love the photograph of the cake as well as the total look of your blog. If I didn't say it before. Those trees in your header always make me gasp first, sigh next.

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  8. I have been in a total pumpkin phase lately and this cake sounds wonderful!

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  9. Wow - that looks awesome! Want a slice now!

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  10. My husband would LOVE this cake. Thanks for the recipe :)

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  11. Canned pumpkins are a new one on me, but I can see the appeal. This cake looks delicious!

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  12. This looks amazing. I have to see if I can adapt it to be gluten-free but I am drooling over here.

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  13. Lovely, but not a pumpkin fan. :<)

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  14. This looks and sounds so awesome...love everything pumpkin.

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  15. JoAnn this looks and sounds delicious and I can't think of anything better it would go with than a PSL...I am going to try this when my parents come up later this week. I bought so much canned pumpkin this year because they were talking about another shortage...I need something else to make besides pumpkin pie:)

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  16. Bowls can be washed - something this good is totally worth the little extra suds! :) Thanks for sharing!

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  17. JoAnn, does that pumpkin latte coffee cake sound delicious. I'm not much of a baker, but I just might have to give it a go. I posted a lovely Thomas Hardy poem about autumn that you might enjoy too. It is just below my most-recent book review. Have a lovely weekend! Cheers!

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  18. This seems to have a lot of steps but the results sound very worth it. I do love pumpkin lattes too!

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  19. Oh, yum! My husband doesn't care for anything with pumpkin, but I'm sure I could find an excuse to make this. Maybe for my coworkers. It sounds (and looks!) delicious!!

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  20. This sounds delicious, Joann. Thank you for posting the recipe!

    Just this week I had a pumpkin spice latte and a delicious piece of pumpkin bread, 2 items I really enjoy at Starbucks! Yours and Audrey's Pumpkin Latte Coffee Cake sounds even better!

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  21. That sounds so yummy! I need to take a dessert to bible study on Thursday-maybe this will be it!
    *smiles*

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  22. Audrey - Thanks again for sending the link. It was delicious!

    Beth F - Not a thing! I love pumpkin and coffee, too.

    Staci - I'll definitely include nuts next time.

    Rhapsodyinbooks - Don't think I've ever made a cake that used so many bowls, but this was definitely worth it!

    Caite - It's that pumpkin time of year!

    TheBookGirl - After a long, hot summer, it's a pleasure to start baking again.

    Bellezza - Green Mountain's Pumpkin Spice coffee would be a perfect pairing. Thanks for your kind words on the photos. I'm not much of a photographer, but it's easy to look good with material like this!

    Laurie - Me, too! I'll be making the first pumpkin pie of the season soon.

    Verity - Wish I could send you a slice electronically!

    Sam - You're welcome. Any pumpkin lover would surely love this.

    Little Nell - Canned pumpkin is very common in the US... most people wouldn't have a clue what to do with a real one!

    Ti - Not sure about a gluten-free adaptation... we haven;t had to deal with the here (yet).

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  23. Nan - I make a good apple cake, too ;-)

    Diane - Me, too!

    Stacy - It's SO good to hear from you!! I stocked up on pumpkin when I heard rumors of a shortage, too. Hoping I can make time for a PSL break this week.

    Sharon's Garden of Book Reviews - Exactly! And all that bowl washing was well worth it.

    Chris - I read that poem yesterday and it just took my breath away! It was so beautiful... and I couldn't think of a thing to say. Still amazed that Hardy was such a prolific poet.

    Peaceful Reader - This is a bit more involved than your average coffee cake, but worth it for a special treat.

    Uniflame - It is!

    Les - Your co-workers would love you... and that would also solve the problem of having a whole cake in the house ;-)

    Amy - I haven't had any pumpkin bread yet this year. May bake some this week... thanks for mentioning it!

    Kim - I'm sure it would be a big hit!

    Kathy - Oh, it was!!

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  24. I too am addicted to those Pumpkin Spice Latte's and am sooooo sad to see them leave the Starbuck's menu :( This cake sounds delicious!! This will be next on my list :)

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  25. Your picture makes me want to try this. Unfortunately, I don't care for the taste of coffee. (I love the smell.) Do you think I could substitute water or something else?

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  26. Looks so good, I wish I had a big piece of that cake!

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  27. Oh my gosh, way to take my love of the pumpkin spice latte and find another way to add it to my waist! Must. Try!

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  28. Yet another lovely recipe for pumpkin :) Thanks for sharing, I've got to make this soon...

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  29. Wow! I will have to make this for sure! I really like both of your blogs!

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  30. Peppermint PhD. - It is a sad day when the pumpkin spice lattes disappear from the Starbucks menu. Hope you get a chance to try the cake....you'd love it!

    Margot - I'll bet maple would be a good flavor combination, too... maple syrup or extract with walnuts.

    Carol - Wish I could sent one to you... we're eating way too much!

    Jess - LOL! Our love of pumpkin can have a negative impact on the waistline ;-)

    Chinoiseries - This is definitely a pumpkin time of year...

    Peggy - Thanks for visiting! Hope you'll let me know how it turns out if you decide to give this recipe a try.

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  31. This looks and sounds delicious. I just wish our weather out here in California would cool down so I could enjoy my warm beverages. We had 85 degrees yesterday and high 70's today!

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  32. Kathleen - I love our fall weather, but when I heard snow in the forecast for Thursday, I literally shuddered. The pumpkin spice lattes are great... winter, not so much.

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  33. That sounds delicious!

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  34. Wow - this sounds and looks so very delicious. And includes so many flavors that I love. Can't wait to try your recipe!

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  35. Everybookandcranny - Hope you get a chance to try this soon. I made it for my book club yesterday and it was a huge hit. Also, I finally got Dorie Greenspan's Baking from the library yesterday... such a gorgeous book and so many recipes I want to try - it may end up being one I need to buy!

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  36. I'm so glad you like Dorie's book! Like I said, I don't buy many cookbooks that book was definitely worth the money. I use it all the time. Just yesterday I made her rice pudding. :)

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