No mixer? No problem. This simple, homey chocolate pumpkin cake is a recipe anyone can make with two bowls and a whisk, even a wooden spoon.
I had almost a full can of pumpkin left from the pumpkin lattes I made and rather than freeze it for another time — pumpkin freezes well — I wanted to try this recipe instead. It calls for a whole can, but I knew the small amount missing wouldn’t make much difference.
It’s a moist cake, thanks to the pumpkin and oil, and though it looked quick-bread-like from the pressure of the knife, biting into it showed the crumb is what we expect of cake. It is a bit dense from the pumpkin and is moreso here because I used a favorite loaf pan, deeper than the square pan the recipe asks for. Using a square pan and cutting directly from it will give you the shiny, crinkly, prettier top which is the bottom with mine.
This tastes like a chocolate spice cake; the pumpkin’s not in-your-face. Kids who object to beta carotene-rich pumpkin might eat this up without even knowing it’s there. If your family likes pumpkin cakes, take a look at my tried and true Pumpkin Bundt Cake, another easy bowl-and-whisk cake.
Chocolate Pumpkin Cake
Adapted from Whole Foods
1 cup/124g all-purpose flour [see my note below]
1/3 cup/26g cocoa powder, not Dutch processed
2 tsps pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup/4 TB canola, grapeseed or vegetable oil
1 cup/200g sugar
2 large eggs
1 15-ounce/425g can pure pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)
Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F/180C/Gas 4. Oil or spray an 8-inch or 20 cm square pan and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a second, large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs, pumpkin and vanilla.
Whisk the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture until well-combined. [The batter will be thick, much like for brownies. ~ ella]
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. [I needed 52 minutes, but would not have with the shallower square pan.]
Transfer to a rack to cool. Cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar, if desired.
[If you’re going to remove it from the pan as I did, let cool on the rack for 10 minutes before turning it out.]
Serves 12
Ella’s Note: The original recipe used whole wheat pastry flour, I presume to avoid white flour and to prevent it from being a whole wheat brick. Whole Foods put the recipe on their website but when I stopped by to price check their whole wheat pastry flour, there wasn’t even a space on the shelf for it and I didn’t see it in bulk. Go figure. I used all-purpose flour which, of course, is fine. If you use a high-protein A-P, such as King Arthur or Hecker’s, know that you’ll get a heavy, denser cake than with a blended, true A-P, such as Gold Medal or Pillsbury.
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This looks wonderful. I have a vaguely-cake-like pumpkin bread I make each year that’s superb, but I only make it once because it’s Crisco-based and uses more eggs. (I’m trying, I’m trying….) It’s a huge recipe, so I can get six small gift loaves from it. But I’ve been looking for something for me.
Since I’m a confirmed pumpkin/chocolate fanatic, this is perfect. Expect a review
shoreacres´s last blog ..Invention and Necessity
You might like this one too, shore. It’s so easy.
But I’m curious about your reluctance to make your favorite. Crisco has always been cholesterol-free and now it’s reformulated to address the trans fat issue. Please see my post from 2 years ago called Pie crust, butter and cholesterol. You’ll see even lard is healthier than butter (Crisco wins tho) and there’s a link at the bottom to my earlier piece about Crisco and trans fat.
As for the eggs, the experts put them back on the OK List several months ago. (eggs must feel like yoyos) If you have other concerns about using them, you can replace some of them with liquid egg substitute. It’s made primarily of whites, which are nature’s little drying agents, but pumpkin is moist enough to make up for that. The newish variety that says something like “a touch of yolks” on the carton is quite good.
But chocolate and pumpkin together…mmmmm! My mother used to make a pumpkin cheesecake with chocolate swirls. Oink. Just oink!
Oh, my gosh. I just read your link re: butter, Crisco, lard. Here I’ve been running on autopilot, blissful in my ignorance.
I’m still going to make this one first – anything that elicits an ella-oink has to be tried! – but it’s good to know I’ve been wrong about a couple of things!
What a wonderful guide to all these things you are….
shoreacres´s last blog ..Invention and Necessity
Oh, shore, I know the feeling — I had it when I noticed the cholesterol count for butter. I mean, what was I thinking? I wasn’t thinking. I know some experts are leaning toward the conclusion that eating food with cholesterol doesn’t raise our levels and that it’s largely genetic, but who knows? I’m not suffering by having given up all-butter pie crust. But without doubt, the real killer — literally — is the trans fat in almost every margarine.
The oink was for my mother’s cheesecake, but that took a lot more time and work than this little cake. Bon appetit!