Olive Oil Pumpkin Cake With Salted Maple Cream

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Olive Oil Pumpkin Cake With Salted Maple Cream

By

Andy Baraghani

Olive Oil Pumpkin Cake With Salted Maple Cream

If pumpkin pie feels tired, this cake is the upgrade: It’s plush and deeply spiced without veering into heaviness, the kind of dessert that feels just as welcome at a holiday table as it does on a random Tuesday night. The salted maple whipped cream is what makes it sing, adding a cool, fluffy richness to balance the spice. (Sneak some bites but please, do your best to get as much of it onto the cake as possible.) Like most oil-based cakes, this pumpkin cake actually improves with time, so don’t hesitate to bake it a day ahead; the flavors settle in and the crumb gets even more tender.

Yield

8

Time

1 hour 30 minutes

Rating

—

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups/274 grams all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup/195 grams sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 cups/345 grams canned pumpkin purée

3/4 cup/177 milliliters extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for pan

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups/355 milliliters heavy cream

1/2 cup/115 grams sour cream

3 tablespoons maple syrup, plus more for drizzling

Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

Flaky salt (optional)

Instructions

Step 1

Make the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 9-inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Step 2

Whisk flour, cinnamon, baking powder, nutmeg, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl to remove any lumps.

Step 3

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (or electric hand mixer) on high speed, beat the sugar and eggs until very pale and thick and the mixture forms ribbons back on itself when lifted, 3 to 4 minutes. (This may take longer if using a hand mixer.) Add the pumpkin purée in two batches, beating on low until combined.

Step 4

With the mixer still on low, gradually stream in the oil, then beat in the vanilla. The batter should look a little thicker.

Step 5

Working in two batches, add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed, stopping and scraping down sides in between, until no streaks remain. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until the top is firm and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes.

Step 6

Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and release. Cool completely for at least 1 hour before serving. (If working ahead, wrap the cake entirely in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days, until ready to serve.)

Step 7

Just before serving, make the whipped cream: Use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, hand mixer or just a plain whisk (yes!) to beat the heavy cream until you reach soft, floppy peaks. Add the sour cream, maple syrup and a pinch of kosher salt and whisk to nearly stiff peaks.

Step 8

Using a rubber spatula, plop the cream onto the cooled cake and spread it out, keeping some swoops and waves. Drizzle with more maple syrup and finish with flaky salt, if you like, just before serving.

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Olive Oil Pumpkin Cake With Salted Maple Cream

By

Andy Baraghani

If pumpkin pie feels tired, this cake is the upgrade: It’s plush and deeply spiced without veering into heaviness, the kind of dessert that feels just as welcome at a holiday table as it does on a random Tuesday night. The salted maple whipped cream is what makes it sing, adding a cool, fluffy richness to balance the spice. (Sneak some bites but please, do your best to get as much of it onto the cake as possible.) Like most oil-based cakes, this pumpkin cake actually improves with time, so don’t hesitate to bake it a day ahead; the flavors settle in and the crumb gets even more tender.

Yield

8

Time

1 hour 30 minutes

Rating

—

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups/274 grams all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup/195 grams sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 cups/345 grams canned pumpkin purée

3/4 cup/177 milliliters extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for pan

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups/355 milliliters heavy cream

1/2 cup/115 grams sour cream

3 tablespoons maple syrup, plus more for drizzling

Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

Flaky salt (optional)

Instructions

Step 1

Make the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 9-inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Step 2

Whisk flour, cinnamon, baking powder, nutmeg, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl to remove any lumps.

Step 3

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (or electric hand mixer) on high speed, beat the sugar and eggs until very pale and thick and the mixture forms ribbons back on itself when lifted, 3 to 4 minutes. (This may take longer if using a hand mixer.) Add the pumpkin purée in two batches, beating on low until combined.

Step 4

With the mixer still on low, gradually stream in the oil, then beat in the vanilla. The batter should look a little thicker.

Step 5

Working in two batches, add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed, stopping and scraping down sides in between, until no streaks remain. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until the top is firm and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes.

Step 6

Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and release. Cool completely for at least 1 hour before serving. (If working ahead, wrap the cake entirely in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days, until ready to serve.)

Step 7

Just before serving, make the whipped cream: Use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, hand mixer or just a plain whisk (yes!) to beat the heavy cream until you reach soft, floppy peaks. Add the sour cream, maple syrup and a pinch of kosher salt and whisk to nearly stiff peaks.

Step 8

Using a rubber spatula, plop the cream onto the cooled cake and spread it out, keeping some swoops and waves. Drizzle with more maple syrup and finish with flaky salt, if you like, just before serving.

More Recipes You Might Like

Stone Fruit Caprese

By Ali Slagle

A standout caprese starts with great fruit. You need ripe tomatoes to weep juices, which then mingle with grassy olive oil and milky cheese to make your dressing. Basil adds freshness, black pepper and flakes of sea salt add crunch, and that’s it, a perfect combination. But if the stone fruit options are looking better than the tomatoes at the market, you can use them instead. They’re similar in flavor to tomatoes, but need cajoling to relinquish their juices. By letting sliced fruit macerate with salt, sugar and lemon juice, their fruitiness becomes more electric and their juices pool on the plate. Start with fruit you can smell and pair it with equally quality ingredients. Caprese is more about shopping than cooking.

20 min

Greek Salad

By Lidey Heuck

While diner-style Greek salads made with chopped romaine, crumbled feta and often grilled chicken have become ubiquitous in American restaurants, a traditional Greek salad, or horiatiki salata, is a simpler affair. An assembled salad of large-diced vegetables with Kalamata olives and sometimes capers, this salad has no greens at all, and the feta is served sliced on top of the salad rather than crumbled and tossed into it. A traditional Greek salad dressing usually consists of olive oil and red wine vinegar; this recipe adds garlic and oregano. To make the salad into a satisfying vegetarian main course, throw in a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas.

15 min

Polpette di melanzane – aubergine fritters

By Valeria Necchio

This Calabrian polpette (meatball) recipe doesn't actually contain any meat, containing a simple mix of aubergines, bread and pecorino cheese instead.

1 hr

Penne all'arrabbiata

By GIC Kitchen

A quick and simple classic, this penne all'arrabbitata recipe is a great go-to pasta dish.

25 min

Classic Caprese Salad

By Melissa Clark

This classic summer dish doesn’t get any simpler or more delicious. Use different-colored heirloom tomatoes for the prettiest salad, and buffalo milk mozzarella for the best tasting one.

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By Nicole Taylor, Yewande Komolafe

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30 min

More from Vegetarian

View All →

Sweet Cinnamon Tamal

By Daniela Soto-Innes

Baking a single large-format tamal may not be traditional, but it produces a similarly tender, moist, barely sweet cake with pudding vibes.

Butternut Squash Polenta | Epicurious

By Anna Stockwell

Butternut squash melts into the polenta as it cooks for this creamy make-ahead dish. Once transferred to a baking dish, pressing chunks of creamy Fontina cheese into the polenta ensures that once baked it will be full of gooey pockets of cheese throughout.

Schlutzkrapfen – pasta filled with spinach and ricotta

By GIC Kitchen

This semi-circle shaped pasta is typical of the Trentino-Alto Adige region of north Italy and is filled with spinach, ricotta and potato. Tossed with nutty brown butter and topped with Grana Padano cheese, this moreish dish is well worth making pasta from scratch for.

1 hr 30 min

Creamy Lemon Pasta

By Andrew Zimmern

This Creamy Lemon Pasta is an ode to the sweet, fragrant lemons that grow all along Italy’s Amalfi Coast. It’s a signature dish of L’Antica Trattoria in Sorrento. Get the recipe at Food and Wine.

20 min

Quick Chana Masala

By Keya Wingfield

This easy chana masala recipe has a clever trick: boiling the canned chickpeas with their liquid helps match the texture you'd get from soaking dried ones.

Mustard, Kale and Cheddar Pull-Apart Bread

By Anna Theoktisto

These mustardy monkey bread rolls boast lots of cheddar cheese and garlic, making them ideal with soup or pasta.

3 hr 5 min