Spiced pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting

Pumpkin cake

Who doesn’t love cake?

Did you know that you can reduce the sugar and oil content of most cake recipes by adding a fruit or vegetable puree into the batter? Adding a fruit or vegetable puree into cake batter will contribute to the sweetness and moistness of the cake. This will allow you to reduce the amount of sugar and oil required in the recipe.

Here is an easy and delicious example that is just in time for Fall!

 

INGREDIENTS

For cake

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

⅛ teaspoon ground cloves

2 large eggs, room temperature

¾ cup light brown sugar

1 cup canned pure pumpkin

½ cup canola oil

 

For frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

⅔ cup confectioners sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Pinch of Salt

 

METHOD

Cake

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly coat an 8x8" baking dish with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper.

Whisk the flours, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves in a large bowl.

Whisk eggs, pumpkin, brown sugar, and oil in another large bowl until smooth.

Mix in dry ingredients.

Scrape batter into prepared baking dish; smooth top.

Bake cake until edges begin to pull away from sides of dish and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 30–35 minutes.

Let cool.

 

Frosting and assembly

Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese and butter in a bowl just to combine.

Reduce speed to low and gradually add sugar, then maple syrup and salt; beat until smooth.

Spread frosting over top of cooled cake.