This pumpkin coffee cake is the perfect fall dessert: packed full of pumpkin puree and warming fall spices, it’s deliciously soft, moist and tender, with a buttery, crisp crumb topping. It’s a great no-fuss, easy recipe that comes together in no time and doesn’t require any special equipment (no stand or hand mixer, no food processor). And it’s both gluten free AND egg free – not that you could possibly tell.
Ingredients
Crumb topping:
- ▢180 g (1½ cups) plain gluten free flour blend (I used Doves Farm Freee plain gluten free flour that doesn’t have any xanthan gum added. You can also mix your own gluten free flour blend using this recipe. Note that for this homemade blend, 1 cup = 150g, so ideally use a kitchen scale for best results.)
- ▢125 g (½ cup + 2 tbsp) light brown soft sugar
- ▢1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ▢¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ▢¼ tsp salt
- ▢100 g (¾ stick + 1 tbsp) cold unsalted butter, cubed
Pumpkin cake:
- ▢300 g (1⅓ cups) canned pumpkin puree
- ▢200 g (1 cup) caster/superfine or granulated sugar
- ▢115 g (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until lukewarm
- ▢80 g (⅓ cup) whole, full-fat milk, room temperature
- ▢1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- ▢240 g (2 cups) plain gluten free flour blend (I used Doves Farm Freee plain gluten free flour that doesn’t have any xanthan gum added. . Note that for this homemade blend, 1 cup = 150g, so ideally use a kitchen scale for best results.)
- ▢2 tsp baking powder
- ▢½ tsp baking soda
- ▢½ tsp xanthan gum (Omit if your gluten free flour blend already contains xathan gum.)
- ▢½ tsp salt
- ▢1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ▢½ tsp ground ginger
- ▢¼ tsp ground nutmeg
Instructions
Crumb topping:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour blend, light brown soft sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- Add the cubed cold butter and rub it into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until you get a crumbly mixture that sticks together and clumps up when you press it together. You want a mixture of small “crumbs” and larger pea- and hazelnut-sized pieces.
- Chill the crumb topping in the fridge for at least 20 minutes or until needed.
Pumpkin cake:
- Adjust the oven rack to the middle position, pre-heat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC) and line a 9-inch/23cm square baking tin with parchment/baking paper.Tip: Leave some parchment/baking paper overhang, this will help you with removing the cake from the tin later on.
- In a large bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, caster/superfine or granulated sugar, melted unsalted butter, milk and apple cider vinegar.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients: plain gluten free flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk them all together into a smooth cake batter with no flour clumps.
Assembling & baking the cake:
- Transfer the batter into the lined baking tin and smooth it out into an even layer.
- Evenly scatter the chilled crumb topping all over the batter – make sure that it forms a fairly even layer, all the way to the edges of the tin. If there are a few too large pieces in the crumb topping, you can break them up.
- Bake at 350ºF (180ºC) for about 45-50 minutes or until the crumb topping is golden brown and an inserted toothpick/cake tester comes out clean.Tip: You shouldn’t need to cover the cake with aluminium foil during baking to prevent it from browning too much – the crumb topping will come out of the oven perfectly golden, even with the long-ish baking time.
- Allow the cake to cool in the baking tin until warm or lukewarm before you carefully remove it out of the tin and onto a wire rack.Tip 1: I don’t recommend trying to move the cake out of the tin while it’s still hot, as it will be too fragile and it could break as you attempt to lift it.Tip 2: When you transfer the cake out of the tin, use the overhanging parchment/baking paper to help you. Also, don’t stress if you see a few cracks in the crumb topping here or there – that’s perfectly normal.
- You can serve the cake either (luke)warm or once it’s cooled completely to room temperature. It will be delicious either way.
Storage:
- The pumpkin coffee cake keeps well in a closed container in a cool dry place for 3-4 days.