Pumpkin cake with baked pecan custard & caramel

Have you ever tried any pumpkin baked goods? Today we would like to share a recipe for such a cake. It’s moist, juicy and not sugary.

So, this cake is a product of the chef’s imagination, but it still came out very tasty. Try to cook one for tea, and you will realize it by yourself!

For the biscuit (16 cm | 6.3 inch):

• Pumpkin puree – 240 g | 8.45 oz
• Flour – 200 g | 7.05 oz
• Vegetable oil – 100 g | 3.55 oz
• Brown sugar – 140 g | 4.95 oz
• Sugar – 70 g | 2.45 oz
• Baking powder – 7 g | 0.25 oz
• Eggs – 2 pcs | 2.00 items

The recipe has been found on the Internet, and modified a bit. The thing is that the amount of pumpkin puree is higher than the flour amount. That’s why the biscuit turns out unbelievably delicious, and can even be served as a separate dessert.

1. Cook the pumpkin puree. To do this, boil the pumpkin until soft, and drain the excess liquid; punch the pumpkin with a blender. Don’t use the baby pumpkin puree!
2. Whip the eggs and sugar until fluffy. Since there are few eggs and a lot of sugar, the mixture will be quite thick, and that’s ok.
3. Add the pumpkin puree to the egg-sugar mixture, and stir.
4. Add all the dry ingredients.
5. Pour in the vegetable oil.
6. Bake the biscuit at 160C (320F) for about 40 (until dry toothpick).

You better bake each biscuit layer in a separate mold, and that’s how it will be tender and very moist.

The base:

• Milk – 150 g | 5.30 oz
• Sugar – 35 g | 1.25 oz
• Corn starch – 15 g | 0.55 oz
• Eggs – 1 egg and 1 yolk | 1.00 item + 1.00 item

The crème:

• Pecan – 85 g | 3.00 oz
• Sugar – 85 g | 3.00 oz
• Cornstarch – 1 tsp | 1.00 tsp
• Butter – 70 g | 2.45 oz
• Eggs – 1 pc | 1.00 item

First, let's cook the custard base:

1. Whisk the eggs, the sugar and the starch.
2. Bring the milk to a boil, and add it to the egg mixture in a thin stream, stirring constantly.
3. Put the whole mass on a low heat, and cook until thick, stirring. Cover the finished base with the cling film, and cool it completely.

For the crème:

1. Grind the nuts into very fine crumbs, and add the sugar and the starch.
2. Grind the butter until smooth, and mix it with the nut mixture.
3. Stir the egg into the nut-butter mass.

Combine the crème with the custard base, and pour the mass into a mold with a diameter of 14-15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 inch), and bake it at 180C (356F) for about 40 minutes. The baked custard must be cooled at the room temperature, without removing it from the mold. Then, place it in the fridge overnight. It will keep the shape well, and resemble cheesecake in consistency.

You will need:

• Sugar – 125 g | 4.40 oz
• Fat cream – 125 g | 4.40 oz
• Butter – 25 g | 0.90 oz
• Water – 25 g | 0.90 oz

1. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan, and place it on a medium heat until the sugar dissolves completely (caramel will acquire an amber color). You don’t have to stir it; sometimes you can only swing the saucepan a little.
2. Remove the mass from the heat; add the butter in small pieces, stirring vigorously each time.
3. Heat the cream until hot in a different bowl, and pour it into the caramel in a thin stream. Mix actively!
4. Boil the caramel down a little. In the finished state, it will still seem liquid, but that’s fine; it will stabilize in the fridge.

For the crème:

• Cream cheese – 500 g | 17.65 oz
• Cream (with at least 33% fat content) – 160 g | 5.65 oz
• Powdered sugar – 70 g | 2.45 oz

Whip all the ingredients until smooth.

The finished crème should be easy to mix and keep the shape well! If the cream is very thin, then add it a little less to maintain the desired cream density.

You can use any soaking to your taste. For example, milk and sugar.

Assemble the cake, following the next order:

A biscuit layer – soaking – crème – pecan custard – custard borders – caramel (a little) – a biscuit layer - soaking – crème – custard borders – caramel – chopped pecan – a biscuit layer – soaking – crème – coating crème.