Saturday, June 29, 2013

Pecan-Crusted Pumpkin Squares

Clearing my freezer : Homemade pumpkin puree.  I'm clearing my freezer ever so slowly! I have about slightly more than half a cup of homemade pumpkin puree in my freezer that I really needed to clear (and a lot of other stuffs too!). Browse my cookbooks collection for some simple recipe using pumpkin and found it from the book "The Weekend Baker", by Abigail Johnson Dodge. Another keeper recipe from this lovely book.


When I read through the recipe, it sounds like making muffins to me. The dry ingredients and wet ingredients are mixed until just blended and bake. The only difference is, this is baked in a 8" square pan. But I have made only half of the recipe, and have used a 6" round cake pan instead. I think that even a 7" square pan would be alright. The recipes calls for the pan to be greased generously at the bottom and sides, and scatter with the finely chopped pecan nuts. But I have  scattered the bottom of the pan only, with the nuts, leaving the sides free.


As usual, I have reduced the amount of brown sugar, for half a recipe I have used only 80gm (original amount for half a recipe is 115gm), and I find it still a little too sweet for me. Since I have about 170gm of pumpkin puree, I have used all of it.


This is one lovely cake. The texture is moist, soft with tender crumbs. The addition of the pecan nuts at the bottom and the top of the cake is really nice. A delicious cake with nice pumpkin and spice flavour. Though, if I make this again, I would further reduce the amount of sugar. If you have some pumpkin puree stash away in your freezer, you might want to give this a  try. I'm sure that you will like this cake.

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Pecan-Crusted Pumpkin Squares
(adapted from "The Weekend Baker", Abigail Johnson Dodge)
3/4 cup (3 ounces/85 gms) finely chopped pecans (no need to toast)
1-3/4 cups (8 ounces/227 gms) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup (8 ounces/227 gms) firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup (8 ounces/227 gms) canned solid-pack pumpkin (not seasoned pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup (4 fl ounces/117 ml) canola or corn oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

  1. Position an oven rack on the middle rung. Heat the oven to 350F (180C). Generously butter - be generous or the nuts won't stick - the bottom and sides of an 8-inch (20cm) square baking dish. Add the nuts and tilt the pan to coat the bottom and sides evenly. Carefully spill out and save the excess nuts for the top.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cloves. Whisk until well blended. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, pumpkin, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. (You can prepare the dry ingredients and wet ingredients up to 1 day ahead. Cover the dry ingredients and keep at room temperature, and cover the wet ingredients and keep in the fridge). Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and gently stir just until blended.
  3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Scatter the reserved nuts evenly over the batter. Bake until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the centre comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, about 30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool for about 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into 2-inch (5cm) squares.
Storage : Wrap the uncut, cooled square in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

#59/100

18 comments:

  1. This pumpkin square looks so soft & moist. Love the pecan topping! I bring some cherries along to go with this delicious squares. ;)

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  2. the squares look SO delicious - all my very favorite spices - pure comfort and wonderful flavors:)
    Mary x

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  3. I like baking with pumpkins for their bright colors and add soft moist texture to bread and cakes....This one looks beautiful and delicious!

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  4. Joyce , the squares look pretty delicious ! I don't know why cookbook authors love to use copious amount of sugar in their bakes :P Do you think their taste buds are different from home bakers ? lol

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  5. Joyce, this cake is beautifully baked!!! Looks soft and moist~

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  6. Delicious and mouthwatering cake. Wonderfully prepared.
    Deepa

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  7. Looking soft and yummy. I don't mind pumpkin but the rest tak suka. so, tak pernah buat anything with pumpkin.

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  8. Delicioso me encanta,saludos y abrazos.

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  9. Looks delicious!! And so soft too :D Talking of clearing the freezer, I really need to do that too!! (and the fridge too whilst I'm at it haha) Only problem is everytime I find a perfect recipe to use up what I have, I usually need to go out and buy more ingredients to make it with :)

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  10. Yum! Joyce, this cake looks so lovely with generous pecan topping. I have been wanting to bake cakes containing pumpkin but haven't gotten round to buying pumpkin.

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  11. good morning! the taste must be lovely . i am just eating plain bread now for breakfast, how nice if i stay near you..i will just knock on your door and ask for a piece of this :)

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  12. I need to clean out my freezer too, and I'm pretty sure I have some pumpkin stashed away in there somewhere. This sounds yummy, and perfect for breakfast! :)

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  13. I love the color and it looks so soft and moist - especially the pecan topping.

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  14. This pecan pumpkin cake looks so moist and beautifully golden! Would love to have a bite.

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  15. I don't have any pumpkin in the freezer Joyce but I do have squash. If I ever get into the depths of my freezer, I may just try this with squash. It looks so moist and tender. I love the addition of pecans too!

    Thank you so much for sharing...

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  16. Hi Joyce,
    I have some pumpkin purée and some pecan nuts or clear too.
    Would love to bake this cake.
    Yours look super delish!
    mui

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  17. Hi Joyce , I will have to try this cake ... it's looks so good .

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