Pumpkin Crunch Cake
From scratch layered pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting and crunch topping.
Yield 36 small servings or about 20 larger servings
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 1/2 cups milk
Crunch Topping
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chopped nuts such as pecans or walnuts (not salted)
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter cubed
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese softened
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 6 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two 13x9-inch baking pans, line the bottom and sides with parchment paper, then lightly grease the paper.
- Mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl until well combined.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract, then pumpkin.
- Alternate beating in the milk and dry ingredients to the batter.
- Pour batter evenly between two prepared baking pans and spread to form an even layer in both.
- Bake the cakes for about 20-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely.
Crunch Topping
- Meanwhile, mix together flour, nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in small bowl for crunch topping. Cut in butter with pastry blender or knives until mixture is crumbly. Spread out on a large baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mat (or aluminum foil).
- Bake crunch topping at 350 degrees F for about 20-30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, or until desired crunchiness. Cool completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- For frosting, beat together cream cheese and butter with electric mixer on medium speed until well combined. Beat in salt and vanilla. Slowly beat in powdered sugar until desired sweetness and consistency.
Assembly
- Once cakes are completely cooled, lift one layer out and place on large serving platter. Top with some frosting and about half of the crunch topping. Place second cake layer on top, frost on top and sides of cake and top with remaining crunch topping.
Notes
SNAPPY TIPS: Be sure to line your pans with parchment paper so you can easily lift them out so they don't crack when trying to get out of pan. To make your frosting as creamy as possible make sure the butter and cream cheese are very soft and at room temperature.
SNAPPY SUBSTITUTIONS: Instead of cinnamon, you could use pumpkin pie spice or your favorite baking blend. Instead of nuts in the topping, you can omit completely or try using oats. You can use low fat cream cheese in the frosting but the frosting may have a thinner consistency. Do NOT use pumpkin pie filling instead of the unsweetened canned pumpkin.
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