Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Chunk Streusel

November 24, 2009

Sometimes it is nice to make a dessert that is knock-your-socks-off delicious without being much work at all. The kind of cake where you can just dump the ingredients into the mixer and turn it on without worrying about adding things in the right order a little bit at a time. This pumpkin cake is just that kind of dessert. I adapted my favorite banana cake to highlight the flavors of fall and am very happy with the results. Moist and delicious with just the right amount of spice, this cake makes a wonderful fall ending to a meal. Or afternoon snack. Or (don’t tell anyone) breakfast. The chocolate streusel makes it a bit more complicated (you need an extra bowl) but takes the cake to another level of deliciousness. And it looks pretty coming out of the oven so you don’t need to decorate it. I also made some as individual muffin sized cakes and loved the way they came out.

If you don’t want pie for Thanksgiving but still want something pumpkin this is the cake to make.

Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Chunk Streusel
2 cups pumpkin puree (from a 28 oz can)
1 cup (2 sticks) margarine, melted
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1/2 cup soymilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Streusel Topping
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
7 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped with a knife
Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 13 X 9 inch pan.
Place the pumpkin in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add all the rest of the cake ingredients and beat until combined.
In a separate bowl combine the streusel ingredients.
Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of the streusel. Top with remaining batter and sprinkle remaining streusel over the top.
Bake for 1 hour or until a tester comes out with a few moist crumbs.
 
Note: This cake freezes very well so I always make the full amount, but a half recipe fits nicely in an 8 inch square pan or an 8 inch round pan with 3 inch sides.

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9 Comments

  1. The pumpkin streusel cake was amazing! thank you so much for the recipe. The small amount of bittersweet chocolate really adds a lot to the cake. Louise

      • Just made this using two, 9″ spring-form pans so that the crumble would be on top when served. I wasn’t sure how long to bake them for, they came out a little undercooked, but delicious! I hope I can resist eating it all before then!

  2. How would I make the streusel if I am not including the chocolate? I have someone who does not like chocolate!! I thought I would make the cake in two 8″ round cake pans. One would have chocolate in the streusel & one would not have it.
    How long & at what temperature should I bake them?
    I am making them for Thanksgiving 2016 so a prompt reply would be greatly appreciated.

    Thank you in advance.

    How ling

    • You can just leave the chocolate out if you don’t want to use it. The cinnamon crumbs will still add a nice textural contrast to the cake. The baking time in two round 8″ pans will be about the same, but I would start checking it at about 45 minutes. Do make sure that your cake pans are at least 3 inches deep or they will overflow. If you only have 2 inch cake pans (the more standard size) you can use some of the batter to make additional cupcakes so make sure they do not overflow and the 2 inch pans will bake for shorter, more like 35-40 minutes. Hope that helps! Happy Thanksgiving!

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