I can’t believe summer is already over! It went by way too fast this year, but no wonder since I’ve been busy moving (I seriously can’t believe how much stuff we had crammed into our old apartment) and shooting my friend My’s book which by the way is SO much fun. A new experience for sure, and we’re nearly there. Can’t wait until it’s published next spring, I need to show you guys what we’ve been up to for basically the past 1 1/2 years 🙂 Moving has been such a transition. Life feels better and the new apartment is great, but getting back into work, learning how the light ‘works’ here is definitely a learning process. Living without a dishwasher is also something I haven’t done in a few years…
My and I found this amazing little farm shop called Kaggagård where we shot some pictures for her book. They had the most gorgeous pumpkins so I decided to bring a few home with me. I made some pumpkin puree, roasted pumpkin and these little cakes. I think I might make some soup aswell, and pie. What’s your all time favorite pumpkin recipe?
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Mini pumpkin cakes with caramel pastry cream and toasted lemon meringue frosting
Makes 4 small cakes
This is a delicious version of my favorite ever carrot cake, where I use both grated pumpkin, pumpkin puree and sour cream instead of grated carrot and apple sauce/peach puree. If you prefer using carrot or if you want to make a 6 inch cake, you can find instructions for the cake layers here and here.
INGREDIENTS
PUMPKIN CAKE
- 150 g butter
- 1 3/4 cups grated pumpkin
- 3 large eggs
- 150 g (2/3 cup) granulated sugar
- 65 g (1/3 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp.) light brown muscovado sugar, firmly packed
- 180 g (1 1/4 cups) all purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. flaky salt
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 80 ml (1/3 cup) sour cream
- 80 ml (1/3 cup) pumpkin puree (if you don’t have pumpkin puree, use sour cream or apple sauce instead)
CARAMEL PASTRY CREAM
- 150 ml (2/3 cup) milk
- 100 ml (1/3 cup + 2 tbsp) heavy cream
- 1/2 vanilla bean
- 3 large egg yolks (save egg whites for frosting)
- 4 tbsp. (55 g) granulated sugar, divided
- 2 tbsp. (17 g) cornstarch
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp. (15 g) butter
MERINGUE FROSTING
- 4 large egg whites
- 200 g (1 scant cup) granulated sugar
- zest from 1 small organic lemon
INSTRUCTIONS
PUMPKIN CAKE
- Heat oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter a 30 x 40 cm/ 11 x 16 inch sheet pan and cover with baking paper.
- Melt the butter and set aside to cool.
- Peel and grate the pumpkin.
- Beat eggs and sugars until fluffy and lighter in color and texture, about 3 minutes. Add the melted butter and beat until combined.
- Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl, then stir into the batter until just smooth.
- Add grated pumpkin, pumpkin puree and sour cream to the batter and stir until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula.
- Bake for about 16-18 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Let cake cool completely before cutting out rounds with a 6,5 cm/2.5 inch cookie cutter. Wrap the rounds in plastic wrap or store in an airtight container if not using immediately.
PASTRY CREAM
- Pour milk and cream into a saucepan. Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla bean and add seeds and bean to the saucepan. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 tbsp sugar, cornstarch, salt and yolks. Set aside.
- Put the remaining 3 tbsp of sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Place the pan over medium to high heat until the sugar starts melting around the edges. Turn the heat down to low and stir carefully with a spoon until sugar is melted and golden brown. Be careful not to burn the sugar! Stir in the butter.
- Very carefully pour some of the hot milk mixture over the melted sugar (it will bubble up so make sure to be careful as this stuff is hot!). Add the milk mixture little by little, then heat until everything is melted again.
- Slowly pour half of the hot milk mixture over the egg mixture to temper the eggs. Pour everything back into the saucepan and remove the vanilla bean.
- Whisk over medium heat until the mixture becomes very thick. Put the saucepan in a cold water bath, stirring every now and then to prevent a skin from forming. When mixture is cool, pour into a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap against the surface of the pastry cream. Put the bowl in the fridge until pastry cream is cold and thick – about 2 hours, but preferably longer.
ASSEMBLY
- Put the first small cake layer on a small plate or cake stand. Spread with a layer of the pastry cream, then put the next cake layer on top. Repeat until you’ve used four layers for each little cake. Put the cakes in the fridge while you prepare the frosting.
MERINGUE FROSTING
- Pour egg whites and sugar in a clean and heatproof bowl (preferably stainless steel or glass). Put the bowl over a saucepan with simmering water. The bowl should fit snugly, and the simmering water should not be touching the bowl.
- Whisk the sugar and eggs constantly with a whisk until the mixture reaches about 65°C (about 140-150°F). If you don’t have a sugar thermometer, just rub some mixture between your fingers. If the sugar has melted and mixture is hot to the touch, it’s ready.
- Remove the bowl from the heat, beat until white, fluffy and cool to the touch with a stand- or electric mixer. This step can take about 5-10 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest.
- Cover the cakes with meringue frosting and toast the meringue with a kitchen torch.
So cute!
Thanks Adrienne!! I love cute mini cakes 🙂
Oh my Goshhh! These looks so sweet! Amazing job! ♥
Thanks so much Jovan!!
These cakes are absolutely stunning! So pretty and I’m sure so delicious too. Love the meringue!
Thank you for your kind comment 🙂 I adore toasted meringue!
I love these cakes! Beautiful composition ❤️ Still hoping to buy an English edition of your newest book, sweet food & photography .. is there any word on a release?
Thanks so much Nicole!! Sweet food & photography is the book I released in 2014, but it has been translated into English and is available on Amazon! The name is My Sweet Kitchen and you can find the link in the section on the right on the blog :-*
Wonderful!! I am so excited 🙂
sooo cool Linda!!
Thank you Gerard <3
I am so exited for fall aka pumpkin season and your little cakes are just adorable!
Me too!! Thank you so much 🙂 Can’t wait to make more pumpkin things!
You make me feel good, inspired, craving bake…each time you share one recipe…? With this little cakes I need bake pumpkin cake pretty much, that’s my favorite choice for fall and I’m gonna try this with grated pumpkin and pumpkin purée for sure❤
Aww, aren’t you a sweetheart!! Thank you so much for your sweet words <3
These look perfect!! <3
Thank you ladies <3 <3
Absolutely gorgeous, Linda! I want to stop everything right now and make mini cakes. Mini Autumn cakes. Your work is just always inspiring to the max 🙂 .
Glad you’re getting settled…. working with light in a new space is indeed exciting, but also quite the process! And goodness, no dishwasher?!! Hopefully that changes soon!
x
Thanks Christiann!! It’s a challenge indeed, especially since it’s getting darker by the day now.. Yes, no dishwasher. It’s awful! Haha. x
Os mini bolos de abóbora são um pouco complicado de fazer , para mim, que não tenho muito jeito para preparar, mas vou pedir a minha sogra para fazer porque me deu água na boca tenho certeza que são deliciosos.
I highly recommend this recipe..I made it on my friend birthday and it was wonderful!
Yaay, so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment 🙂
What exactly is pumpik puree? Is it coocked pumpik that is pureed or store bought baby puree or? I see it in manu other recepies aswell and always wonder and wonder what it might be….?
I usually cut the pumpkin in half, remove the seeds and bake it in the oven until soft, then puree the flesh of the pumkin. Voila! In many countries you can buy pumpkin puree but not in Sweden – and I think it’s common that it’s spiced or sweetened already. It’s very easy to make on your own, just google it and you will find many good recipes!
Is this also possible to make with another kind of cake? I really don’t like pumpkin but adore the idea of the whole cake itself. Any ideas? 🙂
Hi Farina! You can definitely make a carrot cake instead as suggested in the recipe, chocolate would also be delicious! 🙂
My mom would make pancakes with grated pumpkin. So good! And we’d make a dip for them using Canadian sour cream (it’s thinner in consistency) and raspberry jam. ?
That sounds so good!! 🙂