Pumpkin Crumb Cake – YUMMM!

Back in the old days (a whopping whole year ago) I tried not to let on when I was bringing you a recipe that I developed myself. I was afraid if y’all knew I had made it up, you wouldn’t want to try it! Now that we’ve settled in and become a big old family here, I’m coming out of my shell a bit though..

~pauses a moment for all of you to stop laughing at the thought of her being bashful about anything~

So I got to thinking about my Pumkin Muffins with Streusel topping (which my friend, Terri, has fallen madly and passionately in love with as of late ~waves at Terri~) and I got to wondering what else I could whip up with canned pumpkin. We love Banana Crumb Cake (which I came up with as a mixture of Mama’s Banana Bread with Grandmama’s Stresel Topping added) and pumpkin seemed like a great substitute for the bananas. Folks have been asking me how to keep the streusel topping crunchy the next day so for this recipe I added oats to the mix, giving us a more crumbly texture.

The result was an aromatic, delicious and filling cake, with just the right amount of sweetness that is perfect as a coffee treat or suppertime dessert. The cool thing, of course, is that there are no strange ingredients in this and I doubt you’ll have to go buy anything other than the can of pumpkin. You know I like to keep things simple. ~grins~

So lets kick November off right and whip up this beauty- I can guarantee you office buddies, church families, friends, and neighbors will be glad you did! 

You’ll need: Self rising flour (See my FAQ page to learn how to make your own), sugar, milk, vanilla, eggs, canned pumpkin, margarine, brown sugar, and oats.

Imagine there is cinnamon pictured here as well.

So here’s the story….

I had everything all laid out here to do this tutorial and turned my camera on to start – my less-than-a-year-old-camera that I’ve already had to send back to the factory once due to manufacturer’s defect. I turn my camera on and …the screen is completely blank. In other words, I can’t see what the photograph is going to look like and I can’t focus at all. Traditionally you could look through the viewfinder (like we did in the old days) but this camera’s viewfinder doesn’t quite work that way. Grrr. So I wing it. I point and click and point and click and point and click and hope that I’ll get lucky.

Place all of batter ingredients into mixing bowl.

Grrr. Point and click and point and click and point and click. I’m not really happy at this point and while outwardly I am making a pumpkin crumb cake, inwardly I’m telling my camera manufacturer how the juice got in the lemon.

I’m always so much better at telling companies off in my head, aren’t you?

Mix until well blended.

Luck is still holding out, thank goodness, and I pause at this point to call my Mama, Husband, and two friends so that they, too, can feel my righteous indignation towards the manufacturer of my camera.

In a separate bowl, place all of streusal ingredients.

~takes a deep breath~ Now that I’ve called folks and have at least three or four in an uproar with me. I begin to feel a little better and start mentally weighing the pros and cons of sending the thing back, telling myself that it is only going to malfunction again and I might as well cut my losses and buy a new camera, maybe one of those Cannon or Kodak deals…

Mix those up with a long tined fork.

I’m resolved to purchase a new camera (a much cheaper one) and am on the phone with my husband nagging him for the money having an intellectually motivated discussion over the family budget but even with all of this going on, I don’t miss a chance to eat a pinch (or two) of this topping. It is just divine.

Pour half of your batter into a greased 9×13 inch pan.

At this point I’ve just about broke his will pled my case successfully and am ready to go online to read camera reviews…

Sprinkle with half of your topping.

Now is where I do my usual calculations before any major purchase, which means that I start mentally calculating how many groceries I could buy instead of making said purchase. Even with a camera on the cheap end of things that adds up to a whopping amount of pantry and fridge fillers.. ~ugh~

Pour remaining batter over the top.

I rant some more and then email manufacturer and get standard reply saying that someone will get back with you within 24 hours. Eh, it could be worse. I’m calming down a wee bit now.

Sprinkle with rest of topping. YUM

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.

Go sit down and fiddle with camera. Try talking sweet, but find that sweet talk works a lot better on breathing objects.

Remove cake from oven..take a quick picture and then cut a piece to photograph.

End up eating that piece (whoops!). Cut another one…

There ya go!

Watch out for stampedes…

When my husband got home, after listening to a bit more of my carrying on about the camera, he decided to take a look at it. He turned it on, turned it off, and turned the dial on the settings one time -where it was supposed to be. It works perfectly.

Of course he had to brag about it…~sigh~

Pumpkin Crumb Cake

Batter

• 1- 15 ounce Can Pumpkin
• 2C sugar
• 1 C milk
• 2 C self rising flour
• 1 stick margarine
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Crumb Topping

• 1 stick (1/2 c) Margarine
• 1 Cup brown sugar (dark or light)
• 1 cup flour (self rising or plain, whatever you have on hand)
• 1 Cup oats (quick or old fashioned)

Spray 9×13 inch pan with cooking spray. Place all batter ingredients into large mixing bowl. Mix until well blended.

In medium bowl, place all topping ingredients. Cut together with a long tined fork until well blended. Pour 1/2 of batter into pan, top with 1/2 crumb mixture. Pour remaining batter over and top with remaining crumb mixture. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour at 350.

Cake is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Did you ever see an unhappy horse? Did you ever see a bird that has the blues? One reason why birds and horses are not unhappy is because they not trying impress other birds and horses.”

~ Dale Carnegie

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Posted by Christy Jordan on Nov 2 2009. Filed under Breakfast, Cake. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry