Pumpkin Pine Nut Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
• In a large bowl, mix pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. Transfer mixture to the prepared pan. Pour dry yellow cake mix over the mixture, sprinkle with walnuts, and drizzle with melted margarine.
• Bake 35 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce heat to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C), and continue baking 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Steps:

• Liberally butter a 10-inch bundt pan and dust with flour. Tap out the excess flour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt into a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the eggs and sugar and whisk on medium speed until well combined and lightened in color, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low, slowly drizzle in the oil, and whisk until combined, then whisk on high speed for 1 minute to emulsify. Switch to the paddle attachment. Add the pumpkin puree to the egg mixture and mix on medium speed just until combined. Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing just until combined after each addition, approximately 5 seconds each time. Remove the bowl from the mixer and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. Fold in the walnuts by hand. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the cake springs back when touched and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run an offset spatula around the edges of the pans, then invert the cakes onto the racks and let cool for about 20 minutes longer. Serve right away, or wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to serve and up to 3 days. To freeze, wrap tightly in a second layer of plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Serve at room temperature. Note: To make your own pumpkin puree, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Scrub a small (about 4 pounds) sugar pumpkin well and wipe dry. Cut the pumpkin in half and place the halves, flesh-side down, on a greased cookie sheet and bake until very soft, about 1 hour. Let the pumpkin cool. Scrape out the seeds and stringy fibers and discard. Scoop out the flesh of the pumpkin and process until smooth in a food processor or pass through a food mill to make a puree. Makes about 2 1/2 cups puree.
• Chocolate Ganache: We make 20 gallons of chocolate ganache every week at Miette as it is used in or on many of the things we make. Miette's recipe for this exquisite, velvety ganache is based on a recipe by Robert Linxe in the cookbook from La Maison du Chocolat in Paris, La Maison du Chocolat: Transcendent Desserts by the Legendary Chocolatier, which is why we call it the "MDC" in the bakery. We use chocolate with 62 percent cacao. Guittard and Scharffen Berger are our preferred brands, but feel free to try any chocolate to your taste. Makes about 3 cups 10 ounces 62 percent cacao chocolate, chopped 2/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) sifted powdered sugar 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream 2 large egg yolks 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature Combine the chocolate and powdered sugar in a heatproof bowl. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to a gentle simmer. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Nest the bowl over a pan of simmering water to make a bain-marie. Heat, stirring, until all of the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat. Whisk the egg yolks together in a small heatproof bowl. Pour about 1/2 cup of the melted chocolate mixture into the yolks while whisking, to temper them. Pour the tempered mixture back into the pan of chocolate and whisk to combine. Add the butter and stir until smooth. Pour the hot ganache through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean heatproof bowl. Use the ganache immediately, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Ganache does not freeze well. Next, microwave on 50 percent power for 10-second intervals, stirring between each, until the ganache reaches the desired consistency. You will usually need to add 1 or 2 tablespoons of hot water to loosen a cold ganache. For a glossy shine, it needs to return to the mixer for beating. For more specific instructions, see individual recipes.

Steps:

• Cut the prunes in half and put them in a bowl. Cover with boiling water and leave them to plump for 10 minutes. Drain well and place in a clean bowl. Mix the simple syrup and Armagnac together and pour over the prunes. Let macerate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight. Store the prunes in the maceration liquid.
• Heat the oven to 375°F or 350°F on convection.
• Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and fibers. Use a small sharp knife to score the flesh in a checkerboard pattern, cutting in about 1/2 inch. Rub each half with the butter, sprinkle with the brown sugar, and season with salt. Put the pumpkin on a baking sheet, cut-side up, and bake until very tender and browned, about 45 minutes.
• When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, peel it and put the flesh through a food mill.
• Line a strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth. Scrape the pumpkin puree into the strainer, set it over a bowl, cover with cheesecloth, and weight it. Let the puree drain for at least 2 hours to remove the excess liquid.
• Put the pine nuts, the sugars, and a pinch of salt in a food processor. Pulse to chop the nuts. Slowly add the butter, pulsing until you have pea-sized pieces. Transfer to a bowl and chill until ready to use.
• Heat the oven to 350°F or 325°F on convection. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment. Spray twelve 2 x 2-inch ring molds or 1 1/2-inch square molds with cooking spray and set on the pan.
• Put the pine nuts, all-purpose flour, semolina, salt, baking powder, and sugars in a food processor. Pulse and process until the pine nuts are ground. Add the butter and pulse until well mixed; the texture should be coarse.
• Combine the eggs, pumpkin puree, olive oil, zest, and vanilla seeds (rinse, dry, and save the pod for another use) in a mixing bowl. Whisk until smooth. Add to the processor and process for 30 seconds.
• Coarsely chop half of the drained prunes and fold into the batter. Fill the molds two-thirds full. Top with the streusel, filling the molds. Bake until a tester comes out clean and the streusel is browned, about 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.
• Let cool briefly, then remove the molds.
• Put the warm cakes on dessert plates and garnish with the remaining prunes and the maceration liquid.
• You could use canned pumpkin puree.

Steps:

• Make cake:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1-inch jelly roll pan with foil, leaving overhang on short sides; butter and flour foil. Sift 2 1/4 cups flour and next 5 ingredients into medium bowl. Whisk pumpkin, sour cream, honey and vanilla in small bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Beat dry ingredients into butter mixture alternately with pumpkin mixture.
• Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack.
• Make frosting:
• Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, 1/3 cup pumpkin, honey and allspice in large bowl until fluffy. Beat whipping cream in medium bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture in 2 additions. Spoon 1 1/2 cups frosting into small bowl to use for decorating; cover and refrigerate.
• Using foil as aid, lift cake onto work surface. Cut cake crosswise into three 10 x 4-inch rectangles (reserve remaining cake for another use). Slide spatula under 1 rectangle; transfer cake to platter. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with second cake. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with third cake. Spread 1 cup frosting in thin layer over top and sides of cake to anchor crumbs. Chill 1 hour.
• Spread remaining frosting from large bowl decoratively onto sides of cake. Spoon 3/4 cup reserved frosting from small bowl into pastry bag fitted with medium star tip. Pipe frosting in diagonal lines on top of cake, spacing about 3/4 inch apart. Squeeze frosting from pastry bag back into small bowl of frosting. Mix in remaining 1/4 cup pumpkin. Spoon pumpkin frosting into pastry bag and pipe lines of shells or rosettes between frosting lines on cake. Refrigerate until frosting sets, about 2 hours. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover with foil dome and keep refrigerated. Let stand 2 hours at room temperature before serving.)