Sour Cream Pumpkin Coffee Cake w/ Cinnamon Icing

When I saw this recipe I thought it looked fabulous. had just the right amount of pumpkin left over from my last recipe and this seemed like a great way to use it. Although, I had to put my hopes for making a pumpkin milkshake on the back burner.

This was a bit interesting to make. You prepare a cake batter, a pumpkin filling, and a variation on a streusel topping. The cake was easy to make, but the pumpkin filling just seemed a bit bland. If I had thought about it, I really showed have added some other spices to it because the end result was pretty bland. I hit a bit of a wall with the streusel topping. I didn't have pecans. I really thought I did, but unfortunately it was a bag of slivered almonds instead=( Not the same thing. So I had to leave them out, which was unfortunate because I think they would have added soooo much more to the recipe.

After an hour of baking, I took it out and let it cool over night. In the morning it looked great and I tried a piece. Bland. That's what I'd call it. The different layers just didn't come together very well taste wise. The pumpkin middle wasn't seasoned very well, which again, is why I should have added more spices. The streusel was okay, but pecans would have been a great addition. The cake itself was very good, though.



I also felt as though it needed some icing. So on the spot, I whipped up some cinnamon icing.
I supplied my "recipe" below, but take into account that I eyed balled it all. I put down measurement amounts that I thought I used but I don't really know. Also, the amount I made would not be enough for a whole cake, or let alone half of it. I just made enough for the piece I was having and maybe one or two more.

The addition of the icing, however, completes it. It was just what the cake needed. The large amount of cinnamon made up for the lack of overall spices and definitely took the cake from bland to mighty tasty.



I probably won't make this recipe again, but it was nice to try. With so many pumpkin recipes out there this one isn't super necessary to try. If your ambitious enough to tweak recipes as you go then you might like to play around with this one. Also, I've eaten this room temperature but I'd like to see how it tastes warmed up.

*added 10/18/09: I tried this cake a day after and it was much better. Maybe the flavors had more time to come together? I don't know. But after a day and a half, you don't even need the icing. It's good.

Sour Cream Pumpkin Coffee Cake
from Megans Cooking (hers looked better than mine)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream
1 3/4 cup (16 ounce can) solid pack pumpkin
1 slightly beaten egg
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Streusel
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts
Combine brown sugar, butter and cinnamon until blended. Stir in chopped nuts.

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and grease and flour a 9 x 13 x 2 pan.

Cream butter, 3/4 cup sugar and vanilla in mixing bowl. Add 3 eggs, beating well.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Add dry ingredients to butter mixture alternately with sour cream.

In a separate bowl, combine pumpkin, beaten egg, 1/3 cup sugar and pie spice.

Spoon half of batter into 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish, spread to corners.

Sprinkle half of the streusel over batter. Spread pumpkin mixture over Streusel.

Carefully spread remaining batter over pumpkin mixture.

Spread remaining streusel over top.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 50 to 60 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean.

Cinnamon Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/8 cup milk
1 1/2 T cinnamon
A dash of vanilla

These are all eye-balled so play around until you find a taste you like. If it seems too sugary don't be alarmed because the taste of the cake tones it down.