Pumpkin Tea Cake

I wanted to make something a little different for Thanksgiving dessert (yes fellow Canadians, we celebrate Thanksgiving in November now).  I like pumpkin pie but it isn't my favourite, and I wanted to stick with the pumpkin theme.  I found this recipe for pumpkin tea cake in my Tartine book, and it looked simple enough so I thought I would give it a try.  The recipe looks like a simple loaf cake, but oh, it is so much more.  The picture below doesn't even begin to do it justice. 

First of all, I will now be putting sugar on the top of all my loaf cakes.  The top was sweet, crunchy and oh so good.  And check out how much spice is in this cake.  I have never added that much cinnamon to a recipe that small before, but it was perfect.  Super spicy, moist, and great pumpkin flavour.  We had some plain (yummy) and also heated up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (divine!).  Mike had a great idea to make this recipe in a whoopie pie pan to maximize the crunchy top.  Off to Sur La Table!

Pumpkin Tea Cake

1 2/3 cup of flour
1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
1 cup and 2 tablespoons of pumpkin puree
1 cup of vegetable oil (sunflower, canola or safflower)
1 1/3 cup of sugar
3/4 teaspoon of salt
3 eggs
2 tablespoons of sugar

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan.

This recipe is easily mixed by a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or by hand with a whisk. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves into a mixing bowl and set aside.

In another mixing bowl, beat together the pumpkin purée, oil, sugar, and salt on medium speed or by hand until well mixed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition until incorporated before adding the next egg. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. On low speed, add the flour mixture and beat just until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on medium speed for 5 to 10 seconds to make a smooth batter. The batter should have the consistency of a thick purée.

Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan and smooth the surface with an offset spatula. Sprinkle evenly with the sugar. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, and then invert onto the rack, turn right side up, and let cool completely. Serve the cake at room temperature. It will keep, well wrapped, at room temperature for 4 days or in the refrigerator for about 1 week.