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Pumpkin Cake with Walnuts
Instructions
Cut the pumpkin into convenient pieces and remove the skin. Grate it on the fine side of a grater and put it in a separate container.
Whisk the eggs with the granulated sugar and vanilla.
Add a couple of tablespoons of sour cream and whisk again.
Pour in the oil and mix well.
Squeeze the grated pumpkin well, add it to the whipped ingredients and mix.
Mix the flour with the baking powder and sift it, then add it and knead the batter.
Here is the result.
Grease the form with oil and pour in the pumpkin batter, spreading it carefully. Place pieces of walnut on top.
Bake at 180 °C, checking for doneness with a skewer. This usually takes 50 minutes.
Take the pumpkin cake out and transfer it to a nice plate.Pumpkin cake with walnuts is a wonderful treat any time of day. Serve it with freshly brewed black tea or aromatic coffee with milk.
Tips
- 1
Squeeze the pumpkin well. Squeezing the grated pumpkin well (step 5) is essential to the texture. Unsqueezed, its high water content makes the batter too wet and the cake dense and soggy; squeezed, the excess moisture is removed and the cake comes out tender and moist, not wet. Pumpkin is over 90% water, so leaving it unsqueezed throws off the recipe's ratios. Wring it firmly in cheesecloth, paper towels or a clean dish towel. The 500 g is the drained weight. A handy tip: save the pumpkin liquid for soups or cocktails – nutritious and zero-waste.
- 2
Fresh pumpkin, not canned. The recipe uses fresh pumpkin rather than canned purée. Fresh has a brighter flavor and visible flecks in the cut cake, with an authentic autumn feel; canned purée is convenient and uniform but less bright and smoother (no flecks) – acceptable but inferior. A sugar pumpkin (small cooking pumpkin) is best – sweeter and less watery than large carving pumpkins, and butternut squash is a similar, year-round alternative. The fresh prep adds 15 minutes but transforms the quality. A handy tip: roast the pumpkin before grating (40 minutes at 180 °C) to intensify and sweeten the flavor. For another classic autumn bake worth trying, see Charlotte with Apples Classic Recipe.
- 3
Walnuts on top. Placing the walnuts on top (step 8) keeps them crunchy. Mixed into the batter, they soften during baking and lose their crunch; on top, exposed to the dry oven air, they stay crunchy and give a decorative look and a textural contrast against the soft cake. Coarsely chopped walnuts are best (large, recognizable pieces); finely crushed ones get lost. Arrange them randomly or in a pattern, as you like. A handy tip: toast the walnuts in a dry pan (3-5 minutes over medium heat) before using to intensify their nutty flavor.
- 4
Check doneness with a skewer. Checking with a skewer (step 9) is important for pumpkin baking. Going by time alone (a strict 50 minutes) is risky, as ovens and the pumpkin's moisture vary; a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean – if there's wet batter on it, it needs more time. The time varies with the oven and the pumpkin's moisture, so 50 minutes is an average – check at 45 and add as needed. A handy tip: an instant-read thermometer (95 °C / 190 °F internal) gives technical precision. For another classic autumn cake worth trying, see Carrot Cake with Walnuts Classic.
FAQ
What pumpkin variety works best? +
Not all pumpkins are equal for cooking. Recommended: sugar pumpkin (pie pumpkin, smaller at 1-3 kg, dense sweet flesh with less water, ideal for baking), butternut squash (similar and available year-round), kabocha (Japanese, sweetest, with a chestnut-like flavor), Hokkaido/red kuri (like kabocha, red-skinned) or delicata (smaller, with edible skin). Avoid large carving pumpkins (jack-o'-lantern type), which are stringy, watery and bland, and decorative pumpkins, which aren't eating quality. The ideal is a 2-3 kg sugar pumpkin from a farmers' market in peak autumn. The cooking process is the same across good varieties, so substitution is easy. A handy tip: bake the pumpkin whole first (40 minutes at 180 °C, wrapped in foil) to make it softer, easier to skin and more flavorful.
Other nut options? +
The recipe uses walnuts, but other nuts work excellently. Options: pecans (sweet, buttery, American-traditional), hazelnuts (rich, Italian-Caucasian style), sliced almonds (mild, Mediterranean, elegant), pistachios (premium, green, Mediterranean) or a mix (varied and complex). Walnut is the default – classic, traditional for autumn, budget-friendly and complementary to pumpkin. The pecan version is the most popular alternative, sweeter and buttery, American-Thanksgiving style; the hazelnut version is Italian and aromatic. Avoid cashews (too soft) and macadamias (too rich). A handy tip: chop some nuts into the batter as well (in addition to those on top) for nuts distributed throughout.
How long does it keep? +
At room temperature, 3-4 days in a cake dome or covered plate (it stays moist). In the fridge, 5-7 days at peak quality, covered and airtight (it may dry slightly); refresh with 5 minutes in the microwave or let it warm to room temperature before eating. It freezes excellently (3 months) – wrap individual slices in plastic and foil in a freezer bag, then thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes. It's great to make ahead for Thanksgiving, Halloween, autumn entertaining and gift baking, and the tender, moist texture keeps well. A handy tip: freeze individual slices for a ready dessert anytime.
Vegetarian/vegan adaptation? +
It's already vegetarian (no meat). A vegan version is possible. For the eggs, use a flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax with 3 tbsp water per egg), 1/4 cup applesauce, a commercial egg replacer or 1/4 cup mashed banana (which adds banana flavor). For the sour cream, use vegan sour cream (cashew-based), thicker coconut milk (creamy and tropical) or blended silken tofu. The other ingredients (pumpkin, flour, sugar, oil, walnuts, baking powder) are already vegan, and the 2 eggs are a simple substitution. A handy tip: a flax egg plus applesauce together give the best vegan binding and moisture.
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