Pumpkin is a Thanksgiving staple. Whether it’s the decorations or desserts. Pumpkin is a fall and Thanksgiving must-have. But how do you like your pumpkin: pie, cake, mousse, as a squash side (because you can do that), in your stuffing, in drinks? It’s a versatile food. Look at all the options.
This past weekend we had people over for the Packer game. As Wisconsin residents we definitely enjoy our NFL team. I made a classic chili and shocked myself as I typically make it incredibly spicy, but no one was gulping down milk this time. For dessert I decided to test out a pumpkin cake. I made the Half Baked Harvest Vanilla Chai Pumpkin Latte Cupcakes. Yes, cupcakes; except I put it into a square dish to make a cake. It worked. I probably could have used a bigger dish, but it worked, and that’s what matters.
It’s another simple recipe, making me think I need to truly mix it up and find some other recipes. I've said it before I know, but Half Baked Harvest just never disappoints. This one was no different. It was a hit. Everyone enjoyed it. I over mixed the frosting a little, so it wasn't as smooth as I was hoping, and it was more runny than expected, but it tasted delicious. It was a cinnamon brown butter frosting. You know if there’s brown butter, it’s guaranteed to be delicious.
This recipe uses coconut oil instead of butter in the cake itself. No complaints here. There’s no coconut flavor, and it is so simple to work with. There are quite a few spices involved in order to get that "chai" flavor, but it was subtle and just right. A total of 7 spices, so make sure you have them all on hand. I didn't have allspice, so I just omitted it. Mix all your spices together plus granulated sugar for the chai spice. Add half of it to the cake batter. You will save the other half for topping the cake. There was a lot left over, which isn't a complaint; you can use it for many things, including adding it to your morning coffee :O
Easy peasy. Combine your wet ingredients, including the pumpkin, add your dry ingredients, plus one half of your prepared chai spice, mix it all together. The recipe then goes on with cupcake instructions. Like I said I made mine into a small square cake. It took about 45 minutes to bake. I could have used a bigger dish, but then it would have been super thin, and who wants a super thin cake? Baking time was longer than I would have liked, but that’s what happens when you change things up. The result was a thick, moist pumpkin cake. While it baked, I took my time making the frosting.
You do have to chill the browned butter once you've browned it. You combine the brown sugar, heavy cream, and butter, melt it in a saucepan, transfer to heat safe bowl (or the bowl of the stand mixer, mine was still dirty from the cake batter so I just used a bowl) and put in the freezer to cool for 10-15 minutes. Then you add the rest of the ingredients and beat it. I beat mine a touch too much, so it was closer to a whipped frosting but it was delicious so no one complained:).
If you aren't a pumpkin pie fan or a pie fan in general, this is a good alternative. Of course you can make it as cupcakes as well. Cupcakes are always a crowd pleaser; I just wanted a cake this particular day. Happy Baking!!
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/chai-pumpkin-latte-cupcakes/#wprm-recipe-container-96884
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