If you like the spicy flavor of ginger with the sweetness of pumpkin and cinnamon this cake is simply delicious. The cake is moist with a crumbly texture, its not too sweet and has a lovely ginger flavor.

The inspiration

I’m not sure why really I got in the mood to make a spicy gingery pumpkin cake, because its been unseasonably warm around here – we’re talking temps in the 60s and 70s in January!! Sunny, blue skies, and warm warm warm.

So why I got in the mood to make a cake and that too with pumpkin spice and ginger is beyond me. All I can say is that here I was looking out at sunshine and beautiful scenery with a gentle breeze and I thought “A piece of homemade cake and tea sounds perfect right now.”

About the recipe

For my cake I used a pumpkin spice cake recipe from epicurious.com that I’ve made many times before with delicious results. With this recipe as my baseline I made a few modifications to create this pumpkin ginger cake.

Pumpkin Ginger Cake

To give my cake a more gingery kick I added 2 tbsp fresh grated ginger plus 1/4 cup of finely chopped crystalized ginger. I then substituted 1 cup of flour with almond meal and added pumpkin spice and cinnamon spice for extra flavor.

No icing or frosting or simple syrup required. Just good flavorful cake with a cup of coffee or tea.

On a warm wintery day or a cold wintery day – this cake is sure to satisfy anyone’s blues.

Pumpkin Ginger Almond Cake
with inspiration from epicurious Pumpkin Spice Cake with Buttermilk

Ingredients:

• 10-inch nonstick bundt pan (3 quart)
• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting pan
• 1 cup almond meal or almond flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tsp teaspoon pumpkin spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15-ounce can; not pie filling)
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
• 1/4 cup of crystalized ginger finely chopped or less if you prefer

Directions:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 10 inch bundt pan generously or use a nonstick cooking spray, then dust with sugar, knocking out excess.

Whisk together flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and salt in a bowl.

In another bowl whisk together pumpkin, 3/4 cup sour cream, and vanilla. Then add the grated ginger and stir in.

Beat butter (1 1/2 sticks) and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer or a stand mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, then add eggs and beat 1 minute. Reduce speed and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches and mixing until batter is just smooth. Lastly using a spatula stir in the crystalized ginger.

Spoon batter into bundt pan, smoothing top. Bake for 50 minutes – 1 hour until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan for 20 minutes, then invert cake and cool before serving.

A piece of pumpkin ginger cake with coffee or tea makes for the perfect coffee break.