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Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Soft Pumpkin Cake 松软南瓜蛋糕



Pine nuts. First time tasting this and it is so so good. My MIL got me a small pack of pinenuts when she came back 6 months ago. It's pretty pricey here. I don't think I'll buy it here, because it's really expensive.. but come to think of it, it's almost like the price of blueberries.. oh... I don't know. Maybe I will, maybe I won't buy. I don't know yet.

This cake is very very light and yummy. For pumpkin lovers, this is a must try. For no pumpkin lovers also must try. My husband who doesn't fancy pumpkins was cheated into eating this. My brother who is watching his cholesterol levels, didn't know that it's pumpkin in it, and thought it was egg yolks, still ate it cos it is so good. And when he knew it's pumpkin, he gave a sigh of relief and ate even more. There might not be any pumpkin smell or taste in this cake, but the texture is marvelous. And the pinenuts added a wonderful aroma to the cake. Feel free to subtitute with flaked almonds or almond nibs if you don't want to use pinenuts.

Soft Pumpkin Cake
(Source: XiaoMeiZhu)

(A)
4 egg whites
Few drops vinegar
50gm sugar

(B)
4 egg yolks
50gm pumpkin puree
50ml milk
50ml Corn oil
80gm cake flour

(C)
Handful of pinenuts
Buttercream for filling

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 140(fan)/160C
2. Combine pumpkin puree with milk. Then add in egg yolks and oil. Mix till well blended and put in flour ad mix til smooth.
3. Put egg whites into another bowl and beat until frothy. Put in vinegar and continue to beat until soft peaks. Put in sugar and beat until stiff (pointy stiff)
4. Fold 1/3 of egg whites into (B) . Pour (B) into remaining egg whites and fold.
5. Pour into a 10 inch lined square pan, level the batter.
6. Sprinkle some pine nuts over cake and bake for 25 minutes.
7. When cake is done, remove from oven. Let it sit in the pan for 5 minutes, remove from pan (be gentle) and tear down the side liners. Let cake cool down totally.
8. Overturn cake and peel off lining paper and cut into half. Spread one side with butter cream and top with another side of the cake. To make slicing nicer chill cake for 30 minutes before slicing to serve.

77 comments:

  1. This looks soo, soo good. It's even pretty healthy. Thank you for sharing this. Beautiful pictures, btw. I have a few questions though. Is there a specific type of vinegar (rice, white, apple cider?)
    Did you make your own pumpkin puree or get it canned?
    Also, is it possible to substitute the corn oil with something else? Thank you so very much for taking your time to read this. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. so delicious looking, i was going to say pinenut really is expensive...and still u put so many hahah but then if less will probably affect the outcome of the cake eh....anyway i hope one day i get to taste some of your products :)

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  3. This cake looks very soft and looks yummy. BTW, how did you prepare the pumpkin puree? Did you steamed and mashed it.

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  4. Wendy, the cake looks so gd. I dun fancy pumpkin but the way u described, shall I give it a try? hmmm.... Pine nut is gd with lot of health benefits, one of them is cholestrol lowering so can ask ur bro to eat more :P

    ReplyDelete
  5. Esther,
    Anything acidic will do, even lemon juice, so any vinegar will be alright. It's just another subtitute for cream of tartar.

    I made the pumpkin puree myself. Check out my steamed pumpkin bun post.

    You can use any unflavoured oil, vegetable oil will be fine.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Manglish,
    Even though it's expensive, but when you need to use it, cannot skimp la, if not will look too kiamsap. If too little pine nuts then everybody fight for pieces with it, then mai sei foh lor.

    ReplyDelete
  7. DG,
    Yup, made the puree myself.
    Actually they were leftovers from my steamed pumpkin buns. Check out that post to see how I made them :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Since your steamed pumkin buns? That was quite some time ago... The puree can keep for so long meh, or u made this cake close to the time u made the buns?

    ReplyDelete
  9. This cake looks so soft and fragrant.....can I have the whole cake pls ?

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  10. Pumpkin my favourite. :) Sign...! It seem like most guys don't like pumpkin. My three gentlemen don't like any food which has pumpkin. So I don't use pumpkin for cooking or baking.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Looks very soft, moist and so smooth too!

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  12. This truly soft pumpkin cake. It's nicely bake and I can feel the softness! Good recipe! I've book marked it. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Mel,
    Haha, your 2nd guess was right.
    Anyway, the puree can be frozen. I froze them before and made another batch of this cake days later

    ReplyDelete
  14. AFTH:
    Yeah, you may, please print the picture
    :)hahaha!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Happy Flour,
    You don't need to tell them this is pumpkin cake. There is no distinct smell or taste in this cake. It just makes the cake ultra soft.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Bakericious,
    Don't worry, you won't even feel the pumpkin in it. Try it for the pumpkin health benefits :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Angie,
    I believe this is your type of cake:)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Kitchen Corner,
    It is really soft. Do let me know once u've tried this.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wendy,
    Your pumpkin cake looks sooooo good, i've made a similar one in cupcake form adapted from a Japanese chiffon cake cookbook, the pumpkin taste is very subtle, you wont really know it and I think it is a good way to let those guys or kids who hate eating veges to eat the pumpkin without their knowing, I will try your version bec it is so tempting, maybe substitute with sweet potato, coz got plenty of sweet potato at home but no pumpkin....
    Sem

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a lovely bake! The cake looks so smooth & moist. I wanna to take a bite on it too. Yummm.... Have a nice day!
    Cheers, Kristy

    ReplyDelete
  21. From all the pictures I can see the cake is really soft. I like this type of cake a lot but not my hubby. He said it is like eating a piece of sponge ha ha.. he doesn't know what he miss. I have bookmark this to try out once I get the right size pan. I only have an 8" square pan. Thanks wendy for sharing with us all your wonderful cake recipes.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Sem,
    You may try this with sweet potato, but maybe you need to increase the milk as well, because sweet potato is drier than pumpkin

    ReplyDelete
  23. Kristy,
    Moist, I won't say it's really moist. Soft, yes.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Icook4fun,
    You may just use your regular swiss roll pan.
    My pan is a 10inch square with 1.5cm height, using a swiss roll pan shouldn't be a problem.

    Yeah, Asians loves these type of cakes, but not our western friends.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Wow the cake's crumb looked really fine and uniform! It seemed like you added emulsifiers into the cake batter! Well done! i wish my cake looked half as good as yours. The orange colour is so appetising!

    ReplyDelete
  26. SSoL,
    Yes, it looks like it's got emulsifiers, and it even taste like it's got emulsifiers, but there's none.
    The pumpkin puree gives it that velvety texture like an emulsified cake has.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Icook4fun,
    Sorry my pan is 1.5inches tall :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. I'm not a pumpkin lover but from the look of the cake, I really feel like tasting them.

    ReplyDelete
  29. mNhL,
    Hahaha, feel free to taste it.

    ReplyDelete
  30. wow, this cake look veryyyyyyy soft. Is thinking I m testing it when i m posting this comment.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Cherry Potato,
    Then how was it? Good?

    ReplyDelete
  32. Do you have measurements in cups rather than ml? or do you use a converter online to do it?
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Philli,
    Yes, please use an online converter.
    Anyway, simple maths will be able to do the work
    1 cup is 250ml.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Hi.......Help me....haha.... i had done the pumpkin cake and the japanese cotton cheese cake...i am using 8" round cake pan...the pumpkin cake once cool down it left 1 1/2 inch...the japanese cheese cake left only 1 inch.....what is properly wrong ??? please advice...

    ReplyDelete
  35. Jaymie,
    1. Did you beat the egg whites correctly?? I'm sorry I have to ask this because I do not know your baking background. You blog is "empty". hahaha.

    2. My pumpkin cake after baked in a 10 inch pan is just slightly more than 1 inch tall. But is your pumpkin cake's texture soft and fluffy??

    3. Japanese cheesecake will shrink, as said by my recipe book's author, but 1 inch seems to short, sure boh? 1 inch? got measure with ruler?
    But it seemed to have shrunk too much if really 1 inch.
    My mango cotton cheesecake was shorter than the original version. Just watch out for the texture, if the texture is soft and fluffy, how tall the cake is, doesn't really matter.

    It'll be great if you can provide me with pictures to look at the texture, and height :)

    ReplyDelete
  36. Hi.... i have d same though...i think there's somewhere wrong the way i beat my egg white as both of d cake is using seperate egg white n yolks method.....i will try to upload the photos as i am lazy to organise a nice blog like u...haha...but i'm much enjoy to view blog like u.....mostly i will upload to facebook only...

    My pumpkin cake tasted like a marshmallow ...it was so soft but still bit wet....i baked it 160 C / 30 mins.......

    The cotton cheese cake wasnt like cottonly but it was edible...not bad...just way too short...haha

    Btw, i just started my baking day.....bout 2 months....thanks for your prompt reply...and nice to meet you....you are much talented....

    ReplyDelete
  37. Came across when I googled for Pumpkin Cake. The pumpkin cake you baked looks so perfect. Thanks for sharing the recipe and going try it out this weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Jaymie,
    Is your oven a convection oven or conventional?
    If it's just a normal conventional with a small small fan, or no fan, then please always use the 2nd temperature.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Suesue,
    Thanks,do let me know the outcome.
    Hey, I've been to your blog a few times, especiallly those regarding fatt koh, left you a message regarding the smile factor, saw that?

    ReplyDelete
  40. Wendy,I used to received a lot of spam comments in my cooking blog. Hence, I hardly check the comments and used to delete all of it. :P. Aiyor so sorry about that, next time you can email me at cookingmomster@gmail.com if you have any question.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Suesue,
    OIC... Actually I didn't ask you a question, I was trying to help with the smile factor questions your readers were asking you about.
    OK, next time I'll email you.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Hi Wendy,
    It's me again ! haha...i dunno what type of oven i am using as it didnt stated there ....it was quite old version and it was "ROUND" ....haha....i think it's more for to bake chicken...lolz....
    Btw, i had make my coffee chiffon via your orange chiffon recipe ....it didnt sink ! congrat me......lolz..... but it was soft but NOT fluffy as chiffon suppose to be ! i am using a 24cm chiffon pan and it give me 2 inch cake in the outcome...was it abit short ?

    Love, Jaymie

    ReplyDelete
  43. Jaymie,
    Round with no control over temperature?
    Made of glass or metal?

    About your chiffon cake, it's not supposed to the THAT short. Did you INVERT the cake after you remove from oven? If you saw on the orange chiffon recipe, I also used a 23cm pan, and it stayed right up until the rim.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Wendy,

    It was metal with glass lid...with timer and temperature control only....

    I did overturned it while it was out from the over immediately....but my cake wasnt rise half the cake pan and it suffer cracked surface as well..... if you dont mind please let me have your email and i will send some photos for u .....thank you so much for your reply...if u are happen to be in ipoh, i treat u to old time white coffee ... haha ;D

    Jaymie

    ReplyDelete
  45. Jaymie,
    I think yours is an electric dutch oven.
    Anyway,my chiffon batters are 80% full in my 23cm pan and 65% full in my 25cm pan, before being baked, as you can see in the picture.

    If your cake didn't even rise to half the pan after being baked, I know what went wrong.
    If your eggs whites are beaten correctly but you have low volume batter, you didn't fold the egg whites but you STIRRED!!! Maybe that was what happened to your cheesecake and pumpkin cake. All these cakes involves beaten egg whites and the folding method.

    You can see my email in my About info.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Hi Wendy,
    You are right, the texture of this cake is marvelous!!!

    Everybody who ate this just love it.

    I am sure I will make this again and again....

    Thanks for sharing the recipe! : )


    Rgds,
    Wong

    ReplyDelete
  47. Wong,
    So so glad everybody loved your cake.
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  48. Is this the recipe for the pumpkin cake you shared with us?? I want to try making, so yummy =)

    ReplyDelete
  49. Anne,
    No, this is not the one. Haha, I haven't post that yet. Still queuing for its turn.

    ReplyDelete
  50. This cake looks so soft and yummy. I definitely must try this one out!

    ReplyDelete
  51. kirbie,
    Yeah, if you love chiffons or sponges, you'll enjoy this one a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Hi Wendy, how are you? Bb delivered? I just need to ask, how come when the cake is totally cold down, it will turn wet? Sandy

    ReplyDelete
  53. Sandy,
    These few days, the weather is humid.
    It might cause the cake to be sticky on the surface, but it shouldn't be wet.
    Try baking it longer if it's really very wet, or is it uncooked?

    ReplyDelete
  54. Hi Wendy, ya, it is sticky. When I overturn the cake and peel off the baking paper, the cake surface facing down one will stick on another baking paper. So result turn out is not nice like yours can see the cake "skin"..Sandy

    ReplyDelete
  55. Sandy,
    Did you remove your cake from the pan at step 7?
    place it on a rack, if possible.
    If you leave the cake to cool completely in this pan, the base might become wet due to condensation.
    The base of my cake is not shown in this picture. They are all surfaces. I halved the cake vertically, not horizontally. Stuck them back to back with cream. Which made my final cake to be a 5X10X2 inch cake.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Hi Wendy, I leave the cake like what u said abt 5mins in the cake pan. After that remove and tear the sides baking paper let it cool on table. I did not cool it down on wire rack, I just let the cake cool down on the table. I think this is the problem making the base of the cake turn wet and sticky. Am I right? Sandy

    ReplyDelete
  57. Hi Wendy, is the above problem causing my cake wet and sticky? Must cool down on wire rack? ...SAndy

    ReplyDelete
  58. Sandy,
    Not airing cakes well will cause cakes to be sticky, especially chiffons.
    So, that might be the reason.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Wendy,
    When we bake cakes we put to top & bottom heat , is it need to on fan or not ?

    Yvonne

    ReplyDelete
  60. Even now u in confinement, still want to ask? Can the buttercream replace by dairy cream because when i see the buttercream recipe it's very complicated to make it?

    Yvonne

    ReplyDelete
  61. Yvonne,
    Yes, I'm in my confinement.
    You can use any cream you like, or don't use any cream at all.
    In my blog, usually 2 temperatures are given (if you've read about it in my 'about').
    The first temperature is with fan, second without fan. Not all ovens come with fan. Choose which temperature that suits your oven's function.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Hi Wendy,
    This cake looks very soft and moist
    Thanks for the recipe..

    Betsi.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Hi there, I have some pumpkin at home and would like to try to bake this cake.Can you tell me if I'm going to use cream of tartar instead of vinegar, how much should I be using?

    ReplyDelete
  64. Jessie,
    Say about 1/4 tsp, just a bit of acidity will be fine.

    ReplyDelete
  65. Wendy:
    Thanks for your quick reply,I really appreciate it and after making it successfully, I'll let you know

    ReplyDelete
  66. Hi Wendy,
    Can I use lemon juice instead of vinegar? If yes, how much should I replace?
    I would like to make half of the recipe and only has 8"x8"x3" or 7" x 2.5" round trays. Which can I use to bake half of the recipe? Or should I go and get a 5x5" square tray?
    Thank you for your time.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Lynn,
    a 5X5 pan will give you only 25% of the cake. 5x5=25
    10X10=100

    You can use a 8 inch square (for 50% less), and the cake will be less than 1 inch tall. Final product after sandwiching will be 4x8X2, of which is very small for a very light cake.

    You can directly subsitute the lemon juice for vinegar here because you only need something acidic.

    ReplyDelete
  68. Wendy, I baked half of your recipe this morning, same for the buttermilk. My cake came out at close to 1" height when out from oven. It became 0.5" in height after it cooled totally. So the total size was 4x8x1". I baked for 15mins and the top was too brown. Can I have your email address as I would like to email you some
    Pictures of the cake and buttermilk to clear some doubts. Thank you for your time.

    ReplyDelete
  69. Oh and also, you mentioned to chill cake for 30mins before slicing- do you mean to chill in the fridge for 30mins?
    I wonder why I can't see streaks of pumpkin in my cake..

    ReplyDelete
  70. Lynn,
    My email is in my About

    Buttermilk?? this recipe isn't using any buttermilk

    15 mins and too brown? I hope the temperature was accurate in your oven. I hope you didn't use 180C with fan on.

    There won't be streaks of pumpkin in the cake, it's pumpkin puree being used and it's all homogenous in the batter.

    Chill can only be in the fridge, freeze will be in freezer.

    ReplyDelete
  71. I wonder if I could replace the butter cream with kaya pasta for this cake.

    ReplyDelete
  72. Caca,
    Can, if you want to use sweetened pumpkin puree as filling also can, up to u

    ReplyDelete
  73. Hi wendy,
    can i skip the buttercream? Quite compilcated to make it .... :-)
    Can i replace pine nuts with almond?

    Thanks,

    ReplyDelete
  74. Thanks, wendy. this is a good recipe. will try this later.

    ReplyDelete

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