Chocolate Butterscotch Pumpkin Streusel Cake

This cake represents a match made in heaven:  Chocolate and butterscotch folded into a sweet and tender pumpkin cake, topped with a buttery walnut and cinnamon streusel, and drizzled with sugar icing.  Yummmmm!

Oh, Autumn, how I love thee!  The colors, the aromas, the glorious array of baked pumpkin goods churned out in country and city kitchens alike.  The aroma that fills your home is virtually unbeatable.  We enjoyed a taste of Autumn heaven in our home a few days ago when I made this wonderful streusel cake.  It was borne of an acute sweet craving for something Autumn-ish.  So with my tummy leading the way I grabbed the pumpkin puree, the cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, butter, walnuts…oh, and let’s toss in some chocolate chips…and while we’re at it, doesn’t butterscotch chips sound divine?  Before long this Chocolate Butterscotch Pumpkin Streusel Cake was born and our family dug in with only a piece or two left at the end.

You’re going to looooove this cake!

I had a lot of fun developing this spur-of-the-moment recipe and what added to the fun was that I was able to put to the test my brand new Cuisinart TOB-260 Chef’s Convection Toaster Oven that I received for review.

We recently trashed our second toaster oven – and good riddance.  Both brands were awful build quality, too small to fit any dishes other than a plate the size of a teacup saucer, absolutely worthless for baking anything, and our most recent one had a convection setting button on it that did…absolutely nothing.  So pretty much my experience with toaster ovens has been this:  They’re okay for reheating or cooking small items and toasting bread.  And to me that just isn’t worth it.  They take up a lot of counter space and don’t really do much.  So when our second toaster oven conked out on us a few months ago we happily dusted our hands of it.  And then I got an offer from Cuisinart to try out their toaster oven.  A convection toaster oven.  Even though I love Cuisinart products, I have to admit, based on my less than enthusiastic experience with toaster ovens, I was skeptical.  Just another appliance that takes up counter space and has has a very limited function.  I was wrong.

I am not being paid by Cuisinart to write about this appliance nor am I under any obligation to do so, but I’ve been so happy with it that I wanted to tell you about my experience with it.  I love this convection toaster oven!

Here are a few reasons:  1) It’s large.  Goodbye teacup saucers, welcome 9×13 baking dish and 13″ pizza stone (the latter which comes included along with 2 cooking racks, a 9″ x 13″ baking pan and a broiling pan).  Okay, this toaster oven means business.  And with 1875 watts t’s meant for cooking and baking.  Not just toasting bread or grilling your sandwich.  2) The convection setting actually works.  You can hear the fan swiftly circulating the air around in the oven for optimal, even baking.  3) It offers 15 different cooking functions (I’ve barely used a fraction of them and look forward to trying them all) including a Dual Speed option that allows you to combine cooking functions and settings (for example, you can program it to start out with broiling or roasting something and then switch to a lower temperature for slower cooking.)  It has digital controls with attractive LED lighting.  The door has a sensor to activate the oven and it has an Exact Heat sensor that maintains a precise, constant oven temperature.  It has an adjustable 2-hour timer.  4)  The instruction manual is easy to understand and tells you all the oven rack positions and settings you need depending on what you’re cooking or baking.  5) It has an interior light, a front pull-out crumb tray and it’s non-stick interior makes for easy cleanup.   6)  It heats up super fast.  Unlike my conventional oven that takes at least 10 minutes to preheat to 450, this convection toaster oven seriously takes like 2 minutes.  7)  It’s so energy efficient!  I realized after the first couple of times I used it, why on earth would I crank up my large conventional oven, using up all that electricity, when I can make it in this toaster oven?  *POOF*  That’s the sound of a chunk of our electricity bill now gone.

Below are just a couple of baking examples:  My whole grain buttermilk biscuits turned out great, not dried out at all, and I baked them on the pizza stone that came included with the oven.  My pumpkin bread turned out perfectly.  Beautifully risen and moist.

I now use my convection toaster oven most of the time for cooking and baking.  Unless whatever I’m making it’s too large to fit, I use my Cuisinart TOB-260 Chef’s Convection Toaster Oven.  Tons of settings and way more energy efficient than a conventional oven.

I also made today’s Chocolate Butterscotch Pumpkin Streusel Cake with my new toaster oven and it likewise turned out perfectly.  Yes, my new convection toaster oven is a keeper.

Now on to the CAKE!

Let’s get started!

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.

Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until combined.

Add the vanilla extract, eggs and buttermilk and beat until combined.

Add the pumpkin puree and beat until combined.

Use a rubber spatula to fold in the flour being careful to not over-stir (a few small lumps is okay).  The batter will be thick.

Now stir in those glorious chocolate and butterscotch chips.

To make the streusel topping, combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Use your fingers to combine the ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse sand.

Spoon the batter into the prepared baking dish.

Evenly sprinkle the streusel topping over the batter.

Bake in the oven preheated to 350 degrees F for about 40 minutes.

You’ll know the cake is done when you insert a toothpick into the center of the cake and it comes out clean.

Let the cake cool completely.  Prepare the sugar icing by combining all ingredients in a small bowl until the powdered sugar is dissolved.  Drizzle the icing over the cake.

Serve on its own, with whipped cream, or ice cream.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Butterscotch Pumpkin Streusel Cake

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

50 mins

 

: Kimberly Killebrew, www.daringgourmet.com

Serves: 9 servings

Ingredients

• ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1½ cups spelt flour or all-purpose flour (see NOTE)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ cup buttermilk (see NOTE)
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not the same as pumpkin pie filling)
• ⅓ cup chocolate chips
• ⅓ cup butterscotch chips
• Streusel Topping:
• ½ cup spelt or all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts
• Sugar Icing:
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon melted butter

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 8x8 inch baking pan.
2. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl with an electric beater until combined. Add the vanilla extract and egg and beat until combined. Add the buttermilk and pumpkin puree and beat until combined.
3. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg.
4. Fold the flour mixture into the wet mixture with a rubber spatula just until combined (a few lumps are okay) being careful not to over-stir. The batter will be thick. Stir in the chocolate and butterscotch chips.
5. Spoon the batter into the baking pan.
6. To make the streusel topping: Combine all ingredients in a bowl, working it with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse sand.
7. Use your fingers to sprinkle the streusel clumps evenly over the batter.
8. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
9. Let the cake cool completely before icing it.
10. To make the icing, combine all ingredients in a bowl until the sugar is dissolved. Drizzle the icing over the cake.
11. Serve plain, with whipped cream or ice cream.

Notes

1. Spelt flour is a whole grain flour that's lighter in color, sweeter in flavor and softer in texture than whole wheat. It's also healthier than whole wheat. I love spelt flour and use it regularly for baking.
2. If you don't have buttermilk available, you can combine 2 teaspoons of white vinegar with ½ cup of whole milk and let it sit for at least 5 minutes before using.

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