Fall is sort of in the air :). I see some leaves changing color, the evening light is prettier and faint, sun is setting earlier, and there is a chill in the evening air, that I love! The days are still hot with temperatures of about 75-80 F. I love the cooler evenings though, where we can start to wear boots and cashmere sweaters!
Pumpkins are everywhere now, and my favorite squash actually is the delicate squash and butternut squash in the family. The taste is just so good, and I love making tacos actually with the roasted delicata squash. I am not a huge fan of pumpkins, but I do like pumpkin desserts. I make this banana bread for my kids for breakfast atleast once or twice a month. A recipe I swear by, and I decided to take it to the next level with pumpkins and buttercream frosting! YUM!
It is a Pumpkin-Banana Yogurt Cake, with a Pecan Brittle Buttercream frosting, where the buttercream really is the star of the show! The pecan brittle is super delicious with a hint of cardamom in it, and a bit of salt too. The brittle goes into the cake, and the pecan brittle paste goes into the buttercream frosting making it extra special and super delicious to even just spread on toast if you want to! Next level Nutella I call it haha!
The cake is made with pumpkin puree, mashed bananas, greek yogurt, brown sugar, spices like cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg, and add ins like chocolate chips(A MUST!) and pecan brittle! I love the cake and its texture, and the flavor. To make it extra cute, I decorated it with these leaves and acorn sprinkles, and pecan brittle! I have a huge stash of sprinkles, since I am obsessed with the different kinds of sprinkles that they make now a days! My kids actually ate this cake for breakfast – shhhhh!!!!! 🙂 It is a fun treat and I love making fun treats for them. They do bring out the best kind of ideas in me!
Every year Sara Cornelius of Cake Over Steak organizes a virtual pumpkin party, where more than 100 bloggers make various pumpkin recipes, be it sweet or savory! You can get more than 100+ recipes of what you can do with pumpkins! Who knew that pumpkins could be used in so many wonderful ways . There are so many wonderful recipes that I want to try from this list! I am always amazed by people’s creativities and this is one list to go by, if you are looking for pumpkin recipes. Here is the Virtual Pumpkin Party list from Sara’s blog. You can get the 2017 list of recipes here as well.
Last year, I made the cutest spider macarons which were a complete hit with my kids, and their friends in school! Here is the recipe for the Spider Macarons with a Pumpkin and Cardamom Buttercream Frosting. The year before last, I made the cutest Ghost Madeleines, the recipe for the Madeleines is here.
This year I wanted to make something Halloween themed, but I have been so busy with some other projects, that I was not able to make something in time for the Pumpkin Party!
I do have a recipe coming up, that is Halloween themed in another week, if I get my act together, and get everything done by then! Stay tuned, cause it is a very cute idea, inspired again by my love for kids and animated movies!
Hope you all are having a peaceful October.
Much Loves,
XO
Amisha
Ingredients
- Pumpkin Banana Yogurt Cake:
- • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- • 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
- • 2 medium very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
- • 1 cup pumpkin puree
- • 1/4 cup greek yogurt
- • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- • 1 teaspoon baking powder
- • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- • 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- • 1 tsp cardamom powder
- • 1 tsp nutmeg powder
- • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- • 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
- • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- • 1 cup pecan brittle cut into small pieces
- • 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- Pecan Brittle:
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp cardamom powder
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- Pecan Brittle Buttercream Frosting:
- 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
- 3 to 3 ½ cups of powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1-2 tbsp heavy cream
- 1 cup of pecan brittle paste
- ½ tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Pecan Brittle:
- In a small bowl, add in the granulated sugar and cardamom and whisk to combine. Keep a jelly roll pan ready with parchment paper.
- In a small saucepan, over medium heat, add in the granulated sugar mixture and let it melt with the heat slowly. The process will take about 5-7 minutes. As the sugar starts melting, use a rubber spatula and gently stir it to mix the sugar and melted sugar around, till it becomes golden in color. Switch off the gas, and add the pecans immediately and stir it around. Immediately pour the mixture on the parchment paper, and spread it into an even layer. Let it cool for about 30 minutes. Now it is breakable and useable.
- Break half of the brittle and grind it into a paste in a food processor. ¾ cup of the paste will be used in the buttercream frosting.
- Pumpkin Banana Yogurt Cake:
- 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Use baking spray to spray a square pan. Use parchment paper to cover the base of the pan with an overhang on opposite ends to lift off the cake when done. Spray the parchment paper again with the spray.
- 2.
- 3. Combine banana, pumpkin puree, greek yogurt, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Whisk and combine, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl.
- 4. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed in another large bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat on medium speed until fully combined, about 30 seconds each time. Add the banana mixture and beat until just combined, about 30 seconds. Add dry ingredients in 2 batches, on low speed after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl if necessary, until fully incorporated, about 20 seconds per batch. Add in the chocolate chips and chopped pecan brittle and mix well. Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth top with a spatula.
- Put the pan into the oven to bake, for about 50-55 minutes, until the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for about 20 minutes. Gently remove using the overhang flaps, and cool on a wire rack for atleast 2 hours.
- Pecan Brittle Buttercream Frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, with a paddle attachment, add in the butter, salt and pecan brittle paste, and whip the mixture for 1 ½ minutes, at high speed. Now at low speed, slowly add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time, upto 2 cups, and whip until blended. Add in the vanilla extract, and heavy cream, and the remaining cup of powdered sugar and whisk until blended. If the mixture is a bit lose and not buttercream like texture, add in another half cup of powdered sugar and blend again, till the consistency is thick yet smooth.
- Spread the buttercream on the cooled cake, with a small offset spatula. Decorate with broken pecan brittle. Cut clean even slices of the cake to serve.
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