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Lightly sweetened and moist aromatic pumpkin cake is topped with cinnamon streusel is so good and can be easily made in no time using your air-fryer or baked in the oven.
Pumpkin season is here and this is a great recipe to use up some of those pumpkin stashes you have in your freezer. I love the bright natural color pumpkin has to offer in baking and cooking. This pumpkin cinnamon cake is moist and topped with the cinnamon crumbs are so good!
WHY YOU’LL LIKE THIS RECIPE
1. NO MIXER
I can be lazy when it comes to making a cake that needs me to cream butter and sugar ha..ha..! seriously! Most of the cakes I’ve made so far used cooking oil instead of butter so I don’t need to use a mixer to cream the butter
2. THE CAKE STAYS MOIST FOR DAYS
Yes, butter provides a great flavor, but cake made with oil has soft and moist crumbs. This cake stays so moist at room temperature for 2-3 days or possibly longer (it didn’t last beyond 2 days in our house)
3. VERY EASY TO PUT TOGETHER
Even if you have never made a cake before, you should be able to whip this one up and be pretty proud of it 🙂
4. CAKE IS NOT OVERLY SWEETENED
Perhaps it may not be sweet enough for some of you and you feel free to increase the amount of the sugar but I think the amount of sugar stated in the recipe is perfect without overdoing it. Remember that we still have the cinnamon crumbs
INGREDIENTS FOR THE CAKE
1. All-purpose flour
I have tried making this with cake flour and it makes the cake too crumbly. So all-purpose flour is more appropriate for the cake and I use it to make the cinnamon crumbs too.
2. Baking powder and baking soda
The cake counts on baking powder and baking soda to leaven, so definitely do not skip them. They are both needed in this recipe
3. Greek yogurt
I highly recommend using whole-milk Greek yogurt. The fat in the yogurt keeps the cake moist. You can also use full-fat sour cream as a replacement
4. Cooking oil
I used neutral-tasting oil like avocado oil. You can also use canola, corn, vegetable, or oil of your choice
5. Egg
I use a large chicken egg, that weighs about 50 grams without the shell
7. Pumpkin
You can use up your mashed pumpkin stash or use canned pumpkin puree, which was what I used. If you use your homemade pumpkin puree, you don’t have to add water. Store-bought pumpkin puree is usually thicker and hence the recipe calls for adding some water to thin out the consistency a bit
8. Pumpkin spice mix
Pumpkin spice mix just makes it smell like a wonderful Fall aroma! If you don’t have one, you can just use ground cinnamon
9. Vanilla extract
It adds some nice flavor to the cake as well
WHAT TO EXPECT
This is not a high-riser cake. It is moist and light and not supposed to be dense. If the cake turns out dense, there could be few possibilities: you may have overmixed the cake batter, the cake may not be thoroughly cooked yet, or the baking powder you use may have expired.
IMPORTANT TIPS
1. Check your baking powder and baking soda to make sure it is still fresh. Simply add a small amount of baking powder into a hot water and if it sizzles, you are good to go. You can add some acide like vinegar to baking soda and it should sizzle immediately
2. Don’t overmix the batter. It’s okay to see some lumps as long as you don’t see any more flour
3. Remember to preheat the air fryer or oven
Did you make this Easy Air-Fryer Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag it to show me what you’ve made. Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
Easy Air-Fryer Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 150 g all-purpose flour
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp pumpkin spice mix
- ½ tsp salt
Wet ingredients:
- 120 g granulated sugar
- 60 g cooking oil
- 1 large egg about 50 grams without the shell
- 115 g whole milk Greek yogurt or use full-fat sour cream
- 135 g canned pumpkin puree or use homemade pumpkin puree
- 85 g water if using store-bought canned pumpkin
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
Streusel:
- 45 gr all-purpose flour
- 25 g almond flour
- 35 g brown sugar
- 35 g granulated sugar
- ¾ tsp cinnamon powder
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 43 gr unsalted butter softened
Instructions
- Store-bought canned pumpkin puree is usually thicker compared to homemade. You can omit the water called for in the recipe if you use homemade pumpkin puree
- Preheat the air fryer without the basket at 320 F (160 C) for 5 minutes. If using oven, preheat oven at 350 F (180 C).
- Make sure your pan can fit in your air-fryer. This recipe uses 7-inch round pan
- Line the bottom of the cake pan with a parchment paper for easy removal
Prepare the topping:
- Combine all the ingredients for the topping and use a fork to combine until the resemble crumbles. Keep them chilled in the fridge while you prepare other things
Prepare cake batter:
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and set aside
- In another mixing bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together until the sugar dissolves.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet and use a spatula to fold the dry into the wet ingredients as you rotate the bowl as you fold.
- Just mix until you no longer see pockets of dry ingredients. Don't overmix the batter
Baking:
- Pour the cake batter in and smooth with a rubber spatula.
- Cover with the streusel topping and use your fingers to gently press them so they stick to the cake later
- Put the cake inside the preheated air-fryer, on top of the rack and bake for 30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean. If it's still wet, bake another 5 minutes and check. Do not overbake the cake. Every air fryer can be different so start checking at around 30 minutes
- If you bake in the oven, put on the middle rack and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean
Cool down the cake:
- Remove the cake from the air fryer or oven and let it cools down for at least 20 minutes before you try to slice the cake. If you slice the cake when it's just out from the oven, the cake will crumble
Storing leftover:
- The leftover can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days. After that, store them in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for up to 2 days.
4 comments
An egg…without the shell?? Whaaaaaat??
It’s the weight of the egg without the shell.
you mentioned walnut in the begining of your story
“8. Walnut
I use unsalted walnut and chop them up into smaller pieces”
but there is no mention of the amount used in your recipe
Sorry for the confusion. I didn’t use walnut in this recipe. I actually prepared two different cakes (one of them with walnut) on the same day and my mind somehow stuck with the “walnut” when I typed this recipe 🙂 Of course, you are welcome to add walnuts too if you like, but I didn’t for this cake. Hope that helps to clarify.