sticky toffee pumpkin cake

my new favorite fall dessert which will be taking the place of pie at this year’s thanksgiving

a fall favorite dish (sticky toffee pudding) combined with a fall favorite flavor (pumpkin).

for those who have not made sticky toffee pudding, you rehydrate dates in water, blend them up, stir that into cake batter, bake it, poke holes or slice the cake, soak it in toffee while it’s still hot and serve (some recipes bake a second time before serving, and this one does too). the concept is the same here, where the cake has a pumpkin puree in place of pureed dates (so no need to rehydrate anything, just blend up freshly prepared pumpkin, but note that this does cut down on sweetness, and means you don’t get the same texture). the cake and toffee get baked in the same pumpkin you made the puree from and the cake and toffee steam together, becoming tender and emphasizing the squash flavors.

the pumpkin/squash is sliced while warm, revealing the toffee-soaked pumpkin spiced cake on the inside. you can then add all your accompaniments: butter-toasted pecans, ever-so-slightly sweetened whipped cream, and warm toffee sauce. 

when you first try the cake the flavor will stand out: pumpkin-y, pumpkin spice-y, toffey-y, and brown buttery. then the texture: squishy, tender, moist, falling apart as soon as it hits your tongue. it feels like a hug, and pairing it with the warm toffee sauce, the cold cream, and those crunchy buttery nuts incorporates all the fall flavors and textures you could ever want. i could not stop myself when i first tried this, two slices quickly turned into three. i super appreciate those bites of the dessert with the roasted squash as well. it tempers the sweetness a bit and adds in a new texture. the whole dessert was full of surprise but also so familiar. it is one of my favorite fall desserts i’ve made. i don’t want to oversell it in case you don’t feel the same way (i can certainly imagine some will be put off by the texture), but i will be serving this at thanksgiving this year instead of pie (this recipe basically combines the best parts of pumpkin pie and pecan pie in one). 

one important note is that while this recipe is similar to that of a sticky toffee pudding, we do end with a different result because of subbing the squash puree for the dates. the date’s texture and sugars make sticky toffee pudding so dense and gooey, whereas the pumpkin lends itself to a slightly lighter texture. this is why this dessert is called a cake and not a pudding. it is more like a regular cake soaked in toffee sauce.

on to the recipe! it’s pretty straightforward and is one of my easier recipes, but i must note a few things: