Pumpkin Walnut Cake with Nutella Frosting

Recipe by The View From the Great Island

I used to pride myself on being able to keep a  jar of Nutella in the cupboard, unmolested, for months.  I don’t know exactly what  happened, but I’m now officially a Nutella freak, and no jar, no matter how well hidden, is safe.   Too bad.  I don’t need another favorite food in my life, I’ve got all I can handle. And I’m not even sure if it’s the texture, or the flavor, or that it’s so darn convenient to spoon into recipes, (especially frostings) but it’s now up there with eggs and butter as a kitchen staple.  This cake is my latest excuse to buy a jar. It’s the love child of two of my best recipes: Banana Cake with Nutella Frosting and Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread so I had no doubts that it would be anything less than fantastic.  I already knew from the pumpkin bread that chocolate and pumpkin is a win win combination.  And that recipe is literally fool-proof, I just left out the chocolate chips, bumped up the walnuts, and added some sour cream for richness.  The Nutella frosting is just insane.  I already knew that, too.  It was interesting that by simply switching out …

Ingredients

• for the Cake
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup sour cream or creme fraiche (or yogurt)
• ¼ tsp each: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cardamom
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup white sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup chopped Walnuts
• for the Nutella frosting
• 1 cup Nutella
• ¼ cup sour cream
• 1⅓ cup powdered sugar
• milk or cream to thin

Method

1. Set oven to 350F
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the pumpkin, oil, eggs, sour cream, sugars and spices. Make sure everything is well combined.
3. In a separate small bowl whisk together the flour, soda and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing just until combined. Fold in the walnuts.
4. Spread the batter evenly in a lightly greased 9 inch spring-form pan.
5. Bake for about 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it.
6. Cool briefly before removing from the pan.
7. Make the frosting by mixing together the Nutella, sour cream and powdered sugar. Add just enough milk or cream for a spreadable consistency. Add a little more sugar if the frosting seems too thin. Spread on the completely cooled cake.

View the recipe instructions at The View From the Great Island