Killer Bees Honey Pumpkin Spice Streusel Cake
Looking for something harvest-y and honey-based that you can bake this fall? Skip the usual pumpkin treats and follow along below for our own honey-forward take on a Pumpkin Spice Streusel Cake.
Most recipes assume all honey is the same and usually include more sugar than actual honey. Not so here. Cooking with honey does require some recipe adjustments…. less honey than the usual sugar amount, less liquid, more baking powder. All of which we have figured out for you in the recipe below. You'll note however, that this recipe does include a bit of sugar for the streusel topping since it's hard to get a crunchy streusel with honey. The cake will also look a bit darker than you might expect because the honey is darker than white sugar.
Killer Bees Honey Pumpkin Spice Streusel Cake
INGREDIENTS
Streusel
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup walnuts (chopped)
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup fine “cake” flour
• 2 oz. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
Cake Batter
• 1 cup canned pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling as that includes extra spices)
* minus 1 tablespoon (to adjust for the honey)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
* minus 1 tablespoon (to adjust for the honey)
1/4 cup PLUS 2/3 cup of our wildflower honey. (We know, it seems odd… but
this is the best way to measure the correct amount of honey)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon real lemon extract
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 stick (6 oz.) unsalted butter, room temperature
INSTRUCTIONS
Streusel
1. Combine the chopped walnuts, sugars, spices and pinch of salt. Mix well with fork. Set aside 2/3rds of the mixture for filling later.
2. To the remainder, add flour and cut up butter pieces. Chop (or blend) all together to get to a lumpy consistency. Set aside.
Batter
1. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan, cover the bottom and sides. Set oven to 350F.
2. Mix the pumpkin, sour cream, honey, eggs and vanilla & lemon extracts. Due to the honey, this will be liquid-y. Set aside.
3. Mix together flour, spices, baking soda, baking power and salt in large mixing bowl.
4. Cut butter and add into dry ingredients - mixed until fully blended (We always blend by hand first and then with a beater so the flour doesn’t fly all over the place!)
5. Add in the pumpkin mixture 1/3 at a time. Slowly blend in completely at low speed. This should take only a few minutes. Due to the honey, this batter will not be overly “thick”.
6. Pour 1/2 of batter into pan and smooth. Sprinkle the set-aside streusel mixture (without the butter) over the batter evenly.
7). Carefully pour remaining batter over the filling and smooth out evenly. Take the remaining streusel mixture (with the butter) and put in little clumps covering the top of the cake. There should be enough streusel to provide a nice thick layer!
BAKE!
Because of the amount of honey, this cake will take a while to cook. At 350F it will take 60-70 minutes. Because it’s a dense and deep cake, a toothpick to test whether it’s done will not work very well. We use a flat knife at about 60 minutes to test all the way to the bottom. It will not come out completely dry, but should not have any batter on the knife, only some moisture. Our cake took 70 minutes.
- Let the cake cool for 10 minutes and then remove the sides from the pan.
- It will take another 10 minutes to “set” after removed from the pan…(We can't always wait that long... as it is so delicious!)
If you want to add a little more decadence….. a scoop of rich vanilla ice cream alongside is just the ticket!
