Pumpkin is an iconic figure that is indispensable on Halloween and appears almost everywhere. If you are still struggling to find new suggestions for your home party, then check out the following 2 ways to make pumpkin-shaped cakes. Cooking with TasteVN with this cake right away!
1. Pumpkin-shaped cake
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Preparation
30 minutes
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Cooking
1 hour
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Difficulty
Medium
Ingredients for Pumpkin-shaped Cake For 4 people
Cake flour 130 gr (type 8 flour) Baking powder 4 gr (baking powder) Almond flour 40 gr Unsalted butter 180 gr Chicken eggs 2 eggs (each egg 55gr) Whipping cream 350 ml Cream cheese 500 gr Vanilla extract 1 teaspoon Brown chocolate a little (or dark chocolate) Salt 1/4 teaspoon Sugar 200 gr Food coloring orange a little (or red and yellow)
What is cream cheese?
- Cream cheese, also known as cheese cream – is a type of cheese made from cow’s milk or goat’s milk, which is white, soft, with a very distinctive sour and salty taste.
- Cream cheese is often used to eat directly, or served with bread, spaghetti, and even becomes the main ingredient for various cakes such as: cheesecake (cheese cake), salted egg sponge sauce,… or appears in milk tea to enhance the appeal of this drink.
- You can easily find cream cheese at supermarkets, baking ingredient stores, or on e-commerce websites. Additionally, you can also make cream cheese from fresh milk at home following TasteVN’s instructions to ensure quality!
Tools needed
How to Make Pumpkin-Shaped Cake
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Beat Butter and Eggs
Put 180g of unsalted butter and 1/4 teaspoon of salt into a bowl and use a mixer to blend them together. Next, gradually add 100g of sugar into the butter bowl while mixing until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
Then, beat 2 eggs and add them to the butter bowl, continuing to mix well.
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Mix the Cake Batter
Sift 130g of cake flour, 40g of almond flour, and 4g of baking powder into the butter and egg mixture, then use a spatula to mix everything together until well combined.
Finally, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and mix again once more.
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Decorating the Cake
Use a knife to cut horizontally across the surface of the cake to get a thin piece, then use a small round mold to cut the piece into round shapes.
Fill the core of the large cake with these small round pieces. Next, cover the top with a layer of white cream.
Then, place the remaining cake on top, stuffing the sponge cake core in the middle to seal it, and cover the entire cake with a layer of orange cream.
After finishing the cream coverage, use a knife to scrape a long line around the body of the cake to create the texture for the “pumpkin”.
Finally, cut chocolate to create the eyes, nose, and mouth to attach to the cake to complete it.
Tip: To make the cake more attractive, you can also fill the cake’s interior with colorful candies or chocolates!
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Final Product
The pumpkin-shaped cake is not only visually appealing but also delicious, with a sweet and fragrant cake base and rich cream. This cake is sure to make your party table more lively!
2. Pumpkin-shaped cake
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Preparation
45 minutes
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Processing
1 hour
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Difficulty
Difficult
Ingredients for Pumpkin-shaped cake For 4 people
Cake flour 90 gr (type 8 flour) Baking powder 5 gr (leavening agent) Pumpkin 65 gr (red pumpkin) Unsalted butter 100 gr Cream cheese 240 gr (chilled) Chicken eggs 2 eggs Whipping cream 120 gr White chocolate 180 gr Condensed milk 40 gr Gelatin leaves 6 gr Sugar 105 gr Chocolate sticks 5 sticks (for decoration) Food coloring a little (white/orange/brown) Vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon
How to choose good pumpkin (red pumpkin)
- Good pumpkins usually have a yellow-orange color, mixed with deep green, yellow flesh, and a sweet fragrant taste, with a relatively chewy texture.
- Choose round-shaped pumpkins, naturally cut into relatively even sections.
- Choose heavy, firm pumpkins with smooth skin.
- Choose pumpkins with stems 2 – 5cm long. Pumpkins with short stems tend to rot faster.
Tools Required
Oven, microwave, egg beater, bowl, whisk, sieve, 7cm sponge cake mold,…
How to Make Pumpkin-Shaped Cake
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Cook and Mash the Pumpkin
Put 65g of chopped pumpkin into a bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and cook in the microwave for 4 – 5 minutes or steam using a steamer.
Next, use a pestle to mash the pumpkin until smooth.
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Beat Butter and Eggs
Soften 90g of unsalted butter until creamy, then add 30g of sugar and continue to stir until the sugar dissolves.
Next, add 2 egg yolks and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract, then stir again until the mixture is well combined.
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Mix dry ingredients
Sift into the bowl of butter and eggs 90gr cake flour and 5gr baking powder, then use a spatula to mix well until completely combined.
Continue to add 40gr of cooked pumpkin into the flour bowl and mix once more.
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Mix the cake batter
Add 2 egg whites into a new bowl and use a mixer until the eggs form tiny bubbles.
Divide 40gr of sugar into 2 portions, adding each portion to the egg bowl and beating from low to high speed until the eggs are soft and fluffy, forming peaks that bend downwards.
Tip: To get fluffy egg whites, you should let them reach room temperature if taken out from the refrigerator. Additionally, the egg whites must be free of other impurities such as yolk, grease, etc.Divide the whipped egg mixture into 2 parts, then gradually add each part to the bowl of flour and use a spatula to gently mix the ingredients from the bottom up.
Bring the spatula down to the bottom of the bowl, lift the heavy ingredients up, and flip them to one side (scoop and flip from the bottom up). Continue this process until the mixture becomes smooth.
Note: This is the folding technique in baking, and you should mix correctly to avoid breaking the large air bubbles, which would cause the cake to become dense and not rise.
Learn more: 5 basic mixing methods you need to know when starting to bake
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Baking the cake
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.
Grease the cake pan with a layer of butter, then dust with a layer of dry flour to prevent sticking. Next, fill the cake batter into the pan and bake for 22 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.
After baking, place the cake on a rack to cool, then use a knife to trim the bottom to make it flat.
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Make the cake frosting
Add 240g of chilled cream cheese, 35g of sugar, and 25g of cooked pumpkin into a bowl, then use a spatula to mix well until the mixture is smooth and the sugar has dissolved.
Next, whip 120g of whipping cream to 50% volume, then add it to the bowl and use a whisk to mix until well combined.
Tip: Whipping cream whipped to 50% will be soft and have distinct peaks but will not hold stiff peaks yet.
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Make the chocolate coating for the cake
Put 180g of white chocolate, 70ml of whipping cream, 40g of condensed milk, and 10g of unsalted butter into a new bowl.
Next, place this bowl of chocolate in the microwave, heat for 60 seconds, and use a whisk to stir until the chocolate melts.
Soak 6g of gelatin sheets in cold water for 10 – 15 minutes to soften. Then, while the mixture is still warm, add the soaked gelatin, stirring well until it melts.
Finally, add a little food coloring mixture: white, orange, brown. Stir once more to blend the mixture and strain it through a sieve.
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Decorate the cake
First, turn the cake upside down on the table and cover the core and bottom of the cake with a layer of cream. Then, place another piece of cake on top.
Next, cover the entire cake with cream and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Do the same with the remaining cakes.
Tip: To help the cream set and not melt, remember to chill the cake cream in the refrigerator before decorating!After 30 minutes, use a stick to draw a vertical line around the cake, with each line spaced about 1 small finger width apart.
Next, use a mini spatula to create a deeper indentation for each groove of the cake. Then, use your hand to gently smooth the cream on the cake. Continue to chill the cake in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes.
Insert a chocolate stick into the center of the cake to create the stem of the pumpkin, then drizzle chocolate sauce evenly over the cake.
To help the cake have a dip in the middle resembling the pumpkin stem, after drizzling the chocolate sauce, pull the stick out and insert it again.
Finally, let the chocolate dry completely.
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Finished Product
The pumpkin-shaped pumpkin cake has a cute design. Behind that lovely appearance is a super soft and moist cake base blended with sweet and creamy cheese, slightly salty with a bit of nuttiness from the pumpkin, and absolutely delicious!
With 2 pumpkin-shaped cake recipes that are super cute and fragrant, and extremely delicious, your Halloween celebration will surely be impressive. Let’s refer and get into the kitchen to showcase your skills, TasteVN wishes you success!
