Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel

I've been trying to use the gadgets that I have, and to that end, I ordered America's Test Kitchen's Food Processor Perfection. I've had fun looking through it and trying out some recipes. The food processor is a real workhorse, but I don't make as much use of it as I could.

Inspired by one their recipes, I tried making a pumpkin cake. It was an interesting experiment. One of our favorite cakes (often requested for birthdays) is a food processor cake but it only has a few ingredients. This one was a little more complex.

One of the things they point out is that the food processor makes it easier to incorporate items that need to be chopped or shredded first. Why not keep using it to make the whole cake?

The process isn't that different from making a cake using a mixer. You start with all the dry items (flour, spices, etc.) and then add the wet items. It made a lovely thick batter for the pumpkin cake.

Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel
inspired by a recipe from Food Processor Perfection

Streusel

1 cup pecans

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon water

Cake

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), melted + extra for pan

1/2 15-ounce can of pumpkin (roughly 7.5 ounces)

1 large egg

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. While it's heating, toast the pecans on a baking sheet. Grease and flour a springform pan. Place cooled pecans in food processor with sugar and process until ground. Add cinnamon, salt, butter and water and pulse until it makes clumps. Only about 8 pulses. Set aside.

Wipe out the food processor with a paper towel.

Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg to food processor and pulse to combine well. Add butter, pumpkin, egg, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Process about 10 seconds. Scrape the sides. Pulse 5 times. Pour into prepared pan.

Dot the top with small amounts of the streusel and smooth together so they cover the top. Bake 40 minutes or until the middle is set and the cake begins to pull away from the sides.

Serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Almost here!