The hardest part of Thanksgiving, for me, is this: What do I eat for breakfast?
I have a day off, and thus, eating cereal while not being in a rush seems like a waste of a perfectly good breakfast. But I host Thanksgiving every year, which means by the time I get up on Thursday to get the bird in the oven, half my dishes are already in the dishwasher and the other half are headed there. I guess I could have some bagels on hand, but that seems heavy, given there’s a big meal on its way. Yes, I could buy something, but that too seems to come up short in light of all the traditional home cooking that engulfs my kitchen that day.
I want something that says Thanksgiving: seasonal, home-made, traditional.
This year, though, I think I’ve finally found the perfect thing. I received a review copy of Home Baked Comfort (Williams-Sonoma)
What with having cranberries and twice-baked potatoes on the brain, I managed to make mistakes in pretty much every step of the recipe. I misread the butter and flour quantities, and ended up with one giant streusel crumb rather than a bowl full of small ones. I attempted to correct the error without much luck, and ended up having to chop the streusel into the required little pieces. I used the wrong size pan. I forgot to set the timer on the oven.
It was delicious in spite of me: Moist and spicy and pumpkiny. The recipe calls for a glaze but I don’t think it needs it. Three days later, it’s still lovely with a warm cup of coffee.
- ⅓ cup flour
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch salt
- 6 tbsp cold butter, cut in pieces
- 1 cup lightly toasted chopped pecans
- 1½ cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp grated nutmeg
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- ½ cup sour cream
- Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan.
- Make the streusel: In food processor, whir together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt, then add the cold butter and process until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Toss in pecans.
- Make the batter: Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitter with the paddle, beat butter and brown sugar until well combined. beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add pumpkin and sour cream and mix well. Stir in the flour mixture; batter will be quite thick.
- Spread half the batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle half the streusel on top. Spread remaining batter over that, and top with remaining streusel. Bake about 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
This is my contribution to Weekend Cooking, hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Why not swing by and see what other culinary surprises await?
The story of my life! Why just knock over a paint can, when you can knock the lid off and spill it, track the paint everywhere looking for a suitable rag, get it on your hands and leave little printys on every door case, and slip and fall face first into the trash can with the paint…..
When it happens with food, I just tell people I did it on purpose…
Although I’m not really a pumpkin fan, I bet it would sub in a butternut squash perfectly! Because, lord knows – I do love me some sweet breads, and this looks fab 🙂
Good you couldn’t kill the cake. It sounds lovely … the cake with the pecan streusel that is.
I love all those warm spices and then richness of the sour cream. I can see this would be a winner.
That looks delicious and naughty! Have a great week.
This looks so delicious! I’ve pinned your recipe so I can make this very soon. It would be nice and quick for my daughter to grab before school. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Yum. I want to make this.
What a great start to Thanksgiving! Delicious!
This looks so tasty 🙂
This looks wonderful, I just pinned it. Thanks for sharing.
I LOVE everything pumpkin. I must make this. nom nom nom