Pumpkin Passion Fruit Spice Cake

Featuring Passion Fruit Puree(Lilikoi in Hawaiian)

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If you are like us and missing all the flavors of Summer, but want all the warm and comforting Fall goodies, well we have the perfect cake for you! We partnered again with Mark & Angela at Cooking With Wine Blog to bring you the best flavors of both seasons with this Pumpkin Passion Fruit Spice Cake! When I challenged them to come up with something that paired Passion Fruit with one of the favorite flavors of fall, well I didn’t think it would be possible. Mark did his kitchen magic and Angela did her incredible photography skills and this Pumpkin Passion Fruit Spice Cake came out absolutely delicious! It turns out, pumpkin and passion fruit do pair; beautifully!

What is a spice cake?

Spice cakes incorporate a spice blend often including cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, and sometimes ginger. They are very popular during Fall at the height of pumpkin and apple season, and we absolutely love them! Even if you aren’t typically a pumpkin or apple fan, there are many types of spice cakes that are incredibly delicious! But we are pumpkin/apple lovers in this house, and decided that a Pumpkin Passion Fruit Spice Cake recipe was exactly what the world needed this Fall.

Making this Pumpkin Passion Fruit Spice Cake is pretty easy and doesn’t require any special tools. We mix the cake using our stand mixer, but you can use an electric hand mixer, or whisk by hand. Use whatever tools you have to make the batter as smooth as possible.

This spice cake is similar to an applesauce cake making it perfectly moist once cooked. The apples in this recipe are first cooked in the microwave to make them soft enough to puree into an applesauce texture. They are then combined with the pumpkin puree for the base of the cake. The combination of apple and pumpkin adds to the flavor without overpowering the cake with either ingredient.

Canned vs Homemade Pumpkin Puree

We are all about using quality ingredients and doing our best to use fresh, natural ingredients instead of processed ingredients or packaged foods packed with preservatives. So the obvious answer to make the Pumpkin Passion Fruit Spice Cake is to make your own pumpkin puree. That being said, we made this with both homemade pumpkin puree and canned pumpkin with similar results in taste and texture, so do what is easiest for you whether canned or homemade.

How to make homemade pumpkin puree

It is actually super easy to make your own pumpkin puree by simply slicing the pumpkin in half with a little olive oil and roasting cut side down for about 45 minutes at 400° F. Once cool, the pumpkin flesh can easily be removed from the skin at this point and placed in a food processor to puree. You can keep the homemade pumpkin puree in the fridge for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 2 months.

What makes this pumpkin spice cake special?

There are many options for pumpkin cakes this time of year and it’s hard to know what is best. This particular pumpkin cake is special with the addition of the Passion Fruit Mascarpone Whipped Cream frosting. This frosting is really what makes the entire cake shine, and brings the best of the tropics to the flavors of Fall.

Making the Passion Fruit Mascarpone Whipped Cream frosting is easy and requires a few key ingredients. You need heavy cream, vanilla, confectioner’s (powdered) sugar, mascarpone, and passion fruit puree.

What’s mascarpone you ask? Well, mascarpone is a delicious creamy spreadable Italian cheese that is similar to cream cheese in texture. The Passion Fruit Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting truly makes this cake shine!

Believe us, mascarpone will quickly become your newest obsession and replace cream cheese in many of your favorite desserts! It makes the perfectly creamy, yet light consistency for the frosting on this Pumpkin Passion Fruit Spice Cake. We prefer this light mascarpone whipped cream over any cream cheese frosting that tends to be heavier.

The most important ingredient in the frosting is the passion fruit puree. You will need to find passion fruit puree, such as the Lilikoi Puree we used in this recipe from Da Vine Foods. Make sure you use a high quality puree that does not have any added sugar for best results here.

Baking Tips for the Pumpkin Passion Fruit Spice Cake

This spice cake bakes fairly true to what is described below in the recipe. Here are some tips for ensuring this turns out as desired when baking the cake.

1.     Make sure you preheat your oven before beginning the recipe. And position the baking rack in the center of the oven.

2.     Line your 8×8″ cake pan with parchment and spray with cooking spray for easy removal.

3.     Set your bake time for the low end of the range, then use a wooden toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the cake to check for doneness. If the skewer comes out clean, the cake is done. If it looks wet, add another 3-5 minutes and check again.

4.     Allow your cake to cool completely prior to frosting it so the frosting does not melt.

5.     Store the cake in the fridge if consuming within a few days to a week, or freeze for up to a month.

Enjoy!

We hope you enjoy this recipe for Pumpkin Passion Fruit Spice Cake! This cake will replace your pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie this season, we know it! We also like to call this Breakfast Cake (think coffee cake), because it isn’t overly sweet and pairs perfectly with your morning coffee or tea.

You can order Da Vine Food’s Lilikoi products online straight from Hawaii by visiting the Da Vine Foods website HERE.

If you give it a try, leave us a comment below or tag us on Instagram @davinehawaii.

Click HERE for recipe!

Recipe and photos by Mark and Angela at Cooking with Wine.