Pumpkin Apple Cranberry Crumb Cake
A recipe from the Inn at Isle Au Haut
It’s one of those crisp blue, not-a -cloud-in-the-sky, gorgeous fall days. I tie my sneakers, pull on my black-and-red plaid Johnson wool jacket, a pair of gloves and head out. I have the whole, most remote sector of Acadia National Park on Isle au Haut all to myself.
Mid-afternoon sun lays like a golden cloth across the ocean and filters through the spruce to fall in patches across my path. The litter of fallen leaves, pine needles, and spruce cones, settle over damp moss, drift down streams and underfoot and offer up the earthy scent that is autumn in Maine. A brisk northwest breeze reddens my cheeks and quickens my step and I can't help but daydream about the garden pumpkins and Maine apples purchased at a roadside stand on a recent trip to our camp in the North Maine Woods, and the mason jar of freshly picked wild island cranberries in my fridge. I try to focus on what I am certain is the best this time of year has to offer, and will be gone before I can say “Jack Frost," but, an idea’s hatched and I cant wait to get back to my kitchen and create a recipe that will incorporate all three ingredients into something that screams fall in Maine.
Soon I’m back at home, and the little pie pumpkin that had been gracing my front steps is peeled, gutted, cut into wedges, sealed in a foil packet and placed on a baking sheet to roast until tender. In the meantime, an old recipe for applesauce cake gets reworked to accept pureed pumpkin, and embellished with spiced Macintosh apples and cranberries. The result is a moist, dense cake with a sweet-tart fruit and crumb topping, perfect for a harvest supper dessert with homemade cinnamon ice cream, an afternoon treat with a cup of tea, or a tasty afterschool snack.
Pumpkin Apple Cranberry Crumb Cake
2 ½ C. flour + ½ C. for topping
1 C. granulated sugar + 1 T. for apples
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. soda
½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon + ½ tsp. for apples
1 stick melted butter + 3 T. for topping
½ C. brown sugar + 1/3 C. for topping
1 egg, beaten
½ C. milk
1 ½ C. pumpkin, fresh or canned *
1 # apples-peeled, cored and sliced
¾ C. fresh cranberries-halved if large
2 T. chopped pumpkin seeds, walnuts or pecans (optional)
Toss the apples with the 1 T. sugar and ½ tsp. cinnamon, set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the ½ C. flour and 1/3 C. brown sugar. With your fingers or a pastry blender, work in the 3 T. butter until the size of small peas to make the topping. Add the pumpkin seeds or nuts. Set aside.
In a medium bowl sift together the 2 ½ C. flour, 1 C. white sugar, salt, soda, baking powder, and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together one stick of melted butter, ½ C. brown sugar, the beaten egg, milk, and pumpkin. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix well, and spread in a greased 9” X 13” baking pan. Top with the apples, scatter the cranberries over the apples, and evenly distribute the topping over all. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a tester comes out almost clean.
* Peeled chunks of pumpkin can be roasted in a tightly sealed foil pouch at 400 degrees until tender. This allows the pumpkin to “steam” in it’s own moisture and produces a drier puree.
Diana Santospago is the innkeeper of the Inn at Isle Au Haut. Look for more of her recipes on Down East.com.
Posted on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 in Permalink
