Spiced pumpkin cake with walnuts and a vanilla cream cheese frosting

Moist, soft and fluffy yet substantial, luscious and deeply aromatic

Published originally on my blog on 4 December 2016

A couple of weeks ago, my blog turned seven.
I had to celebrate the occasion and what better way to do it than with cake. A spiced pumpkin cake with walnuts and orange zest, and a vanilla cream cheese frosting.

A moist, soft and fluffy yet substantial cake. A cake that’s deeply aromatic from all the spices —cinnamon, ginger, clove, nutmeg, cardamom— without being overwhelming to your taste buds. A cake that’s sweet but not cloyingly so. With the pumpkin having a subtle presence, offering that precious moist texture. With the walnuts adding crunch and the orange zest that inimitable citrus aroma.

With a frosting speckled with real vanilla seeds and a creamy, luscious consistency that pairs beautifully with the cake. With the cream cheese adding a bit of sourness to balance the sweetness and the orange zest on top bringing flavor as well as color.

Thank you all for being here these past seven years and I hope you stick around for the next seven.

Spiced pumpkin cake with walnuts and a vanilla cream cheese frosting

I used the classic, orange-colored pumpkin but you can also use a Hokkaido pumpkin (see it here on this post if you’re not familiar with it).