Pumpkin Crème Fraiche Cornmeal Coffeecake with Walnut Streudel and Buttermilk Glaze

Coffee cakes are one of my favorite things because they make such a perfect breakfast, tea/coffee time snack, or dessert. I’ve always been a sucker for sour crème ones, so Beth of Local Milk blog’s crème fraiche addition sounded like a gooood idea. Beth's recipes though usually pretty complicated are some of the most imaginative, creative, and magical ones I've come across. Not only that, but her writing is superbe! Last winter I broke up with Netflix and got lost in her many chronicles 

The special occasion for this moist festive cake was Thanksgiving. When assigned dessert, I immediately thought of pumpkin pie because, well it’s my favorite. This is a crumbly, most, spicy pumpkin cake with a symphony of flavors brought on by the tartness of crème fraiche and buttermilk, the earthiness of the pumpkin, the spiciness of the nutmeg cloves, cinnamon, and ginger, and the sweet of dark and rich brown sugar.  I did cheat and use canned pumpkin, which left me with no pepitas like the recipe called for. Instead, I lightly toasted and chopped up some walnuts which definitely did the trick. 

For The Cake

• 1 1/2 cups lightly packed) cake flour
• ½ cup cornmeal
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• pinch of ground cloves
• A heaping ½ cup coconut oil
• 1 cup packed) brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup crème fraîche
• 1/2 cup  homemade or high quality pumpkin puree
• ¼ cup buttermilk

For the Streusel

• ¼ brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 6 Tbsp refrigerated butter
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup toasted and chopped walnuts (or roasted pumpkin seeds!)

For Glaze

• 2 Tbsp buttermilk
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°F and grease an 8” cast iron skillet or cake pan.
2. In a mixing bowl whisk together the first 9 ingredients. Set aside.  
3. In a second mixing bowl mix crème fraîche, pumpkin puree, and buttermilk. Set aside.
4. In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or by hand with a rubber spatula), cream coconut oil and brown sugar until well combined.
5. With the mixer on low (or while manually mixing), add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each is incorporated.
6. In three additions add the dry and wet ingredients, starting with the dry and ending with the wet. Mix to only just combine; don't over mix.
7. Pour batter into skillet and bake for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, make the streusel.
8. Combine all ingredients for the streusel except the pepitas/walnuts using two knives to create a crumbled, sandy mixture. Mix in the pepitas/ walnuts.
9. After 20 minutes remove the cake, sprinkle the streusel on top, and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean save a few crumbs.
10. While cake cools, make the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar 1/4 cup at time into the buttermilk. You can add more sugar to make it thicker or more buttermilk to make it thinner as you please.
11. Drizzle glaze over cooled cake & serve with coffee!