High Altitude Pumpkin Charlotte Cream Cake
Moist pumpkin cake baked in a Charlotte pan, then piled high with cream cheese whipped cream.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Electric Mixer (Stand or Hand-Held)
- Charlotte Cake Pan (or an 8-inch round cake pan)
Ingredients
Cake
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 7 ½ oz canned pumpkin puree (1/2 of a 15-oz can, or a little more than 3/4 cup)
- ¼ cup light or dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ¾ tsp (scant) baking soda
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
Whipped Cream
- 4 oz block cream cheese, cold
- ¼ - ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste, or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups cold heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Thoroughly spray a Charlotte cake pan with non-stick baking spray. You can also just use an 8-inch round cake pan.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan occasionally, for about 5-10 minutes, until the water has evaporated, and the butter is forming nutty, fragrant golden brown solids at the bottom of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and let the butter cool for 10 minutes.
- In a bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, milk, apple cider vinegar, vanilla and browned butter.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk the batter until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake the cake for about 28-30 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, and the top of the cake springs back when gently touched.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack, and cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn the cake out of the pan. Cool the cake completely before serving with the whipped cream.
Whipped Cream
- With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla for several minutes until smooth. I only used 1/4 cup powdered sugar, but if you like your whipped cream sweeter, use up to 1/2 cup powdered sugar.
- Stream in the cold heavy whipping cream, scrape down the bowl, then whip on medium speed until the whipped cream is thick and fluffy.
- Pile the whipped cream on top of the cake, then cut into slices and serve.
- Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
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