An Inspired Cook

I’ve been in a mood for muffins so in the spirit of October with pumpkins and ghouls I decided to take a popular recipe for Pumpkin Crunch Cake and turn them into muffins.  I would describe it as a pumpkin custard bottom with a crunchy cake and walnut topping.  My husbands mother Joan originally made this cake and it was scrumptious.  It’s made with a yellow cake mix but I didn’t have a box on hand so I made my own with a little help from Suzanne McMinn’s blog “Chickens in the Road“. 

These are the ingredients for the yellow cake mix, flour, sugar, baking powder and non-fat dry milk.  If you want to use a yellow cake mix, just skip this part.

Mix together 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder and 1/2 cup non-fat dry milk.

I had to adjust the amount of ingredients from the original recipe to make the muffins.  You’ll need a can of pumpkin, a can of evaporated milk, sugar, eggs, butter, cinnamon, salt, walnuts or pecans and a yellow cake mix (either a box or homemade).

Start by mixing the pumpkin custard ingredients.  You’ll need 1 can of pumpkin and add 1 can of evaporated milk.

Crack in 3 eggs.

Add 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.  I used a hand mixer to blend everything together but it could probably be whisked by hand.

The mixture will be smooth and a bit on the thin side.  Pour 1/4 cup of the pumpkin mixture into each baking cup.

Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons of yellow cake mix over the pumpkin mixture.

Sprinkle a tablespoon full of walnuts or pecans over the top of the cake mix.

Carefully drizzle 1 tablespoon of melted butter over the top.  Try to keep the butter to the inside as it can be a bit messy if it runs to the outside of the paper cups.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 – 30 minutes or until toothpick tested.

Remove to a cooling rack.

I ended up double wrapping them to show off the cute spider wrappers!





Pumpkin Crunch Cakes

1 box Yellow Cake Mix or Homemade (recipe follows)
1 (15 ounce) can Pumpkin
1 (11 ounce) can Evaporated Milk
3 Eggs
3/4 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 cups Walnuts or Pecans, roughly chopped
1 1/2 sticks Butter, melted

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.  Pour 1/4 cup pumpkin mixture into muffin pans filled with baking cups.  Sprinkle 1 1/2 tablespoons cake mix over top of pumpkin mixture.  Sprinkle 1 tablespoon walnuts or pecans over top.  Drizzle 1 tablespoon melted butter over each muffin and bake 25 – 30 minutes.

Makes approximately 24 muffins


Homemade Yellow Cake Mix (recipe courtesy of Chickens in the Road blog)

2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 cup Non-Fat Dry Milk

Combine all ingredients.  Store in an airtight container or zip lock bag.  Keeps well in pantry for months.