Pumpkinseed Créme Cake

A little fancier than plain old pumpkin pie, and well worth a little extra effort! Simplify the process by cooking the cake in a 9x13 pan, icing with Pumpkinseed Buttercream and serving with a dollop of elegant Pumpkinseed Crème and a sprinkle of chopped pepitas. Our Styrian Pumpkinseed Oil adds a natural green hue to the pastry créme and frosting.

Ingredients (12 servings)
Pumpkinseed Pastry Crème:
2 cups milk
6 Tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
5 Tbsp cornstarch 
½ tsp almond extract 
6 large egg yolks  
3 Tbsp vomFASS Styrian Pumpkinseed Oil

Pumpkin Layer Cake:
2¾ cups cake flour, sifted before measuring
2½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp nutmeg
½ tsp ground ginger
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white granulated sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 Tbsp vomFASS Styrian Pumpkinseed Oil
1½ cups (12 oz) canned pumpkin purée
½ cup roasted pepitas, chopped
1 cup (240ml) full fat buttermilk

Pumpkinseed Cream Cheese Buttercream Icing:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
8 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup vomFASS Styrian Pumpkinseed Oil
¼ cup milk

Directions
Pumpkinseed Pastry Crème:
Heat the milk over medium high heat and bring it to a simmer, almost to a boil.
While heating the milk, place the sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Whisk until you have a thick, smooth mix.
As soon as the milk starts to steam or simmer, remove it from the heat. Slowly pour about a half of the hot milk in a thin stream into the egg mix, WHILE WHISKING CONSTANTLY to temper the egg mix. When the eggs have been tempered, add the egg mix back into the hot milk in the saucepan.
Heat the custard base, over medium heat, while whisking vigorously until it starts to thicken – this should take about 1–2 minutes depending on the heat of your stove and size of your saucepan. Make sure to reach the corners of the saucepan so that the custard does not catch at the bottom of the pan.
While whisking, let the custard come to a boil (the custard will release bubbles). You may need to stop whisking from time to time for a few seconds to see if the custard is "bubbling". Look for big "bloops" breaking the surface of the custard. 
Lower the heat and cook for a further 1–2 minutes after you see the first bubbles break the surface, and make sure to whisk constantly. 
Remove from the heat and whisk in the Pumpkinseed Oil, until it’s completely mixed in.
Pour the custard into a bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic wrap is touching the whole surface. This is to prevent a custard skin from forming on top. You can also choose to pass the custard through a sieve to remove any lumps.
Let the custard cool down to room temperature and then let it chill in the fridge for a few hours, until it’s completely chilled.
The custard will have "set" after chilling. So, it is important to whisk the pastry cream to make it smooth before using. 
Use as needed after the pastry cream has been chilled.

Pumpkin Layer Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prepare two 9-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with cooking spray and placing a wax or parchment paper circle into the bottom of each one. 
Measure the cake flour by spooning into your measuring cup and leveling it.
Place the flour into a medium sized bowl and add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ground ginger. 
Whisk together and set aside. 
In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), cream the butter on high for two minutes until it's light and fluffy. 
Add in white and brown sugars and continue to mix on high for another two minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. 
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. 
Add pumpkin purée and Pumpkinseed Oil and mix for one minute on medium-high, scraping down the bowl and paddle once more. 
Starting and ending with dry ingredients, alternately add in the dry ingredients and buttermilk, with mixer on low speed, and mix until just combined. 
Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps. Batter will be slightly thick, but pourable.
Pour batter evenly between the cake pans (fill them no more than ⅔ full) and bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 
Cool the cakes in the pan for ten minutes before removing and continuing to cool on a wire rack or flat surface.

Pumpkinseed Cream Cheese Buttercream Icing:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and cream cheese on high until light, fluffy, and uniform (no lumps), about five minutes. 
Turn the mixer to low and add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. 
Add the Pumpkinseed Oil and salt, mixing on low for another 30 seconds.

Assembly:
Layer buttercream on top of bottom cake layer.
Cut 6" circle out of the middle of the top layer.
Place outer "ring" of cake on top of bottom layer.
Spread icing up sides of both layers.
Pipe buttercream around top cake ring
Fill center cavity with pumpkinseed pastry crème.
Sprinkle with chopped pumpkinseeds, if desired.
Keep assembled cake in a cool area (not refrigerated), until served.

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