When it comes to pumpkin treats, I want the pumpkin to whisper seductively into my ear, not shout at me with a bullhorn. You won’t see me ordering a pumpkin spice latte and the total pumpkin takeover that happens between August and November somewhat eludes me. But it’s Halloween and I forgot to carve my pumpkin over the weekend, so maple-pumpkin coffee cake will have to do!

This cake is the whisper that I crave from pumpkin and is unquestionably autumnal. It has all the wonderful fall spices that make pumpkin treats appealing, but it is not an unnatural shade of orange. It will appease your pumpkin-obsessed friends as well as the (seemingly very few) people who aren’t on the pumpkin train. The maple syrup adds just the right sweetness and makes me dream of tapping maple trees under a canopy of fall foliage in Vermont. It’s covered in a slightly maple-y crumble, and I ask you, who doesn’t love a crumble?

To make things even better, it takes less than an hour, doesn’t require a mixer and is just perfect warm from the oven or cooled completely. I have specific spices and measurements listed below, but any combination of your favorite fall spices or a pre-mixed pumpkin pie spice will work. And fill your kitchen with the coziness of your favorite wool sweater.

I used a spring form pan and totally covered it with crumbs. If you don’t have a spring form, a pretty pie plate or a 9 or 10-inch cake pan would do the trick (or treat!…sorry). Just be ready to serve it straight from the pan. A bundt pan works well too if you don’t mind foregoing the crumble! The original recipe layers the crumble in the middle of cake batter, but I found the crumble lacking in flour with too much butter and sugar, which mostly melted into the cake. Not to say that melted butter and sugar is a bad thing! But I beefed up the crumble in the version below.

maple-pumpkin coffee cake
adapted from Kendra Vaculin via food52.com

for the crumble
1 cup flour
¼ cup butter, melted
¼ cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 tbsp maple syrup
½ tsp cinnamon

for the cake
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
¼ tsp nutmeg
⅛ tsp cloves
⅛ tsp all spice
1 can pumpkin puree (or 1 ½ cups)
½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup buttermilk
½ tsp vanilla

1. Preheat your oven to 350°.
2. Make the crumble: mix together all the ingredients in a small bowl. Using your hand or the back of a large spoon, press the crumble dough tightly into the bottom of the bowl.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk or stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, oil, syrup, buttermilk and vanilla.
4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir together with a wooden spoon or spatula, just until all the flour is incorporated.
5. Spray a 10-inch spring form pan with cooking spray. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth with an offset spatula or knife. Break up the crumble with your hands into large-ish chunks and sprinkle over the batter.
6. Bake for about 40 minutes, checking at the halfway point. A tester put into the center of the cake should come out clean. The cake will also start to pull away from the edges of the pan so that a thin knife can be easily run around the edge.
7. Let cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove the outside of the pan. Sliding a longer knife or offset spatula under the cake, carefully move the cake from the bottom of the pan to a wire rack to cool.

Happy Halloween!