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Pumpkin gingerbread side on with brown butter caramel glaze drizzling down the sides on a chopping board with parchment paper.
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5 from 7 votes

Pumpkin Gingerbread with a Brown Butter Caramel Glaze

An easy to prepare pumpkin gingerbread which is light and fluffy and is infused with gingerbread spices. Whip it together in under 30 minutes and just leave it to bake!
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time55 minutes
Cooling time2 hours
Total Time3 hours 20 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 209kcal
Author: Sasha Hooper

Ingredients

Brown Butter Caramel Glaze

  • ¼ cup salted butter 60g
  • 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk plus extra if needed
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ cup icing sugar (powdered sugar) 50g

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Grease and line an 8 ½ x 4 ½ loaf pan with parchment paper.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
    ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, ⅓ cup soft brown sugar
  • Next beat in the eggs one at a time until fully combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the maple syrup, molasses and vanilla and continue beating until combined and smooth. If the mixture splits at this point, don't worry!
    2 eggs, ¼ cup maple syrup, ¼ cup molasses, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Mix in the pumpkin puree until combined.
    1 cup pumpkin puree
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cloves and salt.
    1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour), 1 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda), 3 teaspoons ground ginger, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently fold in until just combined.
  • Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-65 minutes. (see notes)
  • Leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack. Once cooled, pour over the brown butter caramel glaze.

For the glaze:

  • Heat the butter in a saucepan or small frying pan over medium heat and whisk continuously until the butter begins to foam and darkens and smells nutty. Be very careful not to burn it! It changes very quickly - so it is worth only focusing on this one thing whilst doing it. 
    ¼ cup salted butter
  • Once browned, immediately add in the dark brown sugar and milk. It should come to a bubble and thicken.
    2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, 2 tablespoons milk
  • Whisk in the vanilla, cinnamon and icing sugar until smooth and well combined. It might be a little thick so feel free to add extra milk ½ teaspoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon, ½ cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)

Notes

  • Pumpkin Puree - Libby's is very good, but some brands can be a bit wet, if so, you can dab it with kitchen paper to soak up a bit of the extra moisture.
  • Split mix? - Don't worry if the mixture is a little split, once the dry ingredients are added it will sort itself out and re-emulsify.
  • Mixing - Don't overmix the pumpkin gingerbread loaf batter as it will make the end loaf very dense.
  • Caramel - The caramel may come out a little thick so feel free to add extra milk ½ teaspoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached. 
  • Baking time - Start checking for doneness after 50 minutes - you want a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the thickest part of the pumpkin gingerbread to come out clean. If it’s not ready, return to the oven and continue to check in 5 minute intervals. Ours comes out perfect after 55 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 209kcal | Carbohydrates: 36.1g | Protein: 3.7g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 4.9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2.3g | Cholesterol: 21.2mg | Sodium: 128.6mg | Potassium: 164.2mg | Fiber: 1.5g | Sugar: 19.8g | Vitamin A: 224.5IU | Vitamin C: 0.9mg | Calcium: 82.6mg | Iron: 1.4mg