Spiced Pumpkin Bundt Cake, Preferably Naked

I was torn about whether to post this cake. You always want whatever you post to be your best effort or as nice as you know you could make it. But, knowing that I just made this cake, the soonest I would re-make it is probably next fall. And there is NOTHING wrong with the cake whatsoever. It was magnificent.

It was the icing that was my downfall.

Someday I will just remember that I do not like (non-citrus) icings on bundt cakes and that serving it “naked” with a dollop of whipped cream would be preferable. But oh no, I somehow always manage to forget, so then I try to make the icing something more to my taste, and, well, what results is something like the picture above. Really yummy cake, nothing wrong there, but the icing would not drizzle, I finally spread it, and it never set, leaving me with an oddly damp, sticky, not very attractive outer icing layer.

C’est la vie.

But it tasted great and if you are looking for a pumpkin bundt cake you could not find a tastier one. Do me a favor though and skip the drizzle and serve it with whipped cream instead. Although if you disagree, check out the link for the buttermilk icing.

Spiced Pumpkin Bundt Cake
Adapted from Epicurious (Gourmet)

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups (284 g) AP flour
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 heaping t cinnamon (I used Vietnamese cinnamon for this)
1/2 t ground allspice
1/2 t ground cloves
3/4 t ground ginger
1/2 t salt
1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (a 15-ounce can)
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk (I subbed 2% milk w/ lemon juice)
1 t vanilla
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs

Place oven rack in middle position and preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a bundt pan with flour/oil mixture, like Baker’s Joy. This recipe will fit a 10 inch, 12 cup bundt pan–if you use a 9 inch, 10 cup bundt pan, as I did, also prepare mini loaf pans or cupcakes for the remaining batter (I used a 2 cup batter petit four pan). Set aside prepared pans.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside. Whisk together pumpkin, 3/4 cup buttermilk, and vanilla in another bowl. Set aside (whisking these while you operate the mixer is a great task for small children).

Beat butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the spices and beat an additional minute. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition (beat on medium-low speed for the eggs). Reduce speed to low and add flour mix in 3 batches and the pumpkin mixture in 2 batches,alternating between them and beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Only mix until smooth–I found it easier to mix the last bit in by hand.

Spoon batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top, then bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes (remember to reduce the time for a smaller bundt pan–mine took about 40-45 minutes). Cool cake in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then invert rack over cake and reinvert cake onto rack. Cool completely before serving with whipped cream.