Spicy Pumpkin Bundt Cake & Pecan Pumpkin Butter Frosting

Good, you made it, and without humiliation! Of course, if seeing a witch on halloween night is important to you, feel free to follow folklore, or just hop on over here again in a few days.

Truth be told, I am not a huge fan of halloween. I just don't get it! Yet, I love a number of things associated with this day - the color orange, pumpkin, candy, costumes, scary movies, spiders - okay, maybe not spiders.

I know you're thinking, 'this chick is in denial'. I am starting to think so myself. Oh no, could it be that I am a closet Hallowe'ener!

Speaking of spiders - legend claims that if you see a spider on this particular night, it could be the spirit of a deceased loved one who is watching over you. Sorry daddy, I can't promise not to whack you with a shoe.

I usually make this Spicy Bundt Cake recipe around this time of year. I absolutely love all the spices involved, but I hadn't planned on doing a halloween post. However, as I was going through the cupboard looking for my go-to Bundt pan, I came across the Wilton Wonder Mold, still in its box. I honestly don't remember purchasing it, but it was time to put it to use.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may remember my first attempt with SugarVeil, well it was about time I tried it again. They turned out great when I made them back in April of this year, but I stored them for later use and forgot about them. By the time I found them, they unusable. 🙁 Not this time though!

After baking the cake, I wrapped it in a layer each of plastic wrap and waxed paper, while still warm. I learned about this technique on CakesDecor.com and have used it for a few cakes with great results. It's especially helpful when you don't plan to decorate the cake immediately. It keeps the cake moist and fresh. Once I remove it from the freezer, I remove the wrappings and wrap it in a tea towel to thaw.

Once thawed, I leveled and torted the cake, brushed with simple syrup, filled, stacked and masked it with my Pecan Pumpkin Buttercream - see recipe below. I used a plastic cake dowel down the middle to keep the levels aligned. I then covered the entire cake with plastic wrap and placed in the fridge to set. It's helpful to place some weight on the cake to help the layers adhere and level. Helps to prevent bulging and shifting of the layers.

Now on to decorating. I quickly tore the head off the doll torso that came with the pan, the thought of that hair on my cake made me gag. Plus, the face of the doll, didn't quite read halloween. I made the head using fondant somewhat in the fashion of Pasta di zucchero torte decorate Sweetwins. If you haven't already, I urge you to visit their FB page. Their talent is out of this world.

I covered the torso with black fondant and used the SugarVeil mat to add the net pattern. Attached the head and set it aside to dry. In the meantime, I covered rolled out some Trendy Orange Fondx fondant and gathered the top edge before attaching to the cake.

I made a batch of SugarVeil the night prior and colored it using Sugarflair's Black Extra food gel. I made three panels using the Mesh Lace Mat, gathered the top edges and attached them over the orange fondant. Her waist is lined with nonpareils.

As I was putting the finishing touches on the cake Saturday night, K looked at it and said, "I think you've channeled Lady Gaga." HA!

So, some final notes -

• Using the Wilton Wonder Mold resulted in an evenly shaped cake - no carving, no mess, no waste. However, baking three cakes would have cut down the baking time and produced a more evenly cake throughout, in my opinion.
• Humidity is no friend to SugarVeil. It took forever to set, so I decided to use the oven method, which worked like a charm. You can find the SugarVeil how-to here.
• Fondx fondant tastes like the filling of an oreo and is super easy to work with - it's my new rediscovered fave.
• I have fallen in love all over again with SugarVeil. The taste, the endless possibilities, the simplicity. You will definitely see more of it here.
• I don't like working with Isomalt. Period.

Spicy Pumpkin Bundt Cake & Pecan Pumpkin Butter Frosting

Pumpkin and spices make this witch's skirt the perfect halloween treatt!

Print Recipe

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert

Servings: 1

Author: I Sugar Coat It

Ingredients

• 4 cups cake flour not self-rising, plus more for dusting
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 2 ½ cups packed light-brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 ½ cups canned pumpkin pureeFrosting
• 3 tablespoons Pecan Pumpkin Butter
• ½ cup butter
• 1 teaspoon crushed vanilla bean
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground clove
• 4-5 cups of confectioner’s sugar
• 3 tablespoons fresh ginger tea depending on desired consistency

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 14-cup Bundt pan of your choice.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.
• Beat butter and brown sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl.
• Reduce speed to low. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk. Beat until just combined.
• Add pumpkin puree, and beat until combined.
• Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Bake cake until golden and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes
• Let cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.
• Carefully turn cake onto rack to cool completely.
• For the buttercream: Using the flat blade attachment of your mixer (or a regular hand mixer), cream butter and pecan butter until creamy. Add crushed vanilla beans and spices and mix until fully combined. Turn mixer to low (stir setting on a KA) and add the confectioner’s sugar, one cup at a time, adding a tablespoon of tea with each addition. Turn the blender up to high and beat until fully combined.

Tried this recipe?Mention @isugarcoatit or tag #isugarcoatit !