Happy Halloween!!
I have never been a huge fan of halloween - there, I said it...
However, I love pumpkin, especially when accompanied by the mix of spices in this recipe. I found this recipe over a year ago on Martha Stewart's site and have made it a number of times. It always goes over well. I usually use my classic Bundt pan for this recipe, but thought I would try something slightly different this time around. I picked up this Nordicware Pumpkin Patch Pan at a Williams-Sonoma sale about a year ago and had not gotten around to using it, until now.
Each cake is meant to be a top and bottom that forms a whole mini pumpkin when placed on top of the other and secured with frosting, but I kept them as halves. I coloured a small amount of buttercream frosting green and orange to create leaves and stems atop each pumpkin, using tips #352 and #3 respectively, and threw in some sprinkles for good measure. I have included the recipe below.
Spicy Pumpkin Bundt Cake (recipe adapted from Martha Stewart.com)
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 (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
2 ½ cups packed light-brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 ½ cups canned pumpkin puree
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 14-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray. Dust with flour, and tap out excess. (I used a the Nordicware Pumpkin Patch Pan, which yielded 24 mini cakes)
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.
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 (30 minutes for the mini cakes). Let cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Carefully turn cake onto rack too cool completely. Before serving, dust with confectioners' sugar.
Paula says
Sounds like a great recipe and to decorate them as pumpkins is an adorable idea.
Jacquee says
They were super moist and very tasty!! I took them to the office and they disappeared quickly.
Janine says
So cute!
G Pavao says
These are so cute.