pumpkin spice bundt cake with buttermilk icing

With Thanksgiving less than one week away, I hope everyone has their Thanksgiving menus planned and their stretchy pants ready! I am not hosting this year, and after hosting last year’s Thanksgiving, I doubt anyone will complain! Last year was Justin and my first attempt at making a turkey. Before the big day arrived, I asked all the cooks in my life how I should cook the bird, and much to my chagrin, everyone had a different strategy, many of which even conflicted!

You should baste the bird.

Oh, don’t baste the bird. It’ll dry the bird out. 

Cook the bird in a bag. It will be so moist. 

Never cook the bird in a bag. The bag will melt. 

Don’t truss the turkey. Just roast it.

Put it in the crockpot. 

Really the only thing that everyone could agree on is that some kind of stock (whether it be beef or chicken) is needed, as well as some kind of vegetable. We ended up using chicken stock and adding onions, carrots, and celery to the middle of our turkey, who we named Bertha incidentally. Justin was in charge of the bird. and well, being rather intimidated of the bird myself (and being not at all helpful in this instance), I was delegated to the side dishes (thankfully). Our cooking session started off so well—after a few hours, the thermometer said that the turkey was done, and all the side dishes weren’t far behind. But when we sliced up the turkey, the middle was bright red. Argh! So we put the turkey back in the oven, and as it has become our custom, we served our guests the holiday meal a couple hours late. Needless to say, we have not mastered the turkey yet. But I can say with great confidence, we have mastered this pumpkin dessert.

This pumpkin spice bundt cake has that delightful cinnamon allspice goodness paired with the sweet slightly crunchy buttermilk icing.  And if you’re not a fan of  Starbuck’s pumpkin spice latte, have no fear; this cake doesn’t taste like that at all. As one of my co-workers put it, the cake tastes “more authentic.” You can make this ahead of time as it keeps for three days. And it will be a great addition to your Thanksgiving feast.

As for the bundt pan, the pan itself was easy to use. My brother bought me this bundt pan for my birthday this year, and this was my first attempt using it, to great success.  With bundt pans, they recommend you wipe them down generously with butter and flour instead of spraying them with oil as it’s hard to evenly coat all the nooks and crannies of a decorative bundt pan.

Regardless how you make your turkey this year or which desserts you choose to serve, I hope you all have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving! Gobble Gobble!

Serves: 12

Active time: 30 minutes

Total time: 1 3/4 hours (includes cooling)

Cake Ingredients:

2 ounces butter for greasing bundt pan, softened

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened)

2 ounces all-purpose flour for dusting bundt pan

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (not pie filling)

3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs

 

Icing Ingredients:

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons well-shaken buttermilk

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

 

Special equipment:

a 10-inch nonstick bundt pan (3 quart)

electric mixer

 

Cake Directions:

Put oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter bundt pan generously, then dust lightly with flour.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour (2 1/4 cups), baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together pumpkin, 3/4 cup buttermilk, and vanilla.

Beat the butter (1 1/2 sticks) and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Then add the eggs and beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low, and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is smooth.

Spoon the batter into the pan, smoothing  the top, and then bake for 45-50 minutes or until a knife or skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Once done, cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then put the rack over the cake and reinvert cake onto rack. Cool 10 minutes more.

 

Icing Directions: 

While cake is cooling, whisk together buttermilk and confectioners sugar until smooth. Drizzle icing over warm cake, then cool cake completely. Icing will harden slightly.

 

Adapted from https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pumpkin-spice-bundt-cake-with-buttermilk-icing-233011.