Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Pumpkin Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake

I know this is the season for peppermint and gingerbread, but I still have pumpkin in my pantry! So when we were invited to a potluck Christmas party I decided to put that pumpkin to good use and make this bundt cake from Cate's blog. The cake was super easy to put together. The only change I made was to stir in a bunch of dark chocolate chips to make it a little more decadent. The cake smelled awesome in the oven and looked beautiful, which was a relief after my last experience with making a bundt cake. But I buttered and floured my cake pan really well this time so there were no issues. I wish I had put my glaze on a little thicker - and I wish I hadn't been lazy and skipped sifting my powdered sugar. I ended up with clumps that I needed to smooth out with a pastry brush. Sift, people, sift! My only other regret is that I didn't get to taste my creation! We left the party I brought this to before dessert was served. But it couldn't' be bad - just look at it!

Pumpkin Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice (I used pumpkin pie spice because I thought I didn't have allspice - I naturally found the allspice immediately AFTER I used pumpkin pie spice)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15-oz can; not pie filling)
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups dark chocoalte chips

For glaze:
2 T butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1-3 T cream or milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour bundt pan. Combine together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl.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, then add 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 just smooth. Stir in chocoalte chips. Spoon batter into pan. Shake a few times to be sure to remove any bumps then bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 15 minutes, then invert rack over cake and reinvert cake onto rack. Cool 10 minutes more.To make glaze, heat butter until melted. Stir in sifted powdered sugar. Mix in cream or milk 1 Tablespoon at a time until desired consistency. Drizzle over cake while it is on a wire rack so excess falls through.

6 comments:

Kelsey said...

Yummy! Pumpkin never goes out of season!

Kira said...

I always thought about adding chocolate chips to this cake but chickened out. I love the little pumpkin mellowcremes in the center!

Katrina said...

Yummy looking cake! I still have some chocolate with foil jack-o-lantern wrapper in the pantry. What in the world can I do with those until next year? Gonna have to let the boys eat them, I s'pose.

What's Cookin Chicago said...

This looks awesome and I love your pumpkin candy decor to go with it too!

Carrie said...

Wow that looks good, I actually have a can of pumpkin left too!

Colleen said...

Mmmm the dark chocolate chips sound like they were a great idea! And I am so jealous you still have those candy corn pumpkins left - they are my fave!