Speaking of recipes with a long name …

I have been thinking of making this cake for a while. However, everyone is stepping up with the pumpkin recipes, so I wanted to make something classic with a twist, just to make it a little different. So last week I was stuck in traffic from Palo Alto to Redwood Shores and it took me over 3 hours to get home (about 11 miles) – a route that usually takes 25 minutes! That gave me plenty of time to think about this recipe since I was literally ‘starving’!

It was pretty much like “what about a streusel? what about  shot of coffee in the cake? 3 hours later…a cinnamon swirl and a coffee icing! And of course, I also talked to a couple of friends to catch up with life (what better thing to do while you’re stuck in traffic?).

There is nothing complicated about this cake. And if you think about it, cinnamon and coffee are pretty much best friends and the subtle coffee flavor of the icing with the sweetness of the pumpkin… yes, please!

So let’s get to it.

First, combine the dry ingredients and whisk them together. Then, while mixing the wet ingredients, the mixture may look curdled/grainy but don’t worry about it since this will change once you add in the dry ingredients and all are incorporated in the batter.

You will use an entire can of pumpkin for this recipe, which is also a plus since you won’t have any sad leftover pumpkin in your refrigerator.

I  have to tell you though, we don’t traditionally make cakes with pumpkin where I come from. Pumpkin is used mostly for savory recipes like soups, pasta filling or pasta sauces. We don’t even really celebrate Thanksgiving! Christmas and New Years are much bigger celebrations, believe it or not. However,  part of becoming an american and living in this country means to embrace the culture and traditions and that for me, included Thanksgiving and Pumpkin Cake and Pie!  It is good to have a little bit of every  place in you…

We had the cake with coffee (obviously!) but you will enjoy it as much with some tea. It is also delicious on its own, think about a coffee cake that is extremely moist because of the pumpkin. I can tell you without any reservations that this is one of the best cakes I have ever made!

I used a bundt cake, I find them prettier and you don’t really need a lot to dress them up.

You should really try to make this cake for Halloween, Thanksgiving or even Christmas, the aroma and the flavor is a total embrace of autumn.

Here’s what you need to make this cake.

Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Coffee Icing

Yield: 8-10 Servings

Ingredients

For the cake:

cooking spray

2 cups of all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp of baking powder

1 tsp of baking soda

1 tsp of ground cloves

1 tsp of cinnamon

3/4 tsp of fresh ground nutmeg

1 tsp of vanilla extract

2 cups of sugar

1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 eggs

1 (15 oz)can of pure pumpkin puree

For the cinnamon swirl:

1/4 cup of sugar

1 tbs of cinnamon

For the coffee icing:

1/2 + 2 tbs of confectioners’ sugar

4 tbs of 1/3 less fat cream cheese at room temperature

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

1 – 2 tsp of espresso coffee – I used 1/2 tsp of instant espresso coffee diluted in 3 oz of water

 

 

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325° Fahrenheit.

Spray a 12 cup bundt pan with cooking spray.

Place  flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground cloves, ground nutmeg in a medium bowl and whisk to mix the dry ingredients. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar in a big mixing bowl and process until combined and blended. Add the eggs, one by one, and beat until the mixture is fluffy and light. Mix in the pumpkin and the vanilla extract. The batter will   look grainy or curdled but this will change once you mix in the dry ingredients mixture.

Whisk in the dry ingredients mixture with the pumpkin mixture at low until well incorporated.

To prepare the swirl,  whisk 1/4 cup of sugar with 1 tbs of cinnamon in a small mixing bowl.

Pour half the batter into the bunt pan and sprinkle the sugar-cinnamon mixture over the batter with a tablespoon. Pour the remaining batter into the pan and try to cover the sugar-cinnamon mixture as much as you can with a spatula. Bake at 325° Fahrenheit for 65-70 minutes or until a wooden stick inserted in center comes out with a few crumbles or clean.

Let the cake cool down on a wire rack for 10 – 15 minutes top before removing from pan. Set aside.

For the icing, whisk the cream cheese and the confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl. Add the vanilla and the coffee and whisk until combined. You may need to add a little water or more coffee depending on the desired consistency and flavor intensity. Once you obtain the desired consistency drizzle the icing over the cake. Let it set for a few minutes before serving.