I couldn’t decide whether to post Roasted Pumpkin Soup today or this cake. When I asked my sister, she was like “duh? Would you want cake or soup on a Friday?” She was right. I want cake. I make soup on Sundays and Mondays- so I will give you soup then- is that an ok deal?
So, I have made this cake twice lately. Once when we had friends over for dinner last week, and then it was so good that I made it for myself and the girls for a little “afternoon snacking” while Pete has been away. We sat down to chunks (minus the delectable glaze) this afternoon and the craziest thing happened. Pia and I always play memory (you know those matching games?) and Pia is really good at it. Me? Well I am actually really, really good at memory games. It is like one of my special things. I have always swept the competition. Well guess what happened today? Coco whupped me. Like truly. I am not one of those parents that believes in letting the kids win- or how will they ever know if they achieved success for real? They have to work at it to win!! Well Coco won today. Like 5 times in a row. I am bewildered. She is 3! Is that weird?!
Ok, so back to cake. Pumpkin Spice Cake. So good. So moist. And the perfect blend of sweet and pumpkin flavor. But let’s be honest, I think this Caramel Pecan Glaze is what pushes this over the edge. I mean, creamy, buttery caramel and crunchy toasty pecans bring tears to my eyes.
I feel like this is a perfect cake for weeknight dessert or for a special occasion. And if you wanted to bypass the caramel pecan glaze, than a good dusting of powdered sugar would leave me feeling fine about chowing a big chunk of it for breakfast or a snack. However you decide to indulge in this cake- it is a really easy and pretty much foolproof recipe.
Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Cake with Caramel Pecan Glaze
Ingredients
- Pumpkin Spice Cake:
- ¾ cup butter, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 ¼ cups pumpkin puree
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp ginger
- 1 cup buttermilk
- Caramel Pecan Glaze:
- 1 cup Sugar
- ½ cup Cream
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup toasted pecans, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place a bundt cake pan on a baking sheet and generously grease it with baking spray.
- For the Pumpkin Spice Cake:
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat to combine. Add the pumpkin and combine well. It will look like the batter has curdled, but it is fine!
- In a separate bowl add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices and sift them all together. Add half of the flour mixture to the batter, and then half of the buttermilk. Combine completely and then add the rest of the flour and the rest of the buttermilk. Mix the batter until it is completely combined.
- Pour the batter into the bundt cake pan. Bake the cake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool on a rack almost completely before turning out onto a cake platter.
- When the cake has been turned out onto the platter, then make the caramel pecan topping.
- In a medium sized pan over medium heat add the sugar. When it starts to turn golden around the edges, reduce the heat to low and begin to stir until all the sugar has melted. Add the butter and the cream and stir constantly over low heat until you have a smooth caramel sauce- this may take up to 10 minutes.
- Add the pecans and immediately stir and pour over the top of the pumpkin spice bundt cake.
- Slice and Serve!
Preparation time: 10 minute(s)
Cooking time: 45 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 12
Yes, Friday needs cakes! Especially cake with caramel pecan glaze! Incredible and gorgeous!
Right Teighan! Fridays always call for cake!!!
So gorgeous!
You are a girl after my own heart!!
This cake looks beyond incredible! As for Coco, my daughter was really small when my mom called me and said “You better watch this.” Yep, she was playing the memory game and my daughter won every time. She just giggled. It was the first indicator of things to come. Fasten your seat belt!
Oh Vicki- I am seriously freaked out! My husband has been gone all week and he doesn’t believe me. I was like, ok, see yourself- we have a memory tournament set up for tonight.
Love this cake, Heather!! It’s totally calling my name! 🙂
LOVELY!!! Perfect for fall!
What a cake! So perfect for this time of year, makes me want to jump in the kitchen and bake!
holy wow!!! this looks INCREDIBLE!! omg, Heather!!
Oh thanks Julie!!
Gorgeous cake Heather! I have to try this one!
This sounds absolutely amazing. Love the beautiful presentation and flavor combination… and that cake plate… I want! 🙂
Definitely glad you went with the cake! This is beautiful, Heather! Dreaming of a slice right now.
So awesome just pinned 3 times!!
Beautiful moist pumpkin cake, Heather! So happy you baked the cake in lieu of the soup. Pinning everywhere on group boards! Have a wonderful weekend, girl!
Wish I was eating this pumpkin cake right now instead of my sandwich- yummy!
Cake on Fridays is the best….scratch that, THIS cake on Fridays is the best! This looks absolutely delicious, Heather. Pinned!
Oh my, this looks incredible! I’ve been avoiding fall, but this makes me want to dive right in.
Ok I can’t find a comment from anyone who’s actually baked the cake but maybe you can help heather. Your cake baked up perfectly but the caramel failed for me. On medium the sugar melted then started forming crystallized chunks. So I added the butter and cream. Simmered for 10 minutes stirring. Still chunky. Let it sit. Did not help. I’ve made caramels often and always was a bit different— sugar then some water then let sit without stirring until it turns amber. Then add cream. Idk. I have the cakes sitting here, how do I get a topping on them? I have a dinner party tmr and need help!
This cake sounds perfect for fall! And just look at the beautiful damp crumb. So great with a big mug of something hot and rain pouring down outside. 🙂
OMG I need this in my life immediately. remind me why I don’t like next to you in Seattle?
Your girls are so smart! It’s fantastic.
And this cake is super gorgeous. Beautiful job.
Gorgeous cake and how could we ever bypass that luscious glaze?!
SUCH a gorgeous cake!
What a glorious bundt cake!
Stunning cake, moist and perfect.
That is seriously one lovely cake!!
OHHHHH MYYYY LOOOOOORD.
What size pan did you use? How many cups, please? Thank you for the recipe!
Mine was probably like 10 cups? but it was huge and really ANY conventional bundt cake pan would totally work. I bet there was about 5-6 cups of batter?
Lovely cake, nice and dense and moist! Had trouble with the glaze, though. When I added the butter and cream the sugar hardened pretty much instantly to a solid lump on the bottom of the pan. Maybe there’s a trick to this?
That is always what happens when you make caramel Jenny- you have to stir it over low heat for at least 5 minutes, but it can take up to 10.
Would using a granulated brownsugar cange the recipe too much?
I have not tried- but I doubt it Jay- give it a try!
Hi Heather I just made this cake and it looks so delicious. It’s my first bundt cake, though, and I’m wondering if there’s a trick to get the bottom flat??
If this tastes half as amazing as it looks, it will be DELICIOUS! I shared it in my Pumpkin Round Up on my blog today! 🙂 http://shariblogs.com/35-pumpkin-dessert-recipes/
This looks absolutely delicious! I wonder how it would turn out in a mini-muffin tin? I mean, you know, if it’s shaped like a muffin and doesn’t have the glaze, it’s healthy, right?
You’re daughter is a memory game prodigy!! Maybe she has a photographic memory! Just don’t tell her that she’ll be able to study for tests right before class and be able to *see* the book and answer the questions by flipping through the book in her memory! 😉 Don’t ask how I know!
This cake looks phenomenal! I LOVE the glaze. Caramel pecans are always a good choice.
Tried this recipe today. Turned out beautifully. Serving it for an impromptu party tomorrow evening. Thank you.
I made the cake and it is lovely, even without the glaze. I took it to work and my co-workers all agreed it was the best pumpkin bundt cake I’ve ever made!
Yay April!!!! I hope you soaked up all the praise- so happy that it worked well for you!!
Hi. I just made this cake for Thanksgiving, tomorrow. But I have a question; isn’t the sugar used for the caramel sauce brown sugar? I started with white sugar because it didn’t specify, but ended up adding lots of brown sugar. It’s a bit lighter than yours, and probably a bit sweeter! But it looks awesome and I think everyone will love it.
Thanks!
I used white sugar- but I am glad yours turned out great! (I probably cooked mine a touch longer which would have given it the darker color) Hope everyone enjoys it!!
yum looks good – what type of cream for the glaze – the whipping cream or just table cream
I use whipping cream- but you could probably use either!
wow, I made this cake and it is so delicious. My whole family loved it. Thankyou. My daughter enjoyed it warm with a scoop of butterscotch ice cream. The hubby liked his with a dollop of cream. I will definitely be making this again. Thank you for sharing.
From Australia
I just made this cake and I love how my home smells….a good indicator of the deliciousness to come!
I made this Bundt cake for Thanksgiving and the recipe worked perfectly! It was delicious and a huge hit! (I had some different ingredients on hand so I made a vanilla bean cream cheese frosting instead of the pecan glaze and it was a good combo.)
I made the pumpkin spice cake (twice today 1st one stuck to the pan) and I have 2 suggestions: oil then FLOUR the pan and remove cake from bundt pan 10 minutes after taking out of oven. And the glaze says 1 cup sugar. It should be BROWN sugar. I have 2 pans with hard clumps of white sugar stuck to them. It looks good but I’m exhausted!
Hi Heather;
I just made your Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with Carmel Glaze (without the nuts) and the cake looks stunning with the glaze drizzled on top. It actually looks like a professional cake! I grated fresh cinnamon stick on top of the cake. I am going to serve it for desert tonight after dinner so I will let you know how wonderful it tastes. I added 1 grated fresh orange peel to brighten it up with a little citrus flavor, as orange goes so well with pumpkin. All my ingredients that I used were organic which makes all my baking come out with a even more homemade taste. Cheers!
#RulatheRed
Hi Heather;
Well I broke down and had a slice before my dinner party and let me tell you that this is one of the best Pumpkin Bundt Cakes w/Carmel Glaze that I have ever tasted! !!!!!! It’s a delicate cake that packs incredible flavors and it’s very moist. My suggestion is unless you are adding the nuts to the glaze (which I opted out of) this cake tastes incredibly well with a cinnamon vanilla icing.
This sounds so yummy!” Need to try the grated fresh orange! What a great idea!
Hi Heather,
Just to give you a update on your exceptional recipe for this wonderful pumpkin cake I now make it every week as I am completely addicted!! So is everyone that I bake it for. I ran a boutique style hotel and it became a signature cake that I served the guests and wow….the compliments were that everyone thought it was the best cake they ever tasted. One thing I did was add a little more cinnamon and I used candied pecans crushed on top of the icing!! For anyone thinking about making this recipe you will absolutely love this cake.
Thank you Heather for sharing this killer pumpkin delight!!
Pamela McDonald (RulatheRed)
Kara
Ok I can’t find a comment from anyone who’s actually baked the cake but maybe you can help heather. Your cake baked up perfectly but the caramel failed for me. On medium the sugar melted then started forming crystallized chunks. So I added the butter and cream. Simmered for 10 minutes stirring. Still chunky. Let it sit. Did not help. I’ve made caramels often and always was a bit different— sugar then some water then let sit without stirring until it turns amber. Then add cream. Idk. I have the cakes sitting here, how do I get a topping on them? I have a dinner party tmr and need help!
Hi Kara, caramel is always fickle. I am not in your kitchen to troubleshoot but would just imagine that it would take longer to melt the sugar down once it crystallized. If you are using the same mixture, put it over the heat and stir or whisk until its melted, adjusting heat as needed. If you are going to start over with the caramel, you can kind of cheat by putting it all in the pan to start with and whisking over heat until it combines and thickens to the right texture. Please let me know how it works for you!