October 17, 2010

fall treats #7: pumpkin spice bundt cake with a lemon glaze

this weekend for our pumpkin carving festivities i made my FIRST EVER bundt cake!
my mom and chin's mom don't like to make them because bundt cakes have a nasty habit of turning out dry and can get deformed if they don't come out of the pan right.
so you can say that i was extremely intimidated to try this recipe since i am a rookie at this whole baking/cooking thing.
i owe the success of my bundt cake to my wonderful pan. it's a williams-sonoma Heritage bundt cake pan  and i absolutely love it!
it just seems so much cooler than your typical bc pan.
i also used lots of cooking spray and tried not to overcook it. the result? moist, wonderful, delicious pumpkin cake. yum.

the recipe: is from family circle. ANOTHER great recipe that mama dickens sent me! i love her.

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with a Lemon-Cream Cheese Glaze 
adapted from Family Circle
ingredients you'll need:
3 c. flour (not self rising!)
3 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 c. softened (the softer the better. 1 c.= 2 sticks of butter. this recipe might be good but i never said it was good for you...)
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/4 c. pumpkin puree
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. milk
heat oven to 350 degrees. lightly (or not so lightly) coat bundt pan with cooking spray. In a bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice.
in your mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. beat in the pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla.
into pumpkin mixture, alternately beat in your flour mixture (dry ingredients) and milk. pour into the pan.
my batter was pretty fluffy and thick.
bake for 57 (exactly) minutes or until toothpick comes out cleam (mine was mostly clean but still sticky). Put the pan  on a wire rack and let cool ten minutes. transfer to your cake platter/plate and let finish cooling.
the glaze:
4 oz. (1/2 a pkg) cream cheese (extremely soft. melt for 20 seconds then melt it again for ten seconds until it's VERY mushy. i had to remake the glaze because my cream cheese wouldn't blend into the glaze.)
1/2 c. conf. sugar
4 tbsp. milk
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp vanilla
beat together the softened cream cheese, confectioners sugar, milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla in a bowl with a hand mixer until well blended and good glazing constitency (thinner than frosting). pour glaze over top of the cake, letting drip down the sides.
happy cooking!





p.s. my parents are coming to town this week. i cannot WAIT!
what do you love about your family?

1 comment:

Natalie said...

That looks gorgeous! (and delicious!)