This Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake is a perfect fall dessert and is definitely a showstopper on a Thanksgiving dessert table! Made with Pumpkin Pie Spice and a cranberry sauce filling, it's sure to impress everyone!
The best way to describe the perfection that is this bundt cake is to imagine all the five senses:
Vision: I mean, look at it! It's absolutely beautiful. The cranberry sauce filling slightly oozed out of the cake. The pretty glaze, topped with pumpkin seeds (I tried two different types of glazes - see below for pictures and details).
Smell: Like our Mazurek Shortcake Dessert, the smell is indescribable in the kitchen while it's baking! But, let me try to describe it: the aroma of the pumpkin spice seasoning is warm, cozy, and cinnamony! Amazing!
Touch: bundt cakes are denser in texture, so you can grab a slice with your fingers and dig right into it! Inside, the cake is soft and melts in your mouth! It was even just as fresh the next day, when we had it for dessert after devouring our Leftover Turkey Salad (with Gnocchi)
Hearing: so, there are several things you may hear: loud chewing, lots of praise to the chef, lots of "Mmmmm!" and, of course, my favorite, absolute silence (pure enjoyment!)
Taste: The taste of fall! Warm. Moist. Rich flavor.
Jump to:
Ingredients
- Butter: unsalted
- Sugar: regular granulated sugar
- Eggs: room temperature
- Buttermilk: room temperature
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cranberry sauce
For the glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice optional
*** see recipe card below for full ingredient list and quantities
Top Tips
- Make sure the butter, eggs, and buttermilk are at room temperature
- Mix wet and dry ingredients separately
- When adding the eggs to the wet ingredients, make sure to beat them in one at a time.
- When folding the dry ingredients into wet ingredients, do not overmix
- Always sift! Sifting the dry ingredients (before folding them into the wet ingredients) makes the mixture lighter.
- Measure ingredients precisely
- Allow the cake to rise: do not open the door of the oven until you are ready to check the cake for doneness - after about 45 minutes of baking.
How to remove the cake from the pan
- Firstly, make sure the pan is greased well before pouring in the batter. I use a pastry brush, but a silicone brush will work great as well. Make sure to brush every corner in the pan. Using room temperature butter helps to spread the butter.
- After removing the cake from the oven, allow it to cool inside the pan before flipping it out onto a cooling rack or a plate.
- Once you've flipped the cake over, gently lift the pan. If it is not coming out easily, leave the cake flipped over in the pan and wait another 5 minutes before trying to lift the pan.
The cranberry sauce filling
If you have some homemade cranberry sauce leftovers, it would be great to use in this recipe. Or, you can, of course, make some fresh cranberry sauce for this cake separately. Or, storebought works great too - that's a time saver.
The Glaze - two ways
- Mix powdered sugar, pumpkin spice, and a few tablespoons of milk, pour over the cake and top with pumpkin seeds (optional). You can make this glaze thicker or thinner (by adding more milk). I personally prefer thinner (less) glaze so I taste less sugar and more cake.
- Brush cake with maple syrup, sift powdered sugar, and top with pumpkin seeds
Frequently Asked Questions
Don't overbake: Overbaking is a common cause of dry cakes. Use a toothpick or cake tester to check for doneness. Insert it into the center of the cake; it should come out with a few moist crumbs, not completely clean.
Try these desserts as well
Recipe
Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake (with cranberry sauce filling)
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsallted butter - or 1 stick. Room temperature, plus more butter to grease pan
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cranberry sauce
For the glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Using a pastry brush or silicone brusk, thoroughly grease the bundt pan with butter. Make sure to grease all the nooks and crannies of the pan.
- Place 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of sugar in a mixing bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer. Beat the ingredients together at medium speed until the mixture has become pale yellow and creamy. Make sure to get the sugar and butter off the sides as well.
- Beat in the eggs, one by one. Add 1 cup of room buttermilk and mix to combine.
- In a separate bowl, mix together 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 2 teaspoons of Pumpkin Pie Spice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Sift the flour mixture over the wet ingredients mixture and beat gently to combine. Do not overmix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.
- Pour about 1/2 of the batter into the bundt pan and add a layer of cranberry sauce. Distribute the sauce evenly over the batter. Top the remaining batter over the cranberry sauce.
- Place the bundt cake pan on the middle oven rack and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes. Test readiness of the cake by inserting a toothpick into the center. If the toothpick comes out clean, your cake is ready to be taken out of the oven. Otherwise, allow the cake to bake for another 5 minutes and test for readiness again.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 15 minutes before taking the cake out of the pan.
- Then turn the pan over onto a cooling rack and lift the pan off the cake. Allow the cake to cool completely before glazing.
- While the cake is cooking, prepare the glaze:using a silicone brush, brush the top of the cooled cake with the maple syrup. Sift the powdered sugar over the cake and top with pumpkin seeds.
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