Pumpkin Bundt Cake With Maple Brown-Butter Glaze

Pumpkin Bundt Cake With Maple Brown-Butter Glaze
Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Total Time
1½ hours, plus cooling
Rating
5(2,372)
Notes
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Bundt cakes are classic showstoppers — big, lofty and usually dressed in elegant drizzles and drips of glaze. Here, a dense, moist cake full of warm fall spices and pumpkin purée is encased in a layer of rich, nutty brown-butter maple glaze. Feel free to make it a day before you plan to serve it: This cake keeps well at room temperature, and you might think it's even better on the second day. Just make sure to keep it covered and resist the urge to shave off a slice every time you walk by. If you can find it, use organic confectioners' sugar for the glaze. It's made from raw sugar and uses tapioca rather than cornstarch as its anticaking agent. It will give the glaze a richer taste and smoother texture than conventional confectioners’ sugar — a tip picked up from Stella Parks.

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Ingredients

Yield:10 to 12 servings

    For the Cake

    • 3cups/384 grams all-purpose flour
    • 2teaspoons baking powder
    • 1teaspoon baking soda
    • teaspoons kosher salt
    • 2teaspoons ground cinnamon
    • teaspoons ground cardamom
    • ¼teaspoon ground allspice
    • ¼teaspoon ground black pepper
    • 2cups/440 grams light brown sugar, packed
    • ½cup/114 grams unsalted butter, soft but cool
    • ½cup extra-virgin olive oil
    • 2large eggs, at room temperature
    • 1(15-ounce) can/425 grams pumpkin purée
    • ½cup sour cream

    For the Glaze

    • 2tablespoons unsalted butter
    • 1cup/102 grams confectioners’ sugar (preferably organic), sifted
    • ¼cup maple syrup
    • Pinch of salt
    • 1 to 2tablespoons lightly toasted pepitas (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

522 calories; 22 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 78 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 49 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 374 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees, and butter and flour a 12-cup (or larger) capacity bundt pan.

  2. Step 2

    In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, allspice and black pepper until well combined.

  3. Step 3

    In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine brown sugar, butter and olive oil. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for about 20 seconds in between each egg. Add the pumpkin purée and sour cream, and mix until well combined, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary.

  4. Step 4

    Remove the bowl from the mixer, and use a rubber spatula to fold in the dry ingredients until well combined. Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure an evenly mixed batter.

  5. Step 5

    Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top and firmly tap the pan on the countertop a few times to release any large air bubbles. Bake the cake until golden and puffed, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes.

  6. Step 6

    Set the cake, still in its pan, on a rack to cool for 20 minutes, then use the tip of a knife to loosen the edges and invert the cake onto the rack to cool completely before glazing.

  7. Step 7

    Make the glaze: Once the cake is cool, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook the butter, occasionally scraping the bottom and sides of the pan with a rubber spatula until it turns a deep golden brown and smells nutty. Don’t walk away from the pan during this process. The butter can go from brown and nutty to acrid and burnt in mere moments.

  8. Step 8

    Transfer butter and all the brown bits from the pan to a heat-safe bowl, and let it cool slightly. Whisk in the confectioners’ sugar, maple syrup and salt until smooth. The glaze should be thick but pourable. If it’s too thin, add a bit more confectioners’ sugar. If it’s too thick, add a few drops of water.

  9. Step 9

    Transfer the cake to a serving platter and pour the glaze evenly over the top. Sprinkle with pepitas if desired. Let the glaze set for a few minutes before slicing.

Ratings

5 out of 5
2,372 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

This is a very nice, moist cake - the olive oil recedes and the cardamom takes over in a very pleasant way. I halved the recipe (measured) and baked for 35 minutes in my small bundt pan. I used 2% greek yogurt in place of the sour cream and reduced the brown sugar a bit (200 g). The glaze hardens quickly so next time I would add more water. I did saute the pepitas with a tiny bit of oil and tossed them in sugar which made them crunchy and delicious. I will make this again.

halve recipe (200g br sugar); bake for 35 mins.... make glaze runnier than you would think as it hardens pretty much immediately; saute pepitas in tiny bit of oil and toss in sugar - really good cake

Hi. Will someone from the NYT — preferably either the actual baker of the recipe or the food stylist — tell us how to get such a thick, rich looking coating of icing? I’ve made this cake 6 times now (because it tastes so darn good) but have never once seen the icing look as it does in the publication’s photo.

I just gave this a go, pretty much following the recipe with the recommended thinning of the glaze a bit. The only other change was dusting the bundt pan with sugar and not flour. Really amazing fall feel to it. Taking time to properly brown the butter adds a complexity to the glaze that complements the pumpkin cake so well. Neighbors loved it and more importantly my wife did. I might bump the spices up a bit next time out, but this is a keeper.

This cake is amazing! Super moist. And oh my god the frosting is to DIE for. I did have to add a few drops of water to make it spread easier.

Since I prefer weight to volume especially when baking, I measured the brown sugar both ways because it seemed like a lot. I came up with 2 cups packed was 346 grams, not 440 grams. I find when I convert to weights I often double check between weights and volume. They often do not jibe in fact it's kind of like Celebrity Net Worth - untethered.

This bundt got rave reviews at thanksgiving. Did a few subs just because I didn’t have all ingredients. Used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, added cloves and ground ginger in place of allspice and used dark brown sugar. Cut confectioners sugar in icing by half and it was perfect. Would definitely make again and the cardamom and black pepper gave it a great depth of flavor and warmth. Moist, delicious and not too sweet. Have already been asked to make it again.

Cakes have been made for a lot longer than there has been electricity! Of course you can do it with a hand held, too. You can even make it without a stand or hand mixer by beating the heck out of everything with a wooden spoon followed by a sturdy whisk. It's just more work to get everything creamed and fluffy.

Delicious, show-stopping cake! Served for brunch and it was a hit. The brown butter adds real depth and the pepitas shouldn’t be skipped. This will definitely be a fall tradition.

Since my dad is gluten intolerant, I replaced the all purpose flour with bob’s red mill 1 to 1 baking flour (in the blue bag)*. Cake was delicious and no one could tell it was gluten free. *Do NOT confuse with bob’s red mill gluten free all purpose flour. They are not the same.

I used 2% Greek yogurt in place of sour cream, and the cake was absolutely perfect. I learned a lesson about blindly following others' advice: I added just a little water to the glaze, but that made it way too thin and it all ran right off. I used organic powdered sugar, which doesn't contain cornstarch, and I think that was the difference. Water may be more helpful if using conventional powdered sugar with cornstarch.

I made it exactly as written and agree that it's a beautiful cake. My husband and guests loved it, but I confess to not caring for it very much. That surprised me because these are flavors I usually love. Perhaps boosting the quantity of spices would make me happier, so if I make it again, I'll give that a try. I love the idea of using maple syrup in the frosting, and will probably try that on other cakes I like more.

I made this cake for Thanksgiving and it was incredible. I made it two days early and kept it in an air-tight container and I suspect it was all the better for that. The texture is SO elegant and refined that I genuinely think it's ruined many of my former go-to cake recipes for me. I followed the recipe as written and the spice profile was perfect, complex, and bold. I sauted the pepitas in olive oil and sugar as suggested in comments but they still did nothing for us--too bad.

I cooled mine 20 minutes and it came right out. I don't have Nordic Ware though. I well buttered the pan and sprinkled with granulated sugar. The pan was not warm to the touch after 20 minutes but if anything it came out too easily.

Meh. A lot of work for only a so-so result. Disappointed because I love pumpkin desserts.

While not a fan of pumpkin cakes this one was good. I did make spice substitutions. Cardamom 1/4 tsp, Ginger 1/2 tsp, Nutmeg 1/2 tsp. Kept the Allspice, Cinnamon and Black Pepper as written. Never got the glaze to harden.

Highly recommend freshly ground cardamom and taking the time to add pepitas. If you're using greek yogurt, opt for the whole milk variety (I've tried non-fat and the cake is noticeably more dense).

this is delicious double the butter and maple syrup halve the sugar toast the pumpkin seeds and sprinkle on top - they are worth it!

This cake is superb! Such a beautiful flavor profile. I had never done a "drip icing" before but it was the perfect texture for it and it flowed off the cake perfectly.

Have made this multiple times. Always a crowd pleaser and so easy to make!

This cake was perfection. I weighed the ingredients as recommended. Notes suggested the glaze was too thick, but this was not an issue for me (I used organic powdered sugar). The cake was warm and soft and not overly sweet.

Made this. Everyone loved it. It was moist and tender and properly spiced, after I followed the comments and upped the spices. Like many others, I used yogurt instead of sour cream, which really is barely a substitution. I thought it was too sweet, though, and will reduce the sugar next time. I use a silicone bundt pan, and it about 90 minutes to bake properly. I used a thermometer to confirm doneness and took the cake out when it reached 205 deg F.

Etymology and the etymology weut

I also agree the flour and sugar gram weights need adjusting in the recipe. I went volumetric and it baked just fine. Since I used a Grade B syrup, I had to thin the icing enough to pour.

Delicious- everyone loved it. Very moist. Don’t make glaze too thick. Drizzle and test before adding more sugar.

I'm in love with this recipe and would like to try it for Christmas but I live at 7,000 ft. I would appreciate the NYT cooks or readers to suggest adjustments to this recipe for high altitude.

I made this today and it was incredible. I'm allergic to cardamom so I used 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice plus the blackpepper. The glaze is the bomb! Yossy Arefi never fails.

This is a beautiful, moist cake that turned out perfectly balanced with a few modifications. Reading other comments I subbed Greek yogurt for the sour cream, reduced the sugar to 300 grams and (this was key) doubled the spices. To stiffen up the glaze I put it in the fridge for a few minutes. It received rave reviews at my thanksgiving and was very easy to assemble.

Very moist cake that tastes like good pumpkin bread! Made it with Bob's 1:1 gluten free flour, and it turned out great. Made 1.5 times glaze, which was a perfect amount.

Loved this and was a hit at a large Thanksgiving Dinner. The glaze was thick so added a few extra teaspoons of water before applying. Not super runny - I was able to guide it from bowl to cake - dried fairly quickly which is what we wanted. Browning the butter is key for the flavor profile. Getting the butter / olive oil /brown sugar to that light and fluffy phase also key to (puffed up wonderfully) - this has become a staple.

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