Pumpkin Espresso Bundt Cake
Pumpkin Espresso Bundt Cake
In honor of National Coffee day and in anticipation of Halloween, sweater weather and everything pumpkin we bring you this delicious and beautiful fall-flavored Pumpkin Espresso Bundt Cake. The recipe is from Pastry Affair, but we’ve added a few Arizona ingredients! The original recipe calls for pumpkin pureé which you could of course buy pre-made at Basha’s, but don't forget it’s pumpkin season! Pumpkin pureé is easy to make and if you buy a local pumpkin you are supporting an Arizona farmer, so it’s a win-win...win! The original recipe also calls for whole wheat flour, which is wonderful and you can totally use, but when you have farmers like those at BKW Farms in Marana growing heritage grain Khorasan Wheat, it’s an easy swap. Khorasan wheat is high in protein and dietary fiber. Plus, again, there’s another opportunity to support some more farmers right in your backyard. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Espresso Bundt Cake
Yields 8-10 Servings
The Cake
1 ½ cups pumpkin pureé
4 eggs
¾ cup vegetable oil (or coconut or olive, we used coconut)
1 cup brown sugar, tightly packed*
¾ granulated white sugar*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups of whole wheat flour (or Khorasan, or another heritage grain like Sonoran White Wheat)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
The Filling
⅓ cup brown sugar, tightly packed*
1 tablespoon espresso powder (or finely ground coffee beans from your local coffee roaster)
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Coffee Rum Glaze
⅓ cup of strong coffee (from your local roaster of course!)
1 ½ tablespoons of dark rum
⅓ cup granulated sugar*
Preheat your oven to 350℉. Thoroughly grease your bundt cake pan. And I mean thoroughly. The last thing you want is a delicious, beautiful cake stuck in your pan. Use melted butter and a pastry brush to really get the coating in every crevice of your pan. Afterwards, use ¼ cup of flour to dust cover your pan. We recommend covering your bundt pan with cling wrap and shaking it up so that the flour covers every inch. Lightly tap out excess flour.
To make the pumpkin pureé, cut the stem off your pumpkin. Cut the pumpkin in half, lengthwise and scoop out the seeds (which you can save for roasting later!). Cut the pumpkin into 6 slices, coat them in olive oil and put in your oven for about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven, allow to cool, peel off the skin, chop into smaller pieces and using an immersion blender or food processor, blend the roasted pumpkin into a smooth pureé. Check out the Pioneer Woman for step by step pictures.
For the cake, beat together the pumpkin pureé, eggs, oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until well blended. Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt until smooth and uniform in appearance. Set aside.
For the espresso filling, whisk together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and espresso powder (or finely ground beans from your favorite local roaster) in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.
In the prepared baking pan, spoon in 1/3 of the pumpkin cake batter evenly into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle 1/2 of the espresso filling over the top. Spoon another 1/3 of the pumpkin cake batter into the pan and sprinkle with the remaining espresso filling. Layer the remaining cake batter on top and smooth with an offset spatula.
Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in pan for 15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
While the cake is baking, make the coffee rum glaze by whisking together the strong coffee, rum, and granulated sugar. Brush all of the glaze evenly over the cake with a pastry brush while it is still warm. Serve after the glaze has fully set.
*Replace the sugar in the recipe for local honey and support your local bees and beekeepers! Some general rules from The Kitchn for substituting honey for sugar are:
For every one cup of sugar, substitute ½ to ¾ cups of honey
For every one cup of honey you’re using, subtract ¼ cup of the other liquids from the recipe
Add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda for every 1 cup of honey used
Reduce the oven temperature by 25℉