Brownie Pumpkin Bundt Cake

This Brownie Pumpkin Bundt Cake combines a layer of crispy, chewy brownie with tender, spicy pumpkin for the ultimate Autumn cake. Drizzle it with chocolate ganache and you’ll literally lick your plate clean. 

I can go nine months of the year without ever really even thinking about cake. Then October rolls around. Suddenly, I can think of nothing but cake. Maybe it has something to do with the cooler temperatures, the inevitable October pumpkin craze, and the shorter days. But really, it’s not for me to question. I’m just going to make cake.

This Brownie Pumpkin Bundt Cake recipe almost didn’t happen. The first time I made it I thought something had gone wrong. I was adapting the inimitable Dorie Greenspan’s Mocha Walnut Marble Cake and imagining that with my alterations, I’d have a lovely pumpkin chocolate bundt.

However, when I took it out of the oven, the chocolate layer didn’t look quite right. It didn’t match the texture of the pumpkin cake and it wasn’t what I was expecting. But I wasn’t about to waste the ingredients, so even if it wasn’t good enough to share, I couldn’t pass up the chance to eat a slice of cake.

And then I tasted it . . .

No, it hadn’t turned out like I thought it was going to. It was even better than I could have imagined. I’d made the happiest of kitchen mistakes and instead of the marbled bundt cake I’d been hoping for, I ended up with a perfectly tender, spiced pumpkin cake with a layer of crispy, chewy chocolate brownie underneath.

So, I accidentally made a Brownie Pumpkin Bundt Cake and it was delicious. Since then it’s been added to the Autumn menu and is on repeat, because oh dear heavens, it’s delicious.

The cake is flavorful, buttery, and tender enough that it can be eaten as is and enjoyed immensely. I do think, however, that a good drizzle of chocolate ganache never hurts and can be just the thing to make a good cake into something stunning. So, chocolate ganache happened too and it really did make a good cake great. Chocolate Ganache has a way of doing that you know.

A little ice cream isn’t a bad idea either. Just a thought.

And while we’re talking about cake: This Pumpkin Cranberry Coffee Cake is back on the regular menu. I can’t wait for an excuse to make my Cranberry Orange Spice Cake again soon. And I’ve got my eye on this Pumpkin Crunch Cake from My Baking Addiction.

Yield: 12 servings

Brownie Pumpkin Bundt Cake

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Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup finely ground walnuts
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 sticks, plus 2 tablespoons, unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (like Libby's)

For the Chocolate Ganache

• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a 12 cup non-stick bundt pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, nuts, baking powder, salt, and spices.
3. Set a heatproof bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water. Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/4 cup heavy cream, and 3 ounces dark chocolate in the bowl, stirring often until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.
4. In a large bowl beat the remaining butter and the sugar together with an electric hand mixer until it forms a thick paste. Beat in each egg, one at a time. When the mixture looks smooth, mix in the vanilla.
5. With the mixer speed on low, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, mixing until combined. Add half of the pumpkin puree and mix until combined. Repeat until all of the flour and pumpkin has been added.
6. Scrape a little less than half the batter into the bowl with the melted chocolate. Stir together until blended.
7. Scrape all of the pumpkin batter into the prepared bundt pan. Top with the chocolate batter and then swirl with a table knife, just a little, to blend.
8. Bake on the center rack for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not place bundt pan on a baking sheet so the oven's heat will be able to properly circulate through the pan.
9. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes before turning out. Cool completely before slicing.

Notes

Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan