Earlier this month we had pumpkin pie for thanksgiving.
And ever since I’ve been thinking of other baked pumpkin treats, which often seem like a good idea but don’t turn out great. Muffins. Spiced loaf. Pancakes.
You just can’t beat pumpkin pie if you want to bake with pumpkin.
Except for this cake which has a strong hold on second place: chocolate-pumpkin marble bundt. I first made it a couple of years ago, from the blog The View From Great Island, and it worked out just right.
The recipe calls for a cup of pumpkin purée, which is pretty much the amount I’d have in a measuring jug in my fridge: the remainders of the can I’d opened to make a single 9″ pie. And we already know I’m not crazy about most uses for the that extra pumpkin.
So things were looking good from the start.
Then, the batter comes together quickly and bakes up soft and moist. The chocolate really complements the cinnamon-spiced pumpkin, and the whole thing disappears within a couple of days.
This time I didn’t make it just as suggested. My youngest son was helping, so I used the recipe’s ingredients as my base guide and changed the method a little.
I tried brown sugar instead of white, and I used a buttered square baking dish rather than a bundt pan, then topped the cake with chocolate buttercream.
It turned out so great!
Though I did have to open a new can of pumpkin to make the cake this year and so now I have to make a pie to use up the rest… too bad.