The day that I heard there was going to be another pumpkin shortage this season, I ran to the grocery store and bought several cans of pumpkin to cook with. Call me crazy, but I couldn’t beat the thought of not working with pumpkin this season. It’s one of my favorite things to eat in the fall.

Really, can you blame me?

This cake is a great way to celebrate pumpkin this fall. With a moist crumb and a spiced icing drizzled all over, it’s an ideal after-dinner treat. And the flavor? It’s like if pumpkin pie and a perfect white cake had little cake babies that closely resembled the pie with the texture of cake.

See also Pumpkin Coconut Muffins.

Don’t let the longer ingredients list fool you: this is an easy cake to make and when you butter the bundt pan well, the cake just slips right on out. Easy. And if you are into cooking with your kids, this is a great recipe to do so with. My kids took care of the measuring and mixing of the dry ingredients (with supervision of course). They also could have (but didn’t this time) helped ice the cake too.

It warmed my heart to have the kids back in the kitchen to bake this cake with me. For a little while, Will and Paige just weren’t into cooking with me. The sound of chairs being dragged across the floor were silenced and replaced with the sounds of playing with Legos or games of imagination. While I missed their help, it was fine and I loved that they created all sorts of imaginative scenarios. I might have even grown semi-used to being solo in the kitchen again. But now all of a sudden, they’re back and more into it then ever — and I love it. Maybe it’s fall? Or maybe they missed it too? I don’t know, but I am happy to have them back at the counter with me.

Iced Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Additional Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes

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Ingredients

Cake:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing the pan
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Icing:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1-2 tbsp nonfat milk
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the inside of a fluted bundt pan with butter.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the brown sugar and butter, mixing on medium-low for 3 minutes. Add the eggs, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract and mix well on medium-low.
4. With the mixer running on its slowest setting, add the dry ingredients a little at a time until fully incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and tap gently to even out.
5. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until cooked through. Let cool completely.
6. Once the cake is fully cooled, whisk together the icing ingredients. Place the bundt cake (removed from the pan) on a wire rack set on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with icing. Let dry for about 30 minutes before serving.

Sarah Walker Caron

Sarah Walker Caron is a cookbook author, freelance writer and founder of Sarah’s Cucina Bella. She is the author of four cookbooks including The Super Easy 5-Ingredient Cookbook and One-Pot Pasta, both from Rockridge Press. A single mother to a tween and a teen, Sarah loves nightly family dinners, juicy tomatoes plucked fresh from the vine and lazy days on the beach. She also adores reading and traveling.