Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Pumpkin Patch

On a recent visit to the Jucker Farm, a pumpkin patch just outside of Zurich, I treated myself to a slice of their famous pumpkin cake which was topped with lemon icing and pistachios.

My husband rolled his eyes at the sight of this city-slicker drinking a latté macchiato on a farm and indulging in an American-inspired cake. But the Swiss love American culture, and having spent a few years living in the US, I am rather grateful for it too.

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

But despite pumpkin cake being an American invention, the recipe for this beautiful Pumpkin Bundt Cake comes via the British Nigella Lawson from her cookbook, Simply Nigella.

Nigella makes no secret of her love for all things Americana, so I wasn’t surprised to see a recipe for this Pumpkin Bundt Cake in Simply Nigella.

Pumpkin Bundt Cake Recipe

Nigella suggests grating dark chocolate over the orange frosting but, inspired by my recent afternoon tea at the Jucker Farm, I instead sprinkled chopped pistachios over the cake for a bit of crunch and colour.

Nigella also uses canned pumpkin purée in her recipe, whereas I am making the most of the newly seasonal pumpkins by making my own homemade pumpkin purée (see Kitchen Notes below).

The result I had was an incredibly moist and moreish cake, heady with autumnal spices. The children loved it so much that they had seconds 🙂 I only wish they ate their roasted or steamed pumpkin with the same enthusiasm!

I can’t think of a more impressive cake to serve this autumn.

Bundt Pan

The bundt pan I have used for this pumpkin cake is a Nordicware Heritage Bundt Pan, but you can use any other bundt pan with a 10 cup or 2.4 litre capacity.

As I have had many disasters with cakes sticking to the intricate grooves of various bundt pans, I highly recommend using a non-stick baking spray for bundt pans, as well as lightly flouring the pan for extra reassurance.

5 stars (2 reviews)

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Thanh | Eat, Little Bird

Prep15 minutes mins

Cook1 hour hr

Total1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Serves: 6 to 8

A stunning Pumpkin Bundt Cake made with homemade pumpkin purée, and drizzled with an orange glaze.

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Ingredients

For the pumpkin cake

• 300 g (1 ½ cups) light muscovado sugar, or light brown sugar
• 250 ml (1 cup) sunflower oil
• 1 orange, zested and juiced
• 3 eggs
• 400 g (3 ⅔ cup) plain flour, (all-purpose flour)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• 300 g (1 ¼ cup) pumpkin purée, homemade or canned

For the orange glaze

• 200 g (2 cups) icing sugar, (powdered sugar)
• 2-3 tablespoons orange juice, from the same orange above
• 3-5 tablespoons pistachios, shelled and unsalted, finely chopped

Instructions 

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (without fan).
2. Generously spray the bundt pan with a non-stick cooking spray and then dust with flour. Invert the bundt pan over the sink and give it a tap to shake off the excess flour.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sugar, oil, orange zest, and 2 tablespoons of orange juice.
4. Beat on medium speed until everything is combined and smooth.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time.
6. Add the pumpkin purée.
7. Add the flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon and allspice.
8. Beat on light speed just until everything is well-combined.
9. Pour the mixture into the bundt pan.
10. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean.
11. Leave the cake to cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 15 minutes.
12. Gently loosen the cake around the funnel, and then carefully turn the cake out onto a wire rack.
13. Leave to cool completely.
14. Make the orange glaze by whisking some orange juice into the icing sugar (powdered sugar) until you have a consistency which is runny enough to ice the cake, but thick enough to stick to the cake.
15. Spoon the glaze over the cake and sprinkle with the chopped pistachios.

Kitchen Notes

• HOMEMADE PUMPKIN PURÉE
  * Peel and remove the seeds from about 500 g (1 lb) of pumpkin.
  * Cut the pumpkin into large pieces of roughly equal size.
  * To boil, bring a large pot of water to the boil, add the pumpkin and cook for about 30 minutes until the pumpkin is tender.
  * To steam, bring a large pot of water to the boil, place the pumpkin in the steamer basket and steam for about 50-60 minutes until the pumpkin is tender.
  * Place the cooked pumpkin into the bowl of a large food processor and blitz until you have a fine purée.
  * Leave the purée to cool completely before using in this recipe.
  * Any leftover pumpkin purée can be kept in a covered container in the fridge for a few days.
• RECIPE CREDIT
  This recipe is adapted from Simply Nigella by Nigella Lawson
• OVEN TEMPERATURES
  All recipes on this website state temperatures for a regular oven (i.e. a conventional oven without fan). If you have a convection oven with a fan, please consult the manufacturer’s handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly.
• CONVERSIONS
  To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.

Nutrition Information Nutrition Information

Calories: 421kcal, Carbohydrates: 60.5g, Protein: 5.3g, Fat: 18.1g, Cholesterol: 42.4mg, Sodium: 240.6mg, Fiber: 1.7g, Sugar: 36.5g

Did you make this recipe?

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Update

This recipe was first published on 19 October 2016. It has been updated with new photos and more comprehensive recipe notes.

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