Chocolate-pumpkin bundt cake with ganache drizzle

If you have leftover pumpkin from Thanksgiving, here is a dessert recipe that transitions it right into the winter holiday season.  I made it for a certain-someone’s birthday yesterday, but it would look lovely on your Christmas table as well.

This recipe is adapted from Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Chocolate Desserts.

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1.5 t cinnamon
1/ t ginger
1/4 t cloves
1/4 t nutmeg
3/4 cup unsweetened dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 pound butter
1.5 t vanilla extract
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 lb pumpkin puree
optional:  1.5 cups walnuts

For the ganache:
6 T heavy cream
6 oz semisweet chocolate

Instructions

Place oven rack one-third up from the bottom and preheat oven to 325

Coat inside of bundt pan with butter (take very-soft-but-not-quite-melted butter and brush on thoroughly).

Dust very fine breadcrumbs (pulse through a food processor as necessary) on inside of buttered pan, shaking out excess.  Set aside

Using a sifter or mesh strainer, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.  Set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter, then beat in the sugar and vanilla.  Add the eggs one at a time.

On low speed, add half the dry ingredients.  Then mix in the pumpkin.

When the pumpkin is incorporated add the remaining dry ingredients.

Mix in the walnuts at this point if you would like.  I did not do this myself.

Carefully turn the batter into the bundt pan, smoothing the top.

Let bake for 1.5 hours, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

When it is done, let the cake cool in the pan a good 30+ minutes before carefully turning over onto a cooling rack.  Let cool several more hours before serving.

The original recipe does not call for icing but instead a dusting of confectioner’s sugar.  In my opinion, however, icing is the best part of cake!  So I made a simple ganache to drizzle over the top.

Ganache icing

Melt 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate with 6 tablespoons of heavy cream in a double boiler or a metal bowl placed over a pot of boiling water.

Stir continuously until chocolate is completely melted and incorporated into cream.

At this stage the icing will be very runny.  If you want a very drizzly look you could apply it to the cake now.  Otherwise let cool for about 15-20 minutes.

I just spooned it on top of the cake and sort of eased it over the sides at the indentations.  I left the cake on the cooling rack over a lined baking sheet for easier cleanup.

I wasn’t sure how the combination of chocolate and pumpkin spices would taste, but — it worked!  I also whipped up the remaining heavy cream with some maple syrup to serve on the side.  This cake was delicious and enjoyed by all.

-R