A few entries back, I promised to post some of my all-time favorite recipes in Gourmet Magazine, since November was their very last issue.  This recipe has been a fall favorite of mine for a few years now.  Besides this being an easy cake to make – the subtle pumpkin flavor combined with the fall spices makes this a perfect cake that goes well with just about anything you make for dinner.  Make sure you add the buttermilk to the icing really slowly – mix well before each tablespoon, and again before each teaspoon – just in case. You don’t want this icing to get too thin. The key to this icing is that it is very thick – if it is too thin, it will just soak right into the cake and become invisible.  As soon as the icing hits the warm cake, it starts dripping all over the sides into a perfect topping.  Trust me.

I have adapted this recipe only slightly from Gourmet.

Ingredients

For cake

• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting pan
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15-ounce can; not pie filling)
• 3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs

For icing

• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons well-shaken buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

• Special equipment: a 10-inch nonstick bundt pan (3 quart)

Preparation

Make cake:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter bundt pan generously, then dust with flour, knocking out excess.

Whisk together flour (2 1/4 cups), baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, 3/4 cup buttermilk, and vanilla in another bowl.

Beat butter (1 1/2 sticks) and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, then add eggs and beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth.

Spoon batter into pan, smoothing top, then bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 15 minutes, then invert rack over cake and reinvert cake onto rack. Cool 10 minutes more.

Make icing:
While cake is cooling, whisk together buttermilk and confectioners sugar until smooth. Drizzle icing over warm cake, then cool cake completely. Icing will harden slightly.

Cooks’ note: Cake can be made 3 days ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, click here:  Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake