Monday, September 30, 2013

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Wow! This is only my 3rd pumpkin dessert post on my blog. That's less than one a year! It's not that I'm anti-pumpkin. That would be silly! It's just one of those seasonal foods that I forget to use! Like blackberries! (Mental note to self: use blackberries!)
 
Do you ever find yourself at the end of a fruit or veggie season and think, "Oh, whoops! I'll remember to use that ingredient NEXT year...yeah..."? If not then you are a super multi-user of produce (or you have a garden.)
 
Well, I was glad to make a pumpkin dessert just in time for fall. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any pumpkin pie spice at Whole Foods and was about to go home and mix my own spices when I found their winter spice blend. One whiff of this blend and I was in love. I quickly added it to my items to buy and then brought it triumphantly home and made my room mate smell it. He agreed...it smells like the holidays! It was the perfect blend of spices to add to this pumpkin chocolate chip bundt cake.
I must admit that I found this recipe to be quite dense. The amount of ingredients it calls for kept surprising me. THREE cups of flour and TWO cups of sugar?! But seeing I haven't baked with pumpkin in a while, I figured this was the norm.
 
The bundt cake was nice and soft. It doesn't pack a mighty pumpkin flavor so the chocolate chips and spice were a nice pairing to make it more enjoyable. My addition to this recipe is the drizzling of icing on top. It looked rather bare without it.
And WITH the icing it makes the bundt cake look irresistible, don't you think?
 
So, besides baking with pumpkin last week, I also got this cute new boot.
I guess I was running too quickly because I tore my plantar fascia sprinting down 5th Ave at a 5:50 per mile pace. So for now, instead of "the messy chef" you can call me the "hop-a-long chef."
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake (adapted from Barbara Bakes)
Ingredients for cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or use a winter spice blend or make up your own spice blend)
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter, soften
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 can (16 ounce) pumpkin (Erika's Extras: It's worth it to buy the better brand so as to get a better pumpkin flavor)
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (Erika's Extras: I used semi-sweet. I suggest that or dark chocolate.)

Ingredients for glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1-3 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a full size bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, stir the flour, spices, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and set aside.
In a large bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and the sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition. Add the pumpkin and mix until combine. Add the dry ingredients mixing just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake 50-60 minutes or until a long thin toothpick or thin knife comes out clean.
Cool in pans 5 minutes on a wire rack. After 5 minutes invert onto wire rack. Let cool completely before adding the icing.
 
To make the glaze, sift the powdered sugar into a medium to small bowl. Stir in a tablespoon of heavy whipping cream. Add more cream to get the thickness of glaze that you desire. 
Bake well and prosper!

7 comments:

  1. So glad the choir enjoyed the cake. The icing does add an irresistible touch. Your cake is so orange. What brand of pumpkin did you use?

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  2. Whole Foods didn't have their canned pumpkin out yet so I used what my local store had in stock. I don't remember what the brand was, but I didn't think it was super pumpkin-y taste wise. Looks wise, yes! :)

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  3. Wow looks perfect!!! I love the colour!!
    xox

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  4. Hi Erika,

    I can feel the instant ouch knowing what happened to your foot! Hope that you are recovering well...

    I'm preparing myself to run a full marathon on 13 Oct and hopefully that I'm ok.

    It must be difficult for you to hop and bake at the same time. Although I'm not a big fan of dense cakes, I like the goodness of pumpkin and wouldn't mind having a slice or two of this good cake :D

    Zoe

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  5. I love, love pumpkin anything and your cake looks especially delicious!
    Sorry about your foot though....

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Thanks for taking time to leave a message! xo - EB