Flavors and Aromas
For the past few weeks my mother has been asking me when I will be blogging about Thanksgiving desserts, since she began planning her menu four months ago. One problem; I had been focusing on my day-to-day meals more than a meal that seemed so far away at the time.
Now that pumpkins have officially made their way into every store, even I figured out that it is time to start highlighting various dessert options for the big feast, especially since Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.
I love the days leading up to Thanksgiving. The kitchen is filled with aromas I always associate with this holiday. With memories of those days still fresh in my mind, I find it incredibly rewarding to sit around the Thanksgiving table, finally relaxing knowing the meal is complete.
I know, I know…I am getting ahead of myself talking about a finished meal. There are so-o-o many desserts to think about before I can give that final sigh of relief.
Last year I blogged about Pumpkin Cake with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting, a delicious layer cake option for the Holiday. I thought this year I would go a different route, at least for one of the desserts, Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Caramel Sauce.
Cinnamon, ginger and cloves complement the pumpkin perfectly and the caramel sauce is a lovely accompaniment. Once the caramel sauce cools, a single layer is drizzled over the cake, while the remaining sauce is served with the cake. My preference is to spoon some sauce over my slice.
Actually, my real preference is to simply sit down with a bowl of cake and caramel and blend the two together, but that will have to wait for another recipe. For now know that if you choose to serve a Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Caramel Sauce for your Thanksgiving Feast this year, you too will be able to relax at the end of the meal knowing your dessert brings together the best flavors and aromas this Holiday has to offer.
| Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Caramel Sauce | | Print |
- Pumpkin cake:
- ¼ cup turbinado sugar
- 2¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1½ cups light brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 – 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
- Caramel sauce:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar
- pinch salt
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 325°. Grease a 14 cup Bundt pan and sprinkle turbinado sugar around the pan. Set aside.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves together and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar and brown sugar together for 3 minutes, scraping the bowl down as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl down in between additions. Add vanilla.
- Add ½ the dry ingredients followed by all of the sour cream. Blend in remaining dry ingredients. Mix in pumpkin puree.
- Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake at 325° for 75 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes.
- Transfer cake to cooling rack and cool completely.
- For the caramel sauce:
- Place butter, brown sugar and salt in small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil for two minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cream. Set aside to cool completely, stirring occasionally.
- Transfer to a liquid measuring cup and very lightly drizzle one layer of caramel sauce over the cake. Allow to set.
- Transfer cake to a serving plate. Serve the cake with warm caramel sauce on the side.
- Betsy's tidbits:
- Place a piece of wax paper under the cooling rack before drizzling the caramel sauce over the cake.
- Pumpkin Bundt Cake is delicious warm or cold.
- Try scooping cinnamon ice cream over a slice of the cake and then drizzling caramel sauce on top.
- The caramel sauce is also delicious to dip apples into.
