Delightful Bundt Cake with Bourbon Spiked Drizzle

I started out with nothing particular in mind one day, looking at dessert recipes. I think of all desserts to make, cakes are possibly my favorite. Anything from a simple old fashioned coffeecake tosheet cake to decorated cakes and bundt or ring mold cakes. Suddenly I came upon a site with a recipe called Gingerbread Bundt Cake with Cinnamon Rum Icing. I love gingerbread - it is a kind of cake / dessert bread cross, after all. The pictures on the site are just lovely. The mold used for the Bundt cake was exceptionally pretty, though I don't own that particular style. And I thought about it a while and wondered, "The recipe calls for applesauce. I wonder how pumpkin would do in the recipe, instead?" 

Pumpkin Gingerbread Bundt Cake with Bourbon Spice Glaze

As I continued to peruse the recipe, I noticed that it is made a bit differently than any other cake recipe I've ever made. It called for melting butter, setting side to cool slightly, then beating together the sugar and eggs till fluffy and light. What? And then adding in the melted, cooled butter. Okay, so I went ahead with all this and made the cake with my own variations. I made the icing with Bourbon rather than rum as I have become interested in Bourbon of late.

The outcome was the finest grained cake, the most tender, and just flat-out delicious, that I had to share. The link above to the original recipe will show how it was. I loved the mix of Pumpkin and Gingerbread flavors. The drizzle icing was amazing. And here is the recipe, as I made it:

Pumpkin Gingerbread Bundt Cake with Bourbon Spice Glaze

Makes one bundt cake

200 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
4 large eggs
360 grams sugar (about 1⅔ cup)
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360 grams all-purpose flour (about 2½ cups)
1½ teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon flaky salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon ginger
1½ teaspoon cloves
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1 cup sour cream
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a Bundt pan with soft (not melted) butter and dredge with flour. Tap to release excess flour, then set pan aside.

Over low heat, melt the unsalted butter; once melted set aside. In a mixer, beat together the eggs with the sugar until they are light and fluffy, then slowly stir in the slightly cooled butter.

Separately, measure out all the dry ingredients and stir to evenly distribute ingredients. In a measure, stir together the sour cream and pumpkin to combine.

To the egg mixture add about a third of the dry ingredients, mixing on low speed to combine. Add half the pumpkin mixture and mix, then another third dry mixture, the remaining half pumpkin mixture, then the remaining dry ingredients, stirring after each addition. Pour into the prepared Bundt pan, rapping sharply on a hard surface to release bubbles.  

Bake the cake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Rest on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, turn out onto the rack to cool completely before glazing.

BOURBON SPICE GLAZE:
180 grams / 1¼ cup confectioner's sugar
1 - 2 tablespoons Bourbon
1 - 2 tablespoons milk or water
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon fresh orange zest

Stir all ingredients until smooth. Pour over completely cooled cake.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things weekly. I would love to hear from you, to help me continue my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.