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Dessert

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

A bundt cake made with pumpkin puree, whole wheat and all-purpose flour, brown sugar, and a cinnamon‑nutmeg spice blend, finished with orange glaze.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 19 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Oven350°F
Time35 to 45 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the batter

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 10‑inch Bundt pan (12‑cup capacity) with cooking spray.

  2. In a medium bowl, combine both flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

  3. In a medium bowl, put pumpkin puree. Gradually whisk in buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Set aside.

  4. In a large bowl, combine eggs and both sugars. Beat with electric mixer at high speed until pale in color and thickened, 3 to 5 minutes.

  5. With a rubber spatula, fold in the flour mixture. Fold in the pumpkin mixture. Repeat until all flour and pumpkin mixtures are incorporated (3 flour additions and 2 pumpkin additions).

  6. Scrape batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the surface with a spatula.

Bake and cool

  1. Bake the cake until the top springs back lightly when touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes.

  2. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

  3. Loosen the edges of the cake and turn it out onto the rack to cool completely.

Make and add the glaze

  1. To make the glaze, sift confectioners’ sugar into a medium bowl.

  2. Add vanilla extract and one tablespoon of orange juice. Whisk to blend.

  3. Gradually add just enough additional orange juice until the glaze is smooth, thick, yet pourable.

  4. Slowly spoon the glaze over the cake, letting it drip down the sides.

  5. Decorate the cake with walnuts if desired.

  6. Let the glaze set for about 30 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1046Calories
36 gProtein
37 gFat
140 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 13 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Egg Substitute1 large egg (50g)78
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Pumpkinnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + vanillatop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  3. Cinnamon + pumpkintop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  4. Wheat + cinnamontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together537 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  5. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour
Provides the main structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
Eggs
Add structure and help the whipped batter rise and set into a tender crumb.
Pumpkin puree
Adds moisture and tenderness, along with its distinct flavor and orange color.
Buttermilk
Adds moisture and mild acidity that tenderizes the crumb and reacts with the baking soda.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
Light brown sugar
Adds sweetness, moisture and a caramel-like flavor, and helps browning.

The step that matters

Beating the eggs and sugars. Beating until pale and thickened traps air that gives the cake lift. Folding the flour and pumpkin mixtures in gently, in alternating additions, keeps that air from deflating and avoids overworking the gluten.

Swap the pumpkin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, wheat, cinnamon, nutmeg, buttermilk, vanilla, egg):

  1. Raisinfits better
  2. Blueberryfits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Pumpkinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, wheat, cinnamon, nutmeg, buttermilk, vanilla, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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