It’s all about the pumpkin right now – and you know what that means: FALL IS HERE. (Not like the freezing cold weather isn’t proof enough!)
So in honor of the changing of the season, I’ve been spending a lot of time at the greenmarket getting inspired and on pinterest scrolling through fall recipes including many pumpkin bread recipes. I’ve experimented with a few and am stoked to present my variation of what I’ve come to understand as a universally-accepted recipe.
I mean, who doesn’t love a classic pumpkin cake? So moist and not too sweet; it’s even great for breakfast. But as a Canadian, I can find almost any excuse to incorporate maple syrup in a dish and this recipe was just BECKONING such a twist. So, this is what I got for you: maple meets pumpkin. An autumn love story. Sounds killer, right?! That’s cause IT IS.
I gotta say, to me, this recipe in little bundts is utter HEAVEN. The frosting drips inside the centers and when you cut one in half, you find a precious little gift of extra frosting and pecans inside. Um, YUM.
Makes two loaves or one loaf and six mini bundts
Ingredients
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups pumpkin puree
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Frosting
- 8 oz room temperature cream cheese
- 1 stick room temperature unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup & 2 tblsp grade A maple syrup (the good strong stuff)
- 2 tbs finely chopped pecans – for garnish
Directions
- Butter your baking pans and preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, mix the eggs with the oil, pumpkin puree, water and both sugars.
- In another bowl, whisk the flour with the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom until combined.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Make sure to not over mix! Stir the pecans in and divide the batter into the pans.
- Place in the oven. If you’re making the small bundts it will take around 20-30 minutes, depending on how hot your oven is. You know the cake is done when you stick a skewer inside and it comes out dry with some crumbs on it.
- The loaf takes longer, around 40-45 minutes. If it’s getting too dark on top and not fully baking in the middle, cover it loosely with tin foil. This will stop it from burning on the top.
- While the cake is cooling, make the frosting.
- In a mixing bowl, whip the cream cheese, butter and maple syrup until the buttercream is light and fluffy. If you want it to be sweeter add in more maple syrup. Dollop the frosting on top of the bundts or spread it over the loaf. (I like to gently tap the bunts so that the frosting drips down the sides more.) Sprinkle with pecans and serve.