National Bundt Cake Day- Spicy Pumpkin Mini Bundts

National Bundt Cake Day is here again! The Food Librarian has been counting down to this day just like she did last year, by making 30 days of Bundts! Mary is so creative. Each and every bundt has been imaginative and delicious. My favorites that she has posted this year are the Ice Cream Bundt, the Buttermilk Butternut Squash Bundt (probably because I made it last year for this day of celebration), Meatloaf Bundt with Tunnel of Egg
and the Root Beer Bundt (I've made that one too).

I have loved looking at all of her beautiful Bundt cakes.

Of course I wanted to join in the fun, so this year I made Spicy Pumpkin mini bundt cakes. Now when I say mini, I don't mean those cute individual mini bundt pans that hold about 1 cup or so of batter. I mean I used my mini cupcake bundt pan, which is like a muffin tin, but it has little bundt molds in the pan instead of the usual muffin tin.

I took these as the refreshments for a cub scout meeting and they were gone in a flash. Everyone really enjoyed them. I made a simple icing of powdering sugar and skim milk to drizzle over the tops. They were delicious!

If you haven't made a bundt cake lately, today is the perfect day to do so. The Food Librarian has made at least 60 bundts, so go check out her blog if you need some ideas.

Here are the bundts I want to try the most from this last Bundt frenzy- Zucchini Olive Oil Bundt ,
Lavender-Lemon Bundt,
and the Snickerdoodle Bundt.

Oh who am I kidding? I want to try them all!



Recipe for Spicy Pumpkin Bundt Cake

TWD-Double Apple Bundt Cake

Double Apple Bundt Cake. It just sounds perfect for this time of year. We finally got out of the 90's this past week and had some cool weather, so an apple cake really fit into the beginning of fall.
Lynne over at Honey Muffin chose Double Apple Bundt Cake as this week's TWD pick. She will have the recipe posted on her blog. You can also find many versions of this cake all over the web.

The reason this is called a Double Apple Bundt, is because it contains apples two ways. 2 apples are peeled and shredded into the cake batter and 1 cup of apple butter is also used in the cake.
I don't usually keep apple butter on hand, so I knew I wanted to make mine at home. I knew that way I could control the level of sweetness and spice.

I made 1 1/2 times the recipe so that I could make a normal bundt and 6 minis. I knew I was going to give the big one away, but we really wanted to try this one too, so I kept the minis for us to sample.

I followed Dorie's suggestion and made these the day before, then wrapped them tightly and glazed them the next day. I used granny smith apples and omitted the nuts and raisins.

This was a delicious cake. Moist, with great apple flavor. Absolutely perfect pick.
Check out what everyone else thought by heading over to Tuesday's with Dorie!


Recipe for Oven Apple Butter
* I did not add the total amount of sugar called for. I added 1/2 of it and tasted it, then a little bit more, so it wouldn't be too sweet.
* My apple butter was ready after 3 hours in the oven.

Blueberry-Lemon Bundt Cake

This is a horrible picture of a wonderfully delicious cake that got rave reviews.
My mother-in-law asked me to make a couple of treats for her work party that could be made ahead of time. I was thinking summer flavors and this blueberry lemon combination won over all the other ideas.
I made it the night before, glazed it, and then she kept it covered until the next night.
Bundt cakes usually do well when they sit overnight, so I took my chances and it worked with this cake.

I only had 1/2 cup of sour cream in my fridge, so I used 1/2 cup of low-fat buttermilk to make the full cup of dairy for this cake.
I also used a glaze of fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar that was shown when this cake was made in the video included with the recipe.
I also used more lemon zest than it called for because sometimes I get carried away with my zesting.

I wish I would have gotten a better picture of this cake since it was such a hit.
Everyone requested the recipe- I wish I could have tried a slice!


Recipe for Blueberry-Lemon Bundt Cake
* I used 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk for 1/2 cup of the sour cream



Don't forget to enter the giveaway I posted yesterday!

TWD-Milk Chocolate Mini Bundt Cakes

This week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe, Milk Chocolate Mini Bundt Cakes, was chosen by Kristin.

You can find the recipe on her blog, I'm Right About Everything or HERE from my post about these mini bundts when I made them a little over a year ago.
I made mini, mini bundts. Meaning I used one of those pans that has 12 mini bundt molds.
I remember these being very good.
A couple of them crumbled a little bit, from the nutty-sugar swirl that is in the middle, but I remember that we ate the crumbs of the crumbly ones anyway.

I had a problem with the glaze, but it sounded like many people had the same problem. Mine wasn't pourable at all. Someone mentioned there might have been a little bit too much corn syrup in the glaze.

Go check out the TWD Blogroll to see who else enjoyed these little bundt cakes!

Celebrating National Bundt Day: Buttermilk Bundt w/ Spiced Vanilla Icing and Chocolate Zucchini Mini Bundts

(If you are looking for a MSC Cupcake, it is posted below this post, I promise)

So, how many of you know that today is National Bundt Day?
I wouldn't have known if it hadn't been for The Food Librarian.

30 Days ago she started her "I like Big Bundt" countdown to National Bundt Day, which means that for the past 30 days, leading up to today, she has posted a different bundt cake everyday. She started with the Pumpkin Spice Bundt with Buttermilk Icing, which I couldn't resist. I saw that bundt on day 1 and made it immediately.

The past 30 days have brought lots of delicious looking bundts. I really really wanted to make this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, ok, well, obviously, you get the idea.
I love Holiday Baking Magazines and I saw this bundt cake recipe in a special edition of Fine Cooking called Sweet Cakes. The link to the recipe is at the very bottom of this post.
I was very intrigued because this bundt cake contains shredded butternut squash. I have never seen a baked good that called for shredded butternut squash, so I decided I would make this bundt for National Bundt Day.

This bundt was a basic buttermilk cake with nutmeg and ground ginger, both of which I doubled because I like spices (ALOT). The shredded butternut squash is folded in at the end, right before you pop it in the oven. The icing also has buttermilk and nutmeg (doubled again) and I added ground ginger, for a little extra zing. Crystallized ginger is finely chopped and sprinkled over the icing.
I don't have a review on how this one tastes, yet. I wrapped it tightly and shipped it to my family in Utah, because I knew my younger brothers (17, 21) would be able to devour the entire thing in a matter of minutes and their bodies would never know the difference. And because my mom always said that sharing makes it taste better.
I did taste one tiny little crumb and it was good.
My girls were dipping their fingers in the leftover icing that had drizzled down the sides onto a piece of foil and they LOVED it
Of course I had to overdo it on National Bundt Day and make some baby Bundts to join in the fun. I really wanted to make the Chocolate Zucchini Bundt that Mary featured a couple of weeks ago and I happened to have a bunch of zucchini that needed to be used asap. I tried talking myself out of it and finally decided that I would just make 1/2 recipe and make some mini bundts.
When I was flipping through my copy of King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, I saw a recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cake which only used whole wheat flour and which could also be made in a bundt pan, so I went with that recipe instead. The whole wheat made me feel better about making it and eating it.
I made 1/2 of the recipe and it made 5 mini bundts. I skipped the glaze since I was going for a healthier treat anyway and just made a simple powdered sugar/milk glaze instead.
My kids really, really, really liked these mini bundts. I was going to send some to work with my husband, but they just didn't last long enough.
You can tell that they have whole wheat in them, because they do taste a little bit heartier and healthier than normal cake, but it really goes with the whole zucchini thing anyway. Very, very good.

I hope you have a wonderful Bundt Day! Bake someone a bundt and share the love!


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Chocolate Zucchini Cake from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking
use 9*13-inch pan or a 10-cup Bundt
Cake:
2 1/2 cups traditional whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar (I used dark)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, or vegetable oil (I used butter)
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips
Glaze: (optional)
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup chocolate chips
2 tsps corn syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease the pan of your choice. (I used baking spray w/ flour)
Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, powder and salt in a medium bowl (I added 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon to this mixture).
Stir together the sugars and butter (or oil) in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Add the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla; mix well.
Add half the dry ingredients. stirring until evenly moistened. Stir in the zucchini, then the remaining flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake until the top springs back when lightly touched, 45 to 50 minutes. (My mini bundts were done in 23-25 minutes). Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 15 minutes.
If using a bundt pan, remove the cake from the pan and cool completely.
If using 9*13-inch pan, you can serve from the pan of invert cake onto a platter and drizzle with the glaze.

To make the glaze: Heat the heavy cream to a simmer, and pour over the chocolate chips in a bowl. Stir in the corn syrup, and keep stirring until there are no more lumps and the mixture is smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cake, if desired.

Recipe for Buttermilk Bundt Cake with Spiced Vanilla Icing

TWD-All in one Holiday Bundt Cake

This month we get to post the Tuesday's with Dorie recipes in any order we want. Laurie has given us some leeway in case we want to make a certain choice for the holidays later this month.
I chose to post about the All in One Holiday Bundt Cake because I made it last year and already had pictures on my computer.
This bundt was chosen by Britin who blogs over at the nitty britty. The recipe will be appearing on her blog sometime this month. If you want to make this bundt cake now, (which I think you probably do), then you can also find the recipe HERE- when I posted about it last year.
I made this bundt cake last year for Thanksgiving because it was the perfect thing to make for a cake-lover like me.
It combines everything fall-ish and thanksgiving-y= pumpkin, cranberries, pecans, etc.
My little brother was dying to cut into it and I finally gave in and let him try a piece.
I remember that the flavors were really suberp the next day.
I am going to make this again this year sometime over the holidays and I recommend that you do to.
Go to the TWD Blogroll to see which November recipe everyone else is posting today!

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with Buttermilk Icing

So, have you visited The Food Librarian's blog lately? If you have then you know exactly what is going on over there. If you haven't, you are really missing out!
Mary is doing something called I like Big Bundts: 30 Days of Bundt Cakes, meaning that for the 30 days leading up to National Bundt Day, November 15th, she is spotlighting 30 different bundt cakes. 30 Days=30 Bundt Cakes.
I went over to take a look at Day #1's Bundt and it just happened to be this beautiful Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with Buttermilk Icing. This bundt cake was calling my name.
I didn't have anywhere to take it. I didn't necessarily have anyone to share it with, but I couldn't resist whipping it up, right then and there.
The day was perfect for it- rainy, cloudy and cold. No one wanted to leave the house. The oven warmed us up and the smell brought happiness to the house.

It smelled amazing. It was super moist. I upped the spices just a little bit. The little drizzle of icing was perfect.
This might just be one of my favorite cakes-EVER! I didn't want to share. I cut everyone a small slice and then I wrapped it up tightly in plastic wrap and put it in a plastic container so that we wouldn't eat the whole thing in one day.

I can usually just have a taste of something I bake and that is good enough. I send it away for someone else to enjoy.
But this was different.
I ate only salad for lunch and dinner on the day I made this, so I could justify having another slice after dinner.

Are you convinced yet? If you like pumpkin anything, make this cake!

Maria made a version with chocolate chips and everyone who tried it loved it too!


Food Librarian's post about Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake

Recipe for Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with Buttermilk Icing

One Year Ago-Thai Peanut Noodles with Tofu and Edamame

The Apple Cake Taste Test- smitten kitchen's Mom's Apple Cake and Gigi's Apple Cake

A couple of weeks ago, I had the urge to make an Apple Cake. Everyone was talking about Autumn, how the leaves were turning and the temperatures were dropping and apple cake just seemed appropriate.
I had an idea of what kind of apple cake I wanted to make. I found a recipe on smitten kitchen that I really wanted to try and I also found another recipe that I remembered tearing out of a magazine years ago.
After looking at the 2 recipes, I realized that they were almost identical, but slightly different.

I decided to make 1/2 recipe of both cakes and compare them. This also meant I got to use my cute mini bundt and mini tube pans.

Gigi's uses granny smith apples that are thinly sliced and mixed into the batter. Cinnamon is also mixed into the batter and it is mixed with a hand mixer.

SK uses macintosh apples, cut in cubes and only the apples are tossed in cinnamon. The batter is layered with the apples, not mixed. This cake has more baking powder and salt and a tad more flour. It does not use a mixer.

The SK batter was thicker, looked more like cake batter, and most of the mini's were done at 30 minutes, although I started checking 5 minutes before that.

Gigi's cake batter was thinner, almost like a quick bread or muffin.
I reduced the sugar in both cakes. SK by about 1/3 cup and Gigi by 1/4 cup.

The definite favorite with most people was smitten kitchen's apple cake. I took these little cakes to my husband's work and both of the cakes were devoured, so both were good.
My son preferred Gigi's, for some reason. He couldn't really put into words why though.

This was a fun little autumn experiment.



Recipe for Gigi's Apple Cake

Recipe for Mom's Apple Cake on smitten kitchen

One Year Ago- Dorie's Pumpkin Muffins

TWD-Classic Banana Bundt Cake

This week's TWD recipe-Classic Banana Bundt Cake
Picked by-Mary- The Food Librarian
Find the recipe on Mary's blog
or from this post when I made it last year

It was moist and delicious. Definitely worth making.
I took it to a gathering with friends and had no leftovers.
Checkout the TWD Blogroll to see everyone else's results!

(update at 12:53 pm- I apologize for the short post. We lost a dear friend over the weekend and went to the funeral last night. I was short on words when I wrote this)

Poppy Seed Cake with Lemon Glaze

This is another cake I made a couple of months ago for a dinner. I have actually made this cake once before and knew it was good and moist, so I figured it was a perfect candidate for giving away.
It is dense like pound cake and very lemony, but the lemon glaze keeps it moist and delicious.
Sorry this is a ridiculously short post, but I had this in my hanging out in my drafts and figured this week would be the perfect time to share it. Enjoy!

Poppy Seed Cake with Lemon Glaze (from Better Homes and Gardens)
Ingredients
3/4 cup butter
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup poppy seeds (about 1 oz.)
1 8-oz. carton dairy sour cream
1 recipe Lemon Glaze*
Directions
1. Let butter and eggs stand 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 10-inch fluted tube pan; set aside.
2. In medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In large mixing bowl beat butter on medium 30 seconds. Gradually beat in sugar. Beat in eggs and poppy seeds. Alternately add flour mixture and sour cream to butter mixture; beat on low after each addition just until combined. Spread evenly in prepared pan.
3. Bake 40-45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare Lemon Glaze. Remove and invert cake on rack; poke all over with fork tines. Brush glaze over cake. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate. Makes 16 servings.
4. *Lemon Glaze: In small saucepan heat 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and 2 Tbsp. butter over medium-low heat until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.
Makes 16 servings.


Coming Tomorrow- Thai Risotto

Root Beer Bundt Cake

Maybe you do the same thing that I do. You get a new cookbook and you look through it once. Then you go and look at it again and pick out the 1 or 2 recipes that you have to make "right now" or at least by tomorrow.

The most interesting recipe I saw when I looked through my copy of Baked, was the Root Beer Bundt Cake. I must confess that I don't drink soda, pop or coke, daily, weekly or monthly even. But when I do have a carbonated drink, I go for Root Beer. It doesn't have to be a certain brand or anything like that, I just like it every once in awhile.

I had offered to make some cakes for a dinner and this cake looked like the perfect choice.

I read reviews that said the flavors tasted better if you let the cake sit overnight, but I didn't have time for that, so I made it, frosted it, and sent it away.

My 2-year old cleaned out the food processor that I made the frosting in and I took a little taste. Yummy. That was really good frosting. Some of the best I have ever tasted.

I didn't get to taste a piece of the cake, but those who did, gave it rave reviews.

Other reviews I have seen said that the actual root beer flavor is very faint, but it makes for a really moist, chocolately cake. And it looks gorgeous.

Root Beer Bundt Cake
- yields 1 (10-inch) Bundt cake

-Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers In Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito
Ingredients
Cake

2 cups root beer (do not use diet root beer)

1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs
Frosting

2 ounces dark chocolate (60% cacao), melted and cooled slightly

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup root beer

2/3 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder

2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
Topping

Vanilla ice cream
Procedure
For the root beer Bundt cake:1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously spray the inside of a 10-inch bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray; alternatively, butter it, dust with flour, and knock out the excess flour.
2. In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder, and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until just beaten, then whisk them into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture. The batter will be slightly lumpy--do not overbeat, as it could cause the cake to be tough.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a small sharp knife inserted into the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Gently loosen the sides of the cake from the pan and turn it out onto the rack.

For the root beer frosting:

1. Put all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until the frosting is shiny and smooth.
2. Use a spatula to spread the fudge frosting over the crown of the Bundt in a thick layer. Let the frosting set before serving, with the ice cream on the side.

Coming Tomorrow- Coconut French Toast with Grilled Pineapple and Tropical Salsa

Chocolate-Pumpkin Marble Cake

Do you ever feel like you have to have an excuse to bake? Sometimes, I feel like I have to have a good reason. I don't know why. It just seems like if you have a reason, it makes it okay.
My good friend was visiting and had missed a couple of the delicious baked goods we had tried. She wasn't going to be here for much longer and she had mentioned how much she liked pumpkin and chocolate when they were combined in desserts. I showed her the recipe for this cake and she thought it was a great candidate for a middle-of-the-week, no-special-occasion dessert.
I had her approval and some sort of an excuse, so I mixed it up. We got alot of servings out of this cake, by making the slices very thin. Delish and Decadent. Which is okay is small amounts, right?

Chocolate-Pumpkin Marble Cake from Sunset Magazine

1 1/2 cups (3/4 lb.) butter, at room temperature

3 cups sugar

6 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 cup Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa

2/3 cup buttermilk

Chocolate glaze (recipe follows)

1/2 cup chopped roasted, unsalted peanuts (optional)

1. In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Scrape half the mixture into another bowl.
2. To make pumpkin batter: Beat pumpkin into half the butter mixture until well blended. In another bowl, stir together 1 3/4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and beat on low speed or fold in with a flexible spatula just until blended.
3. To make chocolate batter: In another bowl, mix remaining 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the cocoa. Add flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk to the other half of the butter mixture (starting and ending with flour mixture), beating after each addition just until blended.
4. Spoon half the pumpkin batter into a buttered and floured 12-cup bundt-cake pan. Drop half the chocolate batter by spoonfuls over (but not entirely covering) the pumpkin batter. Repeat to spoon remaining pumpkin and chocolate batters into pan. Gently run the blade of a butter knife around the center of the pan several times, then draw the knife across the width of the pan in 10 to 12 places to swirl batters.
5. Bake in a 350° regular or 325° convection oven until a wood skewer inserted into center of cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 55 to 60 minutes. Let cake cool 10 minutes in pan, then invert onto a rack, lift off pan, and cool cake completely.
6. Pour warm chocolate glaze over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Sprinkle glaze with peanuts if desired. Let stand until glaze is set, about 2 hours, or chill about 30 minutes.
Chocolate Glaze:

In a heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler, combine 4 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate, 1/2 cup whipping cream, 1 tablespoon butter, and 1 teaspoon corn syrup.

Bring an inch or two of water to a boil in a pan that the bowl can nest in or in bottom of double boiler, then remove from heat.

Place chocolate mixture over water and let stand, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth, about 10 minutes.

Coming Tomorrow- Warm Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad

All in One Holiday Bundt Cake

My turn is coming up next month to choose the recipe for Tuesday's with Dorie. Let me say, that it is really hard. There are so many great recipes I want to pick, so I am trying some of them to get them out of the running. I wanted to try this cake, because it contains a couple of my fave things- fresh cranberries, pumpkin, and pecans. I made it for Thanksgiving and thought it was really a pretty cake that would give people another dessert option, alongside all the pie. I made it the day before and actually thought it tasted better, the day after Thanksgiving, after the flavors had a chance to meld together and become stronger.
My younger brother really wanted to cut into it the day I made it and I actually had a nightmare that he ate the whole thing before any of our guests arrived! Pretty funny.
This was a great cake for this time of year, easy to throw together and very tasty.

All-In-One Holiday Bundt Cake from Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours--(makes one 9- to 10-inch Bundt cake)

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of ground cloves (optional)

Pinch of salt

1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoon/5 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups canned unsweetened pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)

1 large apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped

1 cup fresh cranberries, halved or coarsely chopped

1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Optional: Maple syrup icing (see recipe below)

To make the cake:Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9- to 10-inch (about 12-cup) Bundt pan. Do not place the pan on a baking sheet - you want the oven's heat to come up through the Bundt pan's open core. Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves (if using) and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside dry ingredients.

Working with a stand mixer (using a paddle attachment, if you have one), beat the butter and both sugars together at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat for 1 minute after each addition; beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the pumpkin and apples - don't be concerned if the mixture looks curdled. Still on low speed, add the dry ingredients, mixing only until the flour is just barely incorporated. Working with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in the cranberries and pecans. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with the spatula.

Slide the pan into the oven and bake 60 to 70 minutes at 350F, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding. Cool to room temperature on the rack. Drizzle with maple syrup icing (if using) or simply dust the top lightly with confectioners' sugar.
Maple syrup icing: Sift 6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar into a bowl. Stir in 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup. Add more maple syrup little by little, until you have an icing that runs nicely off the tip of a spoon - you might need another 1/2 tablespoon to get the right consistency. Put the cooled on a sheet of parchment or waxed paper and drizzle the icing over the cake. Let the icing set for a few minutes before serving.

Up next- Chicken Fried Rice