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Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Pound Cake

Posted by Shaw_Girl in Baking, Fall Recipes, Featured Articles, Holiday Baking, Thanksgiving Recipes on November 13, 2009 | 3 responses
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Finished Pound Cake 2

It’s quite possible I have gone a tad bit pumpkin crazy this season.  And to understand my almost obsessive love for pumpkins, we need to go back to my childhood.  See, I was the kid whose mother wouldn’t celebrate Halloween.  Convinced it was a bad holiday, my mom didn’t want us to dress up or go trick or treating.  It didn’t help that every year the local news blared stories of tainted Halloween candy (thanks WJBF and you’re “in-depth coverage”).   No, the universe had aligned against me, thus depriving me of a true Halloween childhood experience.

Pretty Big Red

As I got older, I started dressing up for Halloween, but I never got around to carving a pumpkin.  In fact, until I moved to DC, I had never even held a real pumpkin before.  And when I first saw them at the farmers markets last year, I was actually a bit intimidated by them.  All that changed when I timidly bought my first pumpkin a few weeks ago at the 14th & U Farmers Market.  It was a small pumpkin, cute as a button and irresistible to anyone who had a culinary loving heart.  After a bit of research (okay, googling “what the hell do I do with a fresh pumpkin”), I realized just how easy it was to work with fresh pumpkin.  Before I knew it, I was whipping up breads, doughnuts and cookies.  Thoughts of cheesecakes, muffins and even popovers danced in my head.  All that was shoved aside, however, when I saw a Bon Appetit recipe for a chocolate swirl pound cake.  I have been experimenting more with baking recipes lately, so it seemed a great idea to add pumpkin to my favorite pound cake recipe.  Adding the chocolate swirls per the Bon Appetit recipe was a bonus.  The pound cake turned out delicious – the spices and essence of a pumpkin pie folded into a Southern classic.  I may need some work on my swirl making abilities, but the chocolate was still bursting out of every bite.  This cake just may replace the pumpkin pie on my Thanksgiving table this year.

Chocolate Shavings

Recipe: Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Pound Cake

Ingredients

  • 3 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 6 eggs
  • 3/4 cup pumpkin puree (or canned pumpkin – NOT pumpkin pie filling)
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, grated

Batter and Chocolate Shavings

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt cake pan and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the ground nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
  3. Using a stand (or hand) mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy at medium speed. Add the eggs one at a time, waiting until each egg is mixed in thoroughly before adding the next egg. Once all the eggs are added, pour in the pumpkin puree and continue mixing until all of the ingredients are combined.
  4. Reduce the speed of the mixer and add a third of the flour mixture and a third of the milk alternatively. Allow all the ingredients to be incorporated and then add another third of the flour and the milk alternatively. Wait until all of the added ingredients have been incorporated before adding the last third of the flour and milk. Beat one last time to finish incorporating all of the ingredients.
  5. Spoon half of the batter into the prepared bundt cake pan. Sprinkle one ounce of the grated chocolate evenly over the batter. Spoon the remaining batter over the grated chocolate. Top the batter evenly with the rest of the grated chocolate. Using a knife, make swirl patterns throughout the batter.
  6. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the cake. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.
  7. Carefully remove the cake from the pan (I place a large plate over the pan and then carefully flip the pan upside down) and allow to cool completely before serving.

Making Swirls

Number of servings (yield): 12

Meal type: dessert

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3 Responses to “Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Pound Cake”

  1. Laetitia says:
    November 13, 2009 at 12:52 PM

    I can’t comment on the pound cake because it would kill (darn chocolate allergy!) but I have the exact same kitchenaid mixer… red and all.

  2. Heather @ chik n pastry says:
    November 13, 2009 at 2:30 PM

    me too! Not the chocolate – the mixer :)
    and this cake looks delicious – i was thinking of making some pumpkin chocolate chip ice cream – but it would go great with the cake!

  3. melanie says:
    November 22, 2009 at 10:24 PM

    I just made this and it was absolutely superb (even though my swirls didn’t work that well either). Thanks for coming up with this recipe!

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