Description
A classic fall pound cake made with pumpkin puree, buttermilk, and warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Features a tender, moist crumb and optional vanilla glaze.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Cake:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Optional Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2–3 tbsp milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F and grease your bundt pan well – I use butter then flour because I’ve learned the hard way that cooking spray isn’t enough for this dense batter.
- Cream butter and sugar for about 4 minutes until it looks pale and fluffy. Don’t rush this step; it’s what creates the cake’s structure.
- Add eggs one by one, beating after each. The mixture might look weird and curdled when you add the pumpkin – totally normal.
- Mix in pumpkin puree, buttermilk, and vanilla. The batter will look a bit strange at this point, but keep going.
- Whisk all dry ingredients together in another bowl. I always do this separately to avoid flour pockets.
- Fold dry ingredients into wet, mixing just until you can’t see flour streaks. Stop immediately – overmixed pound cake is dense and tough.
- Pour into prepared pan and level gently with a spatula. Don’t bang the pan; just smooth the top.
- Bake 60-70 minutes. Check at 60 minutes with a toothpick – it should come out with just a few crumbs.
- Cool in pan 15 minutes, then flip onto a cooling rack. If it sticks, let it sit another 5 minutes.
- Glaze when completely cool if using. Warm cake will make the glaze disappear.
Notes
Get everything to room temperature first – cold eggs don’t mix well and create lumpy batter. I set mine out when I have my morning coffee. The cake pulls away slightly from pan sides when done, which is more reliable than the toothpick test. Mine always tests clean at 65 minutes but needs the full 70 to develop proper texture. Don’t open the oven door before 55 minutes or it might sink in the center.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 60-70 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Creaming method
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 385
- Sugar: 42g
- Sodium: 195mg
- Fat: 16g
- Saturated Fat: 10g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 62g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 5g
- Cholesterol: 85mg