Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake

I wanted to get this recipe on under the wire, just in case you are still not sure what dessert to make for Thanksgiving!

Forget the pumpkin pie!

Truth: I have never bought a can of pumpkin puree and I have never even tasted pumpkin pie!

What am I missing?

I decided to break the silence and start with a pumpkin cake, this way I would ease myself in using other ingredients, like flour, chocolate, etc.
I have made butternut squash cakes with much success, but a pumpkin......how would I cook a whole Halloween pumpkin?

Trader Joe's sells organic pumpkin puree in a can, so I took the plunge.

Of course, feel free to use any squash you like here, but reading about real pumpkin vs. canned pumpkin when baking, the canned stuff wins.

This makes a beautiful, impressive, delicious, rich moist cake, need I say more?

It's big and bold and would be oh so nice for the holidays.

I don't have pumpkin pie spice here, so added in a pinch of ground cloves and allspice.

Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake (adapted from Simply Gloria):

10 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree or cooked squash
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (what is that anyway?)

1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

I took out my hand mixer for this job.

You will need 2 separate bowls. One for the pumpkin batter, one for the chocolate pumpkin batter. You follow me?

In bowl #1: Cream the butter w/ the sugar, eggs, pumpkin, sour cream and vanilla.

Mix in the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and soda. You will have a rich, thick luscious batter.

Remove 1 1/2 cups of the pumpkin cake batter to bowl #2.
Add in the 1/4 cup of cocoa and the chocolate chips. Mix together to make a rich brown batter.

The idea here is to layer the orange and brown batters to create a swirl.

Grease a large bundt pan.

Layer half the pumpkin batter on the bottom, then a layer of chocolate batter on top. Swirl with a knife, or leave in clumps, it's up to you.

Repeat with another layer of orange batter, then a layer of chocolate batter.

Bake in a 350F oven for 50-55 minutes. I use a Simax glass bundt pan, so my cake only took 45 minutes.

Let completely cool before removing the cake from the pan.

Dust with powdered sugar or white chocolate glaze. It's up to you. I left mine naked, because I liked the look of it without.

The pumpkin ban has been broken.

:)