Nigella Lawson: Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Nigella Lawson made a stop in Vancouver on Monday to promote her new cookbook. The 55-year-old celebrity chef just released Simply Nigella, her ninth publication, which her website describes as tapping “into the rhythms of our cooking lives, with recipes that are uncomplicated, relaxed and yet always satisfying.”

The following recipe is as published from Simply Nigella.

I love the Thanksgiving feel of a pumpkin cake, even if the pumpkin does come out of a can. The first time I made this, I didn’t frost it, just dusted the cake with confectioners’ sugar and served it alongside a bag of frozen mixed berries that I’d thawed, stirring a little finely grated orange zest into the fruits as I tipped them, still frozen, into their bowl. Then, I felt I really had to do something with the half can of pumpkin I had left over, and so came up with the No-Churn Brandied Pumpkin Ice Cream, which goes especially well here should you choose to serve the bundt while it still has a little residual warmth about it. But don’t feel bad if you want to eat this as a coffee-or-tea-accompanying cake; in which case, ice it as below. Yes, this is the second of three bundt cakes for your delectation, but it seems to me that if you own such a pan (and I am in possession of one that creates a cake that looks like a cross between an old-fashioned mother-of-the-bride hat and a Catherine wheel) you will want to get as much use out of it as possible. However, if you don’t have a bundt pan, use an 8-inch square cake pan (approximately 2¼ inches deep) instead. This makes quite a high cake, almost the full height of the pan, and will need 45–55 minutes’ baking time at the oven temperature below (and check it is cooked all the way through to the centre before removing it from the oven).

• 1½ cups light brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• zest and juice of 1 orange, preferably unwaxed
• 3 extra large eggs
• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• 1¼ cups pure pumpkin purée (from a 15-ounce can)
• non-stick cooking spray (or vegetable oil and all-purpose flour) for greasing

For the glacé icing:
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2½–3 tablespoons orange juice (using orange from above)
• small square bittersweet chocolate for grating
• 1 x 10-cup bundt pan or 1 x 8-inch square cake
• pan approx. 2¼ inches deep (see intro above)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray your bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray, or make a paste by mixing 2 teaspoons of oil and 2 teaspoons of flour and brush it all over the insides of the pan, making sure you get into all of the crevices. Leave upside down on a piece of newspaper or parchment paper to drain off any excess oil while you prepare the cake.

In the bowl of a freestanding mixer (although you could do this by hand), beat together the sugar, oil, the finely grated zest of half the orange, and 2 tablespoons of its juice until smoothly combined. You’ll need to stop and scrape down the bowl once or twice.

Add the eggs, beating again.

Measure the flour, baking soda, and spices into another bowl, forking everything together lightly so that it’s all mixed well.

Then beat the pumpkin purée into the egg mixture, before finally adding the flour and spices and folding to combine. Once you have a smooth cake batter, carefully fill your oiled bundt pan with this mixture.

Bake for 45–55 minutes, though I always start checking at 40. The cake should be coming away from the edges of the pan and a cake tester will come out clean. Remove to a wire rack, leaving the cake to cool in its pan for 15 minutes.

Gently prise the cake away from the pan with your fingers, paying particular attention to the part around the funnel, then turn out the cake onto the wire rack and leave to cool completely.

To ice the bundt, stand it on the plate of your choice, then sift the confectioners’ sugar into a bowl and gradually whisk in the orange juice, beginning to slow down after the second tablespoon, just to make sure you get the consistency you want. Once you have a smooth icing that’s thick enough to stick to the cake, but with just enough runniness to drip down the sides a little, start spooning it over the top of the cake, letting it move naturally on its own: it will run down the architectural grooves of the cake, rather beautifully of its own accord; don’t worry if it drips a little onto the plate as – for me, anyway – this adds to its charm. Sometimes, if I have a little icing left over, I can’t stop myself doing a bit of a frenzied Jackson Pollock (as you can see from the photo).

Grate the chocolate on top, to finish: even a small square gives you too much, but it’s no great sacrifice to eat what you don’t use.

Cuts into 10-14 slices.

Reprinted with permission