The Saga of the 37 Pumpkins- Installment 14 - Pumpkin Pound Cake with Maple Glaze

Pumpkins began to swarm around Patch. No one was silent anymore; all that they seemed capable of doing was talk. Someone said that they were glad Cucurbita was dead, because it meant that she could no longer make deals with the keepers, then someone chastised that pumpkin, declaring that she clearly had had no communication with them at all.

Unnoticed by those around him, Patch began to glide away.

He first passed a man who was rambling to his wife.

"I bet Cucurbita wanted to save one of us, and they did away with her, because she wasn't going along with the rules. Are you listening to me?"

His wife failed to respond; she had turned to look at something. She was entranced by it.

A group of small young pumpkins stood in a cluster, their stalks raised towards the sky. They were faintly humming something. Patch slid past them, and as he passed, he heard something that sounded like "Let us be a pumpkin pie, pumpkin pie, let us be a pumpkin pie, so that we can smell good."

Things had become even stranger since Cucurbita had gone. No longer was his only friend here. No longer was any sanity here, either.

Patch wondered why no one else had ventured away from the cluster of patchmates. Anyone could have done it, but they hadn't. They could only think of hard solutions that probably wouldn't work, when the easy one had been right in front of them all along.

Then there were 22...

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Pumpkin Pound Cake with Maple Glaze

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 
• 2 sticks of butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 15 ounces of pureed pumpkin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. While the oven heats, grease and flour a 12 cup tube or Bundt pan. (We've always used a tube pan and lined the bottom with waxed paper before greasing and flouring. This helps to prevent the cake mix from seeping out of the bottom of the pan.)

In a medium bowl, whisk your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and the cloves. Set aside.

Next, in a separate mixing bowl, cream the sugars and butter until light and fluffy. Don't rush the creaming process. It may take 10 minutes with an electric mixer and even a bit longer if mixing by hand. The results are worth the effort.

Now add the eggs one at time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Beat in the pumpkin and vanilla.

Slowly beat the flour and spices into the wet ingredients. Cake mix will be thick.

When completely combined, pour into prepared pan and bake for approximately 50 to 60 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out clean. Ovens temperatures vary and it may take over an hour for cake to bake. 

When cake is done, let cool on metal rack for 15 minutes. Don't have a rack? No worries. Place the hole of your tube or Bundt pan over a long-necked glass bottle, such as a soda bottle. The bottle will support your pan allowing for air to circulate freely around the hot pan.

After the 15 minutes are up, invert pan, place cake on a serving dish and completely finish the cooling process.

While the cake is cooling, make the maple glaze.

Maple Glaze

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

In a small sauce pan, add the butter, maple syrup, and whipping cream. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 1 minute. Remove pan from heat and whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth. Let glaze cool for about 15 minutes. It will thicken to a nice consistency. Drizzle over the cooled cake. And for a nice presentation, let some of the glaze drip over the edges of the cake. 

Enjoy!

Recipe Adapted From: About.com/Southern Food

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Moist and delicious, this cake is similar in taste and texture to pumpkin bread. Adding nuts or raisins would certainly be a good option. You can omit the maple glaze if you like, and dust with powdered sugar, but we recommend you don't. It's the maple glaze that takes this cake from simple to sophisticated. 

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Product Recommendation: Our family has had several electric mixers over the years, but it wasn't until we purchased a KitchenAid Professional mixer could we say that baking is a breeze. It has the power to mix heavy bread dough and the speed to whip your cream in a flash.
KitchenAid KP26M1PSL Professional 600 Series 6-Quart Stand Mixer, Silver