This pumpkin bundt cake is moist and fluffy and topped with homemade caramel icing. It’s full of cozy pumpkin spice flavors like cinnamon and nutmeg that pair perfectly with the sweet caramel glaze.
Why You’ll Love This Pumpkin Bundt Cake
A lot of pumpkin bundt cakes out there have a cream cheese icing, but I have this thing where I love making caramel so I decided to make a pumpkin bundt cake with caramel icing. This is the same caramel icing that I use for this Buttermilk Caramel Bundt Cake, so if you love it here I recommend checking out that recipe.
The end result is probably one of my favorite pumpkin bundt cakes. It’s just a delightful little cake that’s the perfect, simple dessert for Fall. The caramel sauce elevates it in a way that makes it perfect for any occasion.
A few features of this pumpkin bundt cake:
- The cake is super moist and fluffy. Using both butter and oil for the batter yields a flavorful cake with a tender crumb.
- Sweet caramel icing is rich and decadent with a hint of sea salt.
- You can make the batter in one bowl, no mixer required.
- Perfect for a Fall gathering or Thanksgiving.
I love bundt cakes because of how easy they are — some other favorites are Vanilla Pudding Bundt Cake, Blueberry Bundt Cake, and Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake.
Ingredients for Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Caramel Icing
Below is a list of what you will need for this recipe as well as a few key notes and substitution options.
Ingredients for Pumpkin Cake Batter
- Pumpkin Puree, such as Libby’s: You will need a full 15oz can of pumpkin puree for this cake. I love Libby’s best for its consistency and flavor, but other brands work as well.
- If you are using homemade pumpkin puree note that it tends to have a higher water content, so try draining some of it out first.
- Melted Butter and Oil: I’ve tried this recipe with just oil or just butter, and think that a combination of the two work best. Oil-only pumpkin cakes are amazing but tend to be on the spongier side. I wanted something with a tighter, fluffier crumb.
- Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar: For sweetness.
- All-Purpose Flour: Make sure to measure flour correctly. A food scale will work the best, but if you do not have one then use the spoon-and-level method.
- Eggs, at room temperature: Soak eggs in a bowl of hot water for 5-10 minutes before baking to bring them to room temperature.
- Spices: Ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cloves. Don’t skimp on the spices, especially nutmeg and ginger. These bring all of the yummy pumpkin spice flavor.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: Leavening agents.
- Pure Vanilla Extract
Ingredients for Caramel Icing
- Granulated Sugar and Powdered Sugar: Granulated sugar for the caramel, powdered sugar to whip it into a glaze.
- Butter, cut into slices: Either salted or unsalted butter work fine. The extra salt in the butter adds depth to caramel’s flavor anyways.
- Room Temperature Heavy Cream: It is very important to warm the heavy cream to room temperature. You can do so in the microwave.
- Milk, any kind: Smooths out the caramel sauce to make it pourable.
- Sea Salt and Vanilla Extract: Adds flavor.
You will also need a 10-12 cup bundt cake pan. I absolutely love my Nordicware bundt pan–definitely a great investment. It’s so sturdy and heats evenly.
Tips for Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- Make sure leavening agents are fresh. Old baking soda and baking powder do not work as well and the cake will not rise. If it’s been over a year since you’ve purchased new leavening agents, then it may be time for a replacement!
- Let the cake rest in the pan for 15 minutes before flipping it out. Fresh out of the oven bundt cake is too hot and fragile. It will break and you will burn yourself if you don’t let the cake set and cool a bit before removing it from the pan.
- Don’t over-mix the batter: When folding flour into the batter, stop mixing when you no longer see streaks of white flour and be gentle. Over-mixing causes tough and gummy cake, aka two adjectives I never want to use to describe cake lol.
All About Caramel Icing
As noted by my long rambling above and the name of this recipe, the topping for this pumpkin bundt cake is a homemade caramel icing. To tell you more about this, essentially you will make a small batch of caramel sauce (much easier than you would think), let it cool down slightly, and then whisk in some powdered sugar and milk to turn it into an icing.
There a few tips to keep in mind to make the best caramel icing:
- Room temperature heavy cream: one of the last steps in making caramel is to mix in some heavy cream. If the cream is cold it will cause the sugar to seize up, so warming it in the microwave to room temperature before cooking is crucial.
- Do not overcook caramel: we want the caramel sauce to be on the runnier side so that you can pour it over the bundt cake. Do not cook it for too long in the pan, otherwise it will harden when it cools.
- If this does happen, you can thin it out by heating it with some more heavy cream.
Making in Advance and Storing Leftovers
You can bake this bundt cake in advance and make the caramel icing when you’re ready to serve it. If you prepare the pumpkin cake the day before, make sure to store it tightly wrapped or in an airtight container on the counter. I do not recommend making the caramel icing in advance–it’s best when fresh.
Store leftover pumpkin bundt cake in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days. Alternatively, you can tightly wrap and freeze individual slices, as long as they aren’t covered yet in caramel icing. If you anticipate doing this, you can always serve the caramel on the side!
Pin & Save for Later
Are you interested in making this recipe but not ready to bake yet? Not to worry! You can hover over (or tap on mobile/tablet) any image in this post to save it to Pinterest. You can also directly pin the recipe card down below. The recipe will be waiting for you when you need it. 🙂
Happy baking my friends and as always, hope you love your pumpkin bundt cake!
Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Caramel Icing
This is a super moist and fluffy pumpkin bundt cake with a homemade caramel icing. It's an indulgent yet simple cake that's perfect for Fall.
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cake Batter
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- ½ cup oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 15oz can pumpkin puree, such as Libby’s
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp ground ginger
- ¾ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ each ground cloves and allspice
Caramel Icing
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1½ tsp water
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream, at room temperature
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp milk
Instructions
Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F a liberally grease a 10-12 cup capacity bundt cake pan. I recommend using a bakers spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter and oil together to combine. Then, whisk in the granulated and light brown sugars.
- Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next one, continuing to whisk. until smooth.
- Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla extract until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices until well mixed. Add the flour to the wet ingredients and gently whisk or fold it in until the flour is just combined. Do not overmix. You can add the flour in two parts if that is easier.
- Pour the batter into the greased bundt pan and bake for 50-565 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
- Let the cake cool for 15 minutes in the pan before covering the top with a board or rooling rack and flipping it out. Then, allow the cake to cool completely.
Caramel Icing
- Once the bundt cake has cooled completely, you can begin making the icing.
- Add the granulated sugar and water to a heavy-bottomed saucepan and melt them together over medium heat. Allow the sugar to melt without touching it--it may clump up as the water evaporates. You can pick up the pan every once in a while and give it a few shakes to prevent burning.
- The sugar will turn a deep amber color as it melts. One it has almost fully melted, then you can then get in there with a spatula and start stirring it around.
- After all of the sugar is fully melted, turn down the heat to medium-low and add in all of the butter. It will immediately begin to bubble. Begin aggressively stirring, using either a whisk or rubber spatula until the butter is fully melted.
- Pour in the heavy whipping cream (make sure it is at room temperature) while continuing to stir. Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking and stirring for another 1-2 minutes. Then, pour the caramel into a heatproof bowl and stir in the vanilla and salt. Let it cool down for around 10 minutes.
- Whisk the powdered sugar and milk into the caramel until you have a smooth glaze. Pour the glaze evenly over your bundt cake. Enjoy!
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