My dad is very difficult to buy presents for. Birthday, Christmas, Father’s Day… I usually have no idea what to get him. The same goes for my mom. But, my dad is always the easiest to bake for. I know what he likes for dessert and breakfast treats; his tastes are strong and they don’t change often. An October birthday makes things even easier. He loves cinnamon and pumpkin. It’s a good thing he doesn’t have a July birthday. All this to say: I may sometimes think too long about configurations of flavors, but really, the idea for this cake came together quite quickly.
I’ve been wanting to make a stacked Bundt like this since… maybe last year? At least for a while. I must have first seen it here, but a quite Google search proves others have thought of similar (and even cuter) ideas.
It was just a matter of finding the right occasion, and… what better occasion than my Dad’s birthday??
Unlike most elaborate shaped cakes, the construction and execution of this could not be more simple. I made one of the Bundts slightly smaller on accident, but it worked out perfectly for getting the shape right. Then, it’s just a mater of frosting it well enough so that you maintain some of the shape of the Bundt. I made my frosting layer too thick initially, but then I slowed down and followed the Bundt ridges a bit better, and then it had some extra pumpkin-y shape to it.
By now, that baby Bundt pan I got from Nordic Ware has proved itself an excellent impulse purchase. It’s the perfect size for a little cake, just like how I’m all converted on making 6 inch regular birthday cakes. It makes recipe configurations slightly more complex, but it also means cakes that don’t go stale and more opportunity to make more flavors!
Decorating cakes is always a dice roll with me, so I’m glad this one was simple. The frosting may look slightly rustic, but to that I say: it’s supposed to look like a vegetable! Let it be rustic!
This was also a great cake to eat while watching Bake Off contestants attempt to make desserts that they could wear. Absolute chaos. Such a bizarre brief. Glad I was able to just make my little vegetable-shaped cake and eat it while watching people balance cakes on mannequin heads.
I always love asking the others who ate my bakes for feedback (a post is always better with a quote), and I write this while sat in a room with all of them. My dad just said, “I loved it. I don’t know what else I can say.” And sometimes it is that simple… what else can I say?
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PinDescription
I made this with a 3-cup Bundt pan, but it can easily be doubled/sized up for larger pans
Ingredients
Pumpkin cakes
- 1 and 1/4 cups + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Biscoff frosting
- 1 stick butter
- 1/2 cup Biscoff spread
- 1 1/2–2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Orange food coloring (optional)
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 3-cup Bundt pan.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together in a large bowl. Set aside. Whisk the oil, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, pumpkin, and vanilla extract together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and use a mixer or whisk until completely combined. Batter is thick, and you’ll have around 5 cups total.
- Spoon/pour half of the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean with just a couple lightly moist crumbs. This is a heavy cake so don’t be alarmed if it takes a little longer in your oven.
- Once done, remove from the oven and allow to cool for an hour in the pan. Then invert the slightly cooled Bundt cake onto a wire rack or serving plate/cake stand.
- Repeat a second time with the rest of the batter.
- Once both cakes are cool and removed from their pans, make the frosting.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and Biscoff spread on medium speed until combined, about 1 minute.
- Add 1 1/2 cups of the confectioners’ sugar and salt. Beat on low speed until the sugar is well incorporated, and then increase the speed to medium to keep beating until the frosting is smooth and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Taste and add powdered sugar or salt if desired. Dye with orange food coloring, if using.
- Place one cake upside down on your serving plate, and frost the top of it. Stick the other half on top, right side up. Frost all the sides. Follow the ridges of the cake as best you can.
- To decorate, you can melt some chocolate and spread it out in a stem shape on some parchment. Once it hardens, you can stick it on the top of the cake to look like the stem.
Notes
Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction