This recipe features all the flavors of the holiday season wrapped up into one beautiful bundt cake! This cake is packed with pumpkin, apples, cranberries, and pecans, flavored with cinnamon and ginger, and topped with a maple icing
2⅔cups(334g) all purpose flourspooned and leveled or weighed
1teaspoonbaking soda
2teaspoonsbaking powder
2½teaspoonsground cinnamon
1teaspoonground nutmeg
2teaspoonsground ginger
½teaspoonkosher salt
½cup(113g) unsalted buttersoftened to room temperature
½cup(118ml) canola or vegetable oil
1¼cups(250g) granulated sugar
½cup(110g) light brown sugarpacked
3large eggsroom temperature
2teaspoonspure vanilla extract
15ozcan pumpkin puree not pie filling
1heaping cup(150g) peeled diced apple
1heaping cup(105g) fresh cranberries
⅔cup(70g) chopped pecans
Icing:
1½cups(180g) powdered sugar
3tablespoonsmilk
¼teaspoonmaple extract
2tablespoonschopped pecansoptional garnish
Instructions
Cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F with a rack in the center of the oven. This recipe requires 12-cup bundt pan (no smaller). Set it aside but don't grease it just yet.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a hand mixer), beat butter, oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Add the pumpkin puree and vanilla, beating until combined and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the flour mixture and beat until no streaks of flour remain. Stir in the chopped apples, cranberries, and pecans with a rubber spatula or spoon.
Thoroughly grease a 12-cup bundt pan (I use nonstick baking spray with flour in it). Pour the batter into the pan and spread it into an even layer. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until a long toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean (check a few different spots since you might hit a piece of fruit). Place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes, then carefully remove the cake from the pan and place the cake directly on the wire rack to cool completely.
Icing:
Whisk powdered sugar, milk, and maple extract. Adjust the consistency by adding more powdered sugar to thicken or more milk to thin. I like the icing just thin enough to drizzle but still on the thicker side. Add the frosting to a piping bag with the edge snipped off (I did not use a tip). Beginning on the interior of the bundt, squeeze the frosting while bringing the bag up the cake and over the side, then back up again (in a back and forth-zigzag type of pattern). Immediately top with pecans.
Notes
STORAGE: This cake can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or at room temperature for up to 2 days. Over time the maple icing will thin out from the moisture in the cake.MAKE AHEAD: This cake stays moist for days. You can bake it up to one full day in advance but I recommend waiting until the day you are serving it to add the icing (see above).