Pumpkin Pound Cake w/ Cream Cheese Buttermilk Glaze

Do you ever have that overwhelming urge to bake?  I do.  And pumpkin has been mysteriously absent from my fall menu so far.  There was a can of pumpkin lurking in my pantry, though.  Begging to be used.  I thought about just making a pumpkin pie but I didn't have any of the canned milks required.  Pound cake seemed to be the natural alternative.

I looked at a lot of pumpkin pound cake recipes.  Many of them were very similar to my regular pound cake with the simple addition of pumpkin instead of milk.  So I just substituted pumpkin for buttermilk.  I could tell the texture wasn't quite right; the batter was too dry.  So I added some milk and it was perfect!  While browsing recipes I saw a cream cheese glaze and a buttermilk glaze; both sounded fantastic so I combined the ideas in my own way.

Pumpkin Pound Cake

1/2 C unsalted butter, room temp (1 stick)

1 C lightly packed brown sugar

1/2 C white sugar

4 eggs

1 15oz can pumpkin puree (not pie filling)

1/2 C buttermilk*

1 tsp vanilla

3 C flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

cooking spray and white sugar

Cream Cheese Buttermilk Glaze:

2 oz cream cheese, room temp

2.5-3 Tbsp buttermilk*

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

   Cream together butter and sugar.  Incorporate eggs one at a time.  Add pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla.

   Combine flour, baking powder and soda, spices, and salt.  Add to pumpkin mixture in 3 batches.

   Pour into a 10 in bundt pan that has been liberally sprayed with cooking spray and then coated with sugar.

   Bake at 350 deg F for 55 min-1 hour.  When a toothpick is inserted into the center of the cake and comes out clean, the cake is ready. 

   Cool in pan for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto plate.  Cool completely.

For glaze:

   Combine cream cheese and sugar until smooth and lump-free.  Slowly whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until smooth.  Start with 2.5 Tbsp buttermilk; if it is stiff or thick, add a little bit more.

   Drizzle over cooled cake.

   Serves 16.

*If you don't have or don't like buttermilk, you can use whole or 2% milk.  But buttermilk does help the cake to be very tender and the glaze is soooo delicious, you should use it.