A perfectly spiced pumpkin olive oil bundt cake filled with chocolate chips and toasted pecans.
As a recovering pumpkin spice addict, I like to think I’ve been very judicious with my pumpkin bakes this year.
There was a batch of muffins before this that didn’t make it to the blog for one reason or another (though they did make it into Remy’s belly, and QUICKLY) but other than that THIS IS IT.
Where did I acquire this newfound sense of reserve and self-control, might you ask?
I have no idea, to be honest. I think I’m just a little tired with never enough free time and so if I’m going to do pumpkin anything I want it to be the biggest and the best, which has overcome me with overwhelming decision fatigue. And so basically I’ve made nothing out of fear that it wouldn’t be good/delicious enough.
(Look, I never said I wasn’t crazy, okay???)
So I’ve pretty much spent every meal planning session for the past eight weeks flipping endlessly through cookbooks trying to find The One until last week when I stumbled upon an assuming recipe for pumpkin loaf cakes in The Vanilla Bean Baking Book and I thought, eh, why not?
The original recipe actually made two loaf cakes but that seemed excessive for one three-person family (and also my loaf pans were not the right size) so I did what any warm-blooded super-size-loving American would do: made the full recipe and just poured the batter into a bundt pan.
Yes, we still ate the same amount, why do you ask?
And oh my, this cake was just lovely. It is perfectly spiced, eternally moist (<– sorry) with a bit of an earthy flavor from the olive oil with little bits of chocolate chips and pecans in every bite.
Make sure you use dark chocolate in this because it is kind of on the sweet side, or if you need to use a sweeter chip then cut down on the sugar. Or just omit the chocolate entirely and add more pecans in it’s place!
If you’re trying to execute more self-control than we were (ahem) you can also divide the batter among two 8-inch loaf pans and either freeze one or gift it, preferably to a dear loved one and before you taste it because it’s going to be tough to part with after you do.
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp grated nutmeg
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1½ cups sugar
- 1½ cups brown sugar
- ½ cup olive oil
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
- ¾ cup dark chocolate chips
- ¾ cup chopped pecans, toasted
- Heat oven to 350F. Grease a bundt pan or spray with baking spray. Set aside.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs on medium-high speed until they are pale and doubled in size, 2-3 minutes. Add in the sugars and beat for 2 minutes. Add in the oil, butter, vanilla, and pumpkin. Mix on low until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and pour in the flour mixture. Mix on low until combined. Add in the pecans and chocolate chips, fold in by hand.
- Pour the batter in the prepared baking pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for 20 minutes, then remove from the bundt pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
Pumpkin perfect!
I can’t wait to make this. Yummy!