This gets Christmas in your mouth so you can get the party started! Pumpkin, raisins, walnuts and more!

Desserts / December 3, 2015

I love the aromas of this time of year. I can’t get enough of the pine, the cranberry, the mint and the cinnamon. And then there’s that wonderful thing call allspice. It is yumminess ground up and packaged for greatness. Add it to your recipe and you have a classic. Well, I guess a little technique and imagination do help the process along, but when you want to get the taste of Christmas in your mouth, reach for this cake. Presentation is everything, so I punched out the servings in discs to be extra special, too.

The cake is dense like a pound cake, but spongy and full of texture and even has some crunch. Buttermilk makes it especially nice, and the glaze? Oh, you can pour that on me now!

Check out these photos to see how it came together, and then download the recipe for my Pumpkin Walnut Raisin Buttermilk Cake with Buttermilk Pumpkin Glaze.

Pumpkin Walnut Buttermilk Cake with Raisins And a Buttermilk Pumpkin Glaze

Servers 10-12 |
A wonderful alternative to regular spice cake

Ingredients:

Cake:

2 large eggs
½ C sugar
3 1/2 ounces bottled pumpkin butter
¼ C light oil
1/3 C buttermilk
½ t vanilla
¼ t allspice
1 C flour
½ t baking powder
¼ T salt
1/3-1/2 C walnuts, chopped coarsely
1/3 C raisins
Butter to grease pan

Glaze:

¼ C buttermilk
2 T pumpkin butter
½ t vanilla
Powdered sugar to mix to desired consistency. About a cup.

Method:

In a large glass mixing bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, beat well for about 2 minutes. Add oil, pumpkin butter, vanilla, buttermilk. Whisk very well either with an electric mixer or a good whisk until very well blended and shiny. In another bowl, sift the flour and the baking powder, as well as the allspice and salt and combine. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients, gently folding in with a spatula until blended well. Gently fold in the raisins and walnuts. Don’t overmix.
Pour into a 9” greased round cake pan. Cook in a 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let sit for about 3 minutes. Then invert onto a rack for about 5 minutes, and then reinvert onto a nice serving place.
To make the glaze, combine the vanilla, pumpkin butter and buttermilk. Then add the powdered sugar little by little until you have a glaze. Not stiff like frosting, but not too runny. When cake is cool, cut each service slice or do what I did and punch out round servings. Top generously with glaze. One taste and the holidays begin!