Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice

While I still have one blueberry recipe left up my sleeve, I figured it was time for a little change of pace, or change of ingredient in this case. As January draws to an end, we are once month closer to the end of winter and therefore the end of pumpkin spice everything, at least until next year. Trader Joe's is the absolute king of pumpkin spice. Starting in late September every year, they begin to stock their shelves with pumpkin spice flavored granola, pumpkin spice chai lattes, pumpkin spiced pumpkin seeds, and honestly anything you can think of probably comes in pumpkin spice flavor around this season at TJ's. While we are already two months into winter, I realized I hadn't made anything in that category this year. So for my last and final call on MOD (inpatient ward month) I figured it was the perfect time to whip out the spice and make something nice. 

One of my favorite things to bake around this season is pumpkin spice cake. This shortening based recipe actually omits butter, but somehow manages to stay super moist. Although I like to bake it in a bundt pan, this cake is actually very dense, much like a pound cake as opposed to your typical bundt cake. Not terribly sweet, and with just the perfect amount of spice and nutty texture, this cake goes great with a cup of tea or coffee. 

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 65 minutes
Yield: 1 bundt cake

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour a 10 inch bundt pan.
2. Cream shortening and sugars until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs one at a time and stir until combined.
4. Add pumpkin puree and mix until combined - mixture may look curdled.
5. In a separate bowl sift together four, baking soda, salt, and spices.
6. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and fold until incorporated.
7. Fold in chopped pecans.
8. Pour mix into bundt pan and bake for 65 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 
9. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing from pan. 
10. Dust with powdered sugar for decoration.