Is there ever a wrong season for pumpkin cake?

I thought it might be a bad idea to bake a pumpkin cake in the spring time.  I was wrong, so very wrong.  I would eat this cake any time of the year.


I told B I wanted to send him to work with a bundt cake (as you can imagine, I really had to twist his arm to agree to that).  Sometimes a girl just feels like baking and a bundt cake would be perfect because it feeds a lot of people (all the marines he works with), travels easily (I have a round cake-carrier) and you don't have to worry about spending lots of time decorating it to get the perfect finished look.  It's just a casual, simple dessert.  


I gave him a few options to choose from and surprisingly he picked the pumpkin bundt.  I say surprisingly because it's March and I usually think of pumpkin as being a fall or winter flavor.  But we had a few cans of pumpkin puree in the cupboard (I hoarded about 4 or 5 cans last holiday season because I had heard there was a shortage) so all I had to do was look for the perfect recipe.  Well, I will save you the trouble of looking for the perfect pumpkin bundt recipe because I found it.  Moist and tender crumb, a sweet and buttery streusel layer and the perfect amount of spice.  


Enjoy.  Any time of the year.


Pumpkin Bundt with Brown Sugar Streusel Swirl
Adapted from Libby's website

Streusel:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons butter

Cake: 

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
4 large eggs, room temp
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
8 oz or 1 cup fat-free plain greek yogurt (I used Fage)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract


Glaze:


2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons milk

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Prep 12-cup Bundt pan:  spray with non-stick cooking spray and flour pan, tipping to coat all sides.
2. Make streusel by cutting the butter into the spices and brown sugar.  Set aside.
3. For the cake:  Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
4. Cream sugar and butter together until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes with the paddle attachment).
5. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl.
6. Add pumpkin, greek yogurt and vanilla.
7. With mixer on low, add in flour mixture until just combined.
8. Spoon half batter into pan.
9. Top with streusel mixture being careful not to let the streusel touch the sides of the pan.
10. Top with the rest of the batter.
11. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes (depending on your oven) until toothpick or skewer comes out clean. 
12. Cool for 30 minutes in pan, then depan and cool completely.
13. Before cake is completely cool make your glaze - whisk powdered sugar and milk together.  Drizzle over slightly warm cake.


The glaze hardens slightly once fully cool.  The cake will be moist for days and days.  

Please excuse the AWFUL picture!  It was pouring rain the day I made the cake so there was NO natural light in the kitchen.  You can see the yummy streusel layer running through the center of the cake.