This Glazed Pumpkin Pound Cake is made with a rich, buttery batter of pumpkin, buttermilk, and warm fall spices, and topped with a sweetened buttermilk glaze.
I'm trying to think if I've ever known a person who didn't like pound cake. Hmmm...nope, can't think of a single one. Because really, what's not to like about pound cake? It's rich, it's buttery, it's just delicious.
Why is it Called "Pound Cake?"
Pound cake got its name from the old method of using a pound of butter, a pound of flour, a pound of sugar, and a pound of eggs for the batter. Can you imagine what a huge cake that made? I'm not really sure how they baked those monstrous cakes much less lifted them out of the oven.
Today's pound cakes are still true to the basic ingredients, but much lighter in weight and volume. And there's an endless variety of them, too. I've had coconut pound cakes, sour cream pound cakes, chocolate pound cakes...you name it and you can probably flavor a pound cake with it.
I have a fantastic Never Fail Pound Cake recipe that I always use for plain pound cakes. That recipe makes a great cake, but with the fall season starting, I really wanted something with warm spice and pumpkin flavors. This wonderful Glazed Pumpkin Pound Cake satisfied that craving very well.
I Think They Liked It :-)
BeeBop and I enjoyed several slices of this and then I sent the rest to his office. Apparently, it went over really well. Here's the text of an email I received from one of his co-workers that day:
"Lana-We have your husband. Do exactly as instructed and no one gets hurt. The recipe to the Pumpkin Pound Cake must be in our hands before 4:30 PM today. Do not attempt to contact the authorities. If the recipe is not in our hands by 4:30 today you can expect to start receiving individual strands of Bill’s hair. Do not test us - we are not afraid to make him completely bald, one hair at a time."
Thanks y'all. You gave me the best laugh I've enjoyed in quite a while. So here, in answer to those demands, is "the recipe."
Jump to:
How to Make Glazed Pumpkin Pound Cake
Start by preheating your oven to 350. Then grease and flour a 10-inch tube or bundt pan. Set that aside for now.
Drain the Pumpkin
You'll need to drain the canned pumpkin to keep the cake from being too wet and heavy. I find the easiest way to do this is to spread the pumpkin out on a double thickness of paper towels. Then cover it with another double thickness of paper towels, gently press those down, and leave it for about 10 minutes. Scrape the drained pumpkin into a little bowl.
Cream the Butter and Sugar
Put the white and brown sugars along with the butter into a large mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed for about 3 minutes or until well blended.
Add the Eggs
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
Tip: to facilitate adding the eggs to the batter, crack all the eggs into a small bowl. Pour one egg at a time from the bowl into the batter making sure each is incorporated well before adding the next.
Add the Pumpkin
Beat in the pumpkin and vanilla. Notice how the batter gets a grainy look after adding the pumpkin? Don't worry, that's exactly what it's supposed to look like.
Add the Dry Ingredients and Buttermilk
Measure the flour by lightly spooning it into a dry measuring cup and leveling it off with a knife. Mix the flour, spice, baking powder, soda, and salt with a whisk or fork so that it is evenly combined.
A note about the spices: Pumpkin pie spice is a very convenient spice mix available in every grocery store this time of year. You can spend about $4.00 for approximately one ounce of it, or you can easily make your own.
To make your own, combine 3 tablespoons of ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 2 teaspoons nutmeg, and 1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves. Mix well and store in an airtight container. You'll use 1 ½ teaspoons of the mixture where called for in this recipe.
Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to the sugar mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.
Tip: To make it easy, I add ⅓ of the flour, then ½ of the buttermilk, ⅓ of the flour, the remaining buttermilk, then the remaining ⅓ of the flour. It doesn't have to be perfectly even amounts, just your best estimate.
Pour the Batter into the Pan
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted halfway between the outer edge and the center comes out clean.
Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove it from the pan and cool completely on the wire rack.
Make the Glaze
The make the glaze, combine the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute. Remove the pan from the heat and drizzle the glaze over the cake.
By the way, this is a fantastic glaze for any pound cake recipe.
More Cake Recipes on Never Enough Thyme:
More Pound Cake Recipes Curated for You
- Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake from Southern Living
- Eggnog Pound Cake from Simply Recipes
- Orange Spiced Pound Cake from Taste Food
- Perfect Lemon Poppyseed Pound Cake from SippitySup
- Apricot Pound Cake from Leite's Culinaria
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📖 Recipe
Glazed Pumpkin Pound Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 15 oz canned pumpkin puree
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar packed
- ½ cup butter softened
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup buttermilk
For the Glaze:
- ⅓ cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- ⅛ tsp baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease and flour a 10-inch tube or bundt pan.
- Drain the pumpkin by spreading over two layers of paper towels. Cover with two additional layers of paper towels and let stand for about 10 minutes. Scrape the drained pumpkin into a bowl.
- Add the sugar, dark brown sugar and butter to a large bowl.
- Beat at medium speed for 3 minutes or until well blended.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
- Beat in the pumpkin and vanilla.
- Measure the flour by lightly spooning into a dry measure cup and leveling with a knife.
- Using a whisk or fork, combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to the sugar mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tube or bundt pan.
- Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove cake from the pan and cool completely on wire rack.
- To prepare the glaze, combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and drizzle over cake.
Notes
- To facilitate adding the eggs to the batter, crack all the eggs into a small bowl. Pour one egg at a time from the bowl into the batter making sure each is incorporated well before adding the next.
- To make your own pumpkin pie spice mix, combine:
- 3 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons nutmeg
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves
Mix well and store in an airtight container. You'll use 1 ½ teaspoons of this mixture where called for in this recipe.
- To make adding the dry ingredients and buttermilk easy, add ⅓ of the flour, then ½ of the buttermilk, ⅓ of the flour, the remaining buttermilk, then the remaining ⅓ of the flour.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your health care provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
Lana Stuart is the cook and occasional traveler here at Never Enough Thyme. Lana has been cooking since she was tall enough to reach the stove and started this blog in 2009 to share her delicious home cooking recipes. You'll find about 700 recipes here so there's sure to be something your family will like!
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Angelina
This was SO delicious! Make sure that you don't use pumpkin 'pie filling', .... use plan 'canned pumpkin' The flavor of this Pound Cake was incredible! I baked it in my Bundt pan. The glaze was VERY tasty. I'm keeping this recipe.
Lana Stuart
So glad you liked it, Angelina!
Miss P
OOOOOH.... I am SO making this today. The tip about getting excess water out of the pumpkin is absolute genius. How in the world did you know to do that?
Miss P
Lana Stuart
I don't know, but it works really well!
Dawni
Searched for nearly an hour for a pumpkin pound cake that I wanted to bake. This was it!! I just took it out of the oven and it looks almost exactly like your picture. Smells Delish! Can't wait to try it. I will update post once we cut into it. Thank You!!
Joan
Oh goodness, I thought I was the only one that slathered a slice of pound cake and toasted it. Sometimes I sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar on the butter.