Spiced Buttermilk Bundt Cake

So now that fall is in full swing, how have you been spending it? Watching leaves changing? Buying new boots (yes!)? Yearning for food-filled holidays?

Or have you been drowning in pumpkin? I have seen so much pumpkin out there on the webs. Too much pumpkin I think. Don't get me wrong. I like pumpkin, especially in pie form. It's just that I'm feeling a bit overloaded with pumpkin recipes. Plus, there are some places that pumpkin (or its flavor counterparts) is not meant to be, such as in coffee. No more homemade pumpkin spice lattes please. Just stop. Please. I'm begging you.

Besides, there are so many other delicious, warm, beautiful fall flavors! Like pear and apple, which I've clearly been obsessed with recently. And spice!

Yes, I rang in fall with spices tossed in buttermilk cake. Mini bundt ones of course, because that's how I do. There's just something about allspice, clove, nutmeg, and the like that make everything feel and smell and taste like fall.

This cake is perfectly spiced, tender and moist (even more so the next day), simple and lovely. It's the dreamiest of fall cakes and really doesn't need any glaze or sauce at all--a light sprinkling of cinnamon or powdered sugar would do just fine. But if you're feeling snazzy, this cake pairs quite well with my new best ever Spiced Apple Cider Caramel Sauce. You're welcome.

Spiced Buttermilk Bundt Cake
makes 24 mini (2 1/2-inch) bundts, or one 10-inch bundt
base cake recipe adapted from yumsugar

Note: If you can get whole spices and then grind them up freshly yourself, I super duper highly recommend it. The spice is so much lovelier. However, if you choose whole over pre-ground, you may want to decrease the amount of each depending on how potent you want the spice.

375 g (3 cups) all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cardamom
113 g (1/2 cup) butter, at room temperature
300 g (1 1/2 cups) granulated sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a mini-bundt pan (I used this one) or 10-inch Bundt pan. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and all the ground spices. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed (6 on a KitchenAid) until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer to medium speed (4 on a KitchenAid) and add eggs one at a time, mixing to combine after each. In a two-cup glass measuring cup or other bowl with a lip, lightly whisk vanilla, buttermilk, and oil.

With the mixer on medium-low speed (2 on a KitchenAid), mix in the flour mixture in thirds alternating with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture (three flour additions, two buttermilk additions), mixing until just combined after each addition. (At this point, feel free to increase the spices if you want a more intensely spiced cake. I added more allspice at this point and was super happy I did.)

For mini bundt cakes, transfer 1/3 of the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip. Fill each well of the prepared pan just to the lip (we'll call it 3/4 full). Add more batter to the pastry bag as needed. Bake until tester inserted comes out clean and cakes spring back when lightly pressed, 12-15 minutes.

For a full-size bundt cake, pour batter into prepared pan and bake until tester comes out clean and cake springs back when lightly pressed, 50-55 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes then quickly invert pan over a cooling rack. The cake(s) should easily come lose from the pan. If they don't, tap the edge of the pan lightly on the rack. Let cool completely then serve as-is, with a sprinkle of cinnamon or powdered sugar, or with a drizzle of Spiced Apple Cider Caramel Sauce. Cakes will keep at room temperature for several days.