Delightful Pumpkin Poundcake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This pumpkin poundcake is brimming with fall flavor. The addition of buttermilk in the cake makes it tender and moist. Then it’s topped with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting to complete this seasonal treat.

Have you ever been just beboppin’ through life and you suddenly thought, “Holy cowzers! It’s fall already!”

No?

Well, that happened to me last week. The other day dawned overcast and in the low 60’s.

It’s been mostly high 70’s & 80’s still in this part of the country, and the urge to bake was too strong to resist.

And since I still hadn’t baked anything pumpkin, that afternoon I decided to come up with a pumpkin poundcake recipe.

I mean, fall is pumpkin spice everything season, right?

Now I know there are probably thousands of pumpkin poundcake recipes on the internet, but I like to play in the kitchen. It’s what I do.

So that’s what I did.

And I have to say that this pumpkin pound cake recipe was a hit with my friends and family!

I frosted it with cream cheese flavored with cloves, cinnamon, vanilla and sweetened with local raw honey.

And just in case that wasn’t enough, I chopped up some pecans and threw them on the top.

Oh! My! Gosh!

The house smelled heavenly while it was baking and I couldn’t resist, I just had to have a piece still warm from the oven. It’s perfect for dessert, an afternoon snack, or even breakfast!

So here we go.

Pumpkin Poundcake

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, room temp
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 ½ teaspoons homemade vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 cups homemade pumpkin puree or 1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ cup homemade cultured buttermilk

Instructions

First, cream the butter and sugar. Make sure it’s mixed really well. You want it all light and fluffy.

Then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one.

After the eggs are mixed in, beat the mixture on high for 2 ½ minutes.

Then add the vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves and mix well.

Add the pumpkin and beat on high for 2 more minutes.

While that is beating, whisk the flour and the other dry ingredients together.

Next, add the dry ingredients a little at a time until incorporated, and beat again.

And now add the buttermilk. When that has been mixed in, beat on high for another 3 ½ minutes.

Now it’s time to butter and flour a Bundt cake pan. (This one is my favorite.)

If you want individual pumpkin pound cakes, you can use mini loaf pans or mini Bundt pans. Prepare them the same way.

And finally, spoon the batter into the prepared pan. The batter will be quite thick. Smooth the top and bake at 325°F for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

You can take a spoon and make a little dent in the middle of the top all the way around so that you don’t get a really high point there.

I only do that when I’m using a Bundt pan because I’ll be turning it upside down on the cake plate.

While the cake is baking, go ahead and prepare the frosting. It needs to be chilled before you use it.

After an hour and 10 minutes, test with a toothpick.

If the pick comes out clean, then remove the cake from the oven and turn it out onto a wire rack.

Let the cake cool before frosting. It doesn’t have to be cold, just not still warm enough to melt the icing. Cuz that makes a pretty big mess.

Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 ounces homemade cream cheese, room temp (or purchased)
• 4 teaspoon honey
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
• pinch of salt

NOTE: Choose a honey with a mild flavor so it doesn’t overpower the spices.

In a mixer with a wisk attachment, cream the cream cheese until fluffy.

Add the honey a little at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl frequently.

Add the cloves, the cinnamon, and the vanilla and mix well.

Cover the frosting tightly and refrigerate until you are ready to frost that yummy pumpkin poundcake that is currently smelling up your house.

Chilling will make it firm up so it doesn’t run all over the place when you try to frost the cake.

After the cake has cooled, put it on a pretty serving plate (like this one that doubles as a punch bowl. How cool is that?) and slather on that amazing cream cheese frosting.

Then chop up about a half cup of pecans and toss the the nuts over the top if you want to. I almost always want to. 🙂

And now, cut yourself a slice of this amazing pumpkin poundcake with cream cheese frosting and pour yourself a nice hot cup of whatever you love most. And then, take a minute to relax and enjoy the fruit of your labors!

What do you start to crave when fall weather comes to your neck of the woods?

Blessings!

Love poundcake and can’t get enough? Check out my friend Paula’s Rumchata Pound Cake. RumChata is a cream liqueur from the Caribbean flavored with cinnamon and vanilla. You should give this a try!

More delicious dessert recipes you should try: