Rich, decadent and dense, this buttermilk-pumpkin pound cake is a welcome addition to any holiday dessert table. Each bite is perfectly moist and full of our favorite fall flavors. Plus, this pound cake features simple ingredients, and it’s easy to make for even the novice baker.
Everyone needs a delicious, reliable pound cake recipe in their back pocket. Luckily for us, this buttermilk-pumpkin pound cake is happy to oblige, especially during the fall months when we can’t get enough pumpkin spice in our lives.
I just love how versatile a good pound cake is. We can serve it simply as cake, or we can cube it and use it in a holiday trifle. Or maybe we use this fall pound cake to make an out-of-this-world French toast or even a festive icebox cake.
See? So many options from one simple pound cake. You need this buttermilk-pumpkin pound cake in your holiday recipe collection.
Ingredients
Now let's organize our ingredients. Here's everything we need for our buttermilk-pumpkin pound cake.
- Flour
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- Allspice
- Salt
- Dark brown sugar
- White sugar
- Softened butter
- Eggs
- Buttermilk
- Pumpkin puree
You may notice I didn't list any leavening, such as baking soda or baking powder. That wasn't a mistake. Traditional pound cake doesn't use leavening. We will whip in plenty of air when making our batter, which will give this pound cake the lift it needs.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Now to show you how truly simple this buttermilk-pumpkin pound cake is. We start by combining our flour, spices and salt, and then we sift the mixture. To sift, you can use an actual sifter, a fine-mesh sieve or even a whisk. In case you've never sifted a flour mixture, here's a quick video that shows all three ways.
In a mixing bowl, we now cream together our butter, sugars and vanilla extract using a stand or hand mixer. Make sure the butter is softened before creaming. Softened butter is crucial to getting the proper texture.
We also want to make sure we take plenty of time to cream our butter and sugars. Expect to spend a full five minutes creaming our butter and sugars if using a stand mixer. You might want to add another minute or so if using a hand mixer. Our butter and sugars are properly creamed when they're light and fluffy like so.
From here, we add our eggs one at a time. Once we incorporate our eggs, we add a scoop of our sifted flour and mix, and then we do the same with a splash of our buttermilk. We repeat the process until we mix in all the flour and buttermilk.
Now we add our pumpkin puree and take a few minutes to whip our batter. Again, we're not using leavening, so we want to make sure we incorporate plenty of air.
At this point, we ready to bake. Before pouring the batter, make sure you generously grease the bundt pan and lightly flour it as well. When I didn't flour this pound cake, one of those little bumps had trouble coming out. Flouring made a world of difference.
To bake our buttermilk-pumpkin pound cake, we put it into a 325-degree oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, we loosely tent our cake with tinfoil to ensure it doesn't excessively brown.
Now we allow our pound cake to cool and serve. Told you it's an easy recipe.
How to Serve
Sure, you could serve this pumpkin pound cake sliced and unadorned and still have one tasty dessert, but it's even better with a couple additions. First, we warm up the pound cake in the microwave along with my oh-so decadent bourbon caramel. We then top our warm, caramel-soaked buttermilk-pumpkin pound cake with a big scoop of ice cream.
I'm especially partial to my bourbon-pumpkin ice cream or butterscotch ice cream with candied pecans. You can't go wrong with either flavor. A caramel ice cream is another delicious option.
And, of course, you can use this buttermilk-pumpkin pound cake in so many other recipes as I previously mentioned.
Perfect Pairing
Do yourself a favor and get a barrel-aged, dessert-like pumpkin ale. You can thank me later. Whether you pick a pumpkin ale aged in bourbon barrels or rum barrels, both boozy beers are delicious with this pound cake.
For wine, a tawny port is almost always my favorite pairing with pumpkin desserts, and this recipe is no exception. I just love how those dried fruit and caramel-like flavors of the tawny port play with the pumpkin spice. As far as I'm concerned, the two are the perfect match.
When you need the ultimate fall dessert, I hope you try this buttermilk-pumpkin pound cake. This easy but delicious fall bundt cake always impresses, no matter the occasion. Please let me know how you enjoyed this buttermilk-pumpkin pound cake recipe in the comment section and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter. You can also catch me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.
Cheers!
Love Pumpkin Spice?
- Brown butter-pumpkin cupcakes with bourbon caramel filling and frosting
- Pumpkin crullers with caramelized maple glaze
- Bourbon-pumpkin ice cream
Buttermilk-Pumpkin Pound Cake
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: About 12-16 servings 1x
Description
Rich, decadent and dense, this buttermilk-pumpkin pound cake is a welcome addition to any holiday dessert table. Each bite is perfectly moist and full of our favorite fall flavors. Plus, this pound cake features simple ingredients, and it’s easy to make sure for even the novice baker.
Ingredients
3 cups flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or paste
7 eggs, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk
1 (15)-ounce can pumpkin puree
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, spices and salt. Sift into another bowl.
- Add the dark brown sugar, white sugar, butter and vanilla extract to a separate large mixing bowl. Using a stand or hand mixer, cream the ingredients over medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about five minutes. If using a hand mixer, it might take an extra minute or so. From time to time, scrape the butter off the side of the bowl to ensure everything is well-incorporated.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time. Once you beat in all the eggs, add about ½ cup of the flour into the batter and beat until combined on low speed. Beat in a splash of the buttermilk. Repeat the process until both are fully incorporated into the batter, ending with the buttermilk. Beat in the pumpkin puree.
- On medium-high speed, beat the batter for five minutes with a stand mixer or about six to eight minutes using a hand mixer. The batter will be thick and fluffy.
- Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan. The flour makes a big difference in keeping the finished cake from sticking, so don't skip this step. Pour in the batter and smooth on top.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Loosely tent the top of the bundt pan with foil to prevent excessive browning. Continue to bake until a long skewer comes out clean, about 40 more minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for an hour or up to two hours. Run a knife along the edge of the bundt pan to loose the cake. Invert on a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Move to a cake stand when ready to serve. Store under a cake dome to create an airtight environment. If desired, serve with bourbon caramel or your favorite ice cream, such as this butterscotch ice cream with candied pecans or bourbon-pumpkin ice cream. Enjoy!
Notes
- Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 390
- Sugar: 40
- Sodium: 203
- Fat: 14
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 60
- Fiber: 0
- Protein: 6
- Cholesterol: 113
Keywords: buttermilk-pumpkin pound cake, pumpkin pound cake
OMG! the cake looks so delicious! The color, the crumb, the flavor. So much of warmth and goodness this pumpkin pound cake has. Fantastic <3
★★★★★
Aww, thank you for the sweet comment!
Nothing can beat a good pound cake, and this pumpkin buttermilk one seems like a fantastic combination for this season. Looks stunning!!
★★★★★
Thank you! It's such a great holiday cake.
What a delicious bundt cake! I love a good pumpkin dessert so this is right up my alley. In fact, I just bought a new bundt pan and now I know exactly what I'm going to make with it!
Talk about perfect timing!
We love anything pumpkin and this buttermilk pumpkin pound cake is no exception! It has a wonderful crumb and those spices are so warm and cozy. Beautiful cake for the holidays!
★★★★★
Awww, thanks so much! ❤️
What a delicious looking cake and your photos are stunning! Going to try this while we are just about still in pumpkin season!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Carrie! ?
This pumpkin pound cake look so delicious, I want to eat it right now! We are having guests over this weekend and I want to make it for them!
★★★★★
Sounds like the perfect occasion!
What a fantastic combination -- the pumpkin bundt cake plus the delicious caramel sauce. The photos are so beautiful I want to jump right in there and dig in. I bet the bourbon in the sauce takes it over the top. The cake is a real show stopper!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Marisa! It all comes together beautifully.
Beautiful photography! The pound cake looks delicious and I'm excited it's so easy to make PLUS you totally won me over with the bourbon caramel sauce! Can't wait for that first delicious bite.
★★★★★
I just love how moist this cake is - exactly how I like it. It will certainly be a great addition to my holiday table - thank you!
★★★★★
This is one beautiful pound cake! With all the fall flavors and dirzzled with a caramel sauce, this is a great dessert for the holidays.
★★★★★
Thanks, Sharon! I totally agree. ?
This looks and sounds delicious. I love the idea of the buttermilk in there. I'd totally eat it with the bourbon pumpkin ice cream!
The buttermilk adds so much moisture! Hope you get a chance to try both recipes together. ?
Oh my goodness! First of all, I am a fan of just about anything pumpkin, and then bourbon caramel, another favorite of mine? I may shed a tear. LOL This is amazing, and I love your pairing suggestions.
★★★★★
Haha, I don't blame you! Glad the pairings are helpful!
This is a gorgeous cake and the bourbon caramel just takes it to the next level. Thanks for a great recipee.
★★★★★
You are so welcome!