Nimmow Baking: Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with Salted Caramel Glaze

If there is one thing my family has prepared me for in life, it's a good old competition. We might be one of the most competitive families you'll ever meet and it's awesome.....sometimes. I've honestly pushed myself to try/do so many things that I wouldn't normally do because of my siblings. For example, I ran a 7K without any training just because I wanted to beat my brothers and sister. I'm not a runner and my body told me that loud and clear the next day. We may compete at everything we do, but at least we are spending time together and I have some amazing memories plus some pretty awful ones as well! So, when I saw that there was going to be a baking competition in Spooner, Wisconsin the same weekend I was going to be staying in a cabin there, I had to sign up. Apparently I can't say no to a competition, and why should I? Spooner was having their annual Jack-O-Lantern Festival and I felt the need to compete against the locals.

Apparently small towns take this stuff seriously. Like, really seriously. There were 3 older lady judges that tasted each entry, which there were many of. There was also four different categories and mine was entered into the 'Harvest cakes, breads and more' category. There were five different categories in which they judged each entry. Those categories were: overall presentation, overall taste, overall texture, use of featured harvest food item, and recipe. With all 3 judges combined, out of 75 possible points, I received a 72. I received 2nd place for this cake so whoever got first got close to a perfect score. That's pretty awesome. The only complaint these ladies had with my cake was with the amount of cloves used. They said it was just a little too strong, so in the recipe below I took out some of the cloves I had used and brought it down to 1 teaspoon. I hope you have a bundt pan so you can try this cake! It slices well and has really warm spice flavors. The salted caramel glaze is really tasty too. It's creamy and smooth and would even be good with just apples, which is how my friends wanted to eat the leftovers. Happy baking-

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with Salted Caramel Glaze

CAKE

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 3/4 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs, large

15-ounces pumpkin, one can

GLAZE

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

TO MAKE THE CAKE: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-cup bundt pan with a baking spray with flour.

Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

Combine the granulated sugar and oil in a large bowl and mix until moistened. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg. Beat in the pumpkin. Slowly beat in the flour mixture, beating just until blended and smooth. Pour into the bundt pan.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minute. Invert the cake onto a wire rack and remove the pan. Cool completely.

TO MAKE THE GLAZE: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar, cream, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil for 3 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Stir in the salt.

Pour glaze oven the cake while the glaze is still warm and cake has cooled. Serve and enjoy!