Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze - A vintage recipe for pumpkin cake, baked in a Bundt pan and drizzled with a delicious brown sugar glaze then topped with chopped pecans.

Looking for more pumpkin desserts? Here are a few Fall recipes you won't want to miss... Pumpkin Cupcakes, Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Donuts, or 25 Perfect Pumpkin Desserts Also, you might want to try this classic Fall favorite: Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Baked pumpkin bundt cake showing the cake in the pan.

Why I love this easy pumpkin bundt cake recipe

• It's a Fall classic and so easy to make. One of my all time favorite Bundt cake recipes.

• This pumpkin bundt cake is moist, richly spiced and packed with pumpkin flavor.

• The texture is not quite as heavy as a pound cake but also not as light as angel food. Somewhere in the middle which is perfect!

• Beautiful, crowd pleasing and perfect for the holidays. Great with a cup of tea.

• Can we talk about the brown sugar glaze? I could drink it with a cup. With cozy, buttery brown sugar flavor that has a silky smooth consistency that's perfect for drizzling.

What you need

Ingredients on kitchen counter needed to make a pumpkin Bundt cake.

Ingredient notes

• Oil - Use your favorite vegetable oil. I like using a light olive oil in my baking recipes as it has a lighter taste. You could also use canola oil, regular vegetable oil or coconut oil (keep in mind that coconut oil does have a slight coconut flavor to it though).

• Pumpkin Puree - Canned pumpkin works great in this recipe and is so convenient to buy at most grocery stores during the Fall season. If you're reading this recipe in off season, you could try ordering it online (but it might be a little pricey). Here's some Libby's pumpkin puree that I found on Amazon. Or you could make your own pumpkin puree from fresh pumpkin. Google it!

• Dark Corn Syrup - If you can't find dark corn syrup, you can use regular corn syrup and then substitute dark brown sugar (if you can). You could also substitute honey but it will change the flavor slightly.

• Chopped Nuts - I love using toasted and chopped pecans. You could also use chopped walnuts or even pumpkin seeds.

How to make this recipe

Four steps showing how to make a pumpkin spice bundt cake.

Grease your 12-cup Bundt cake pan really well. Use a generous amount of vegetable shortening. I used Crisco. Then dust the pan with flour. Sprinkle the greased Bundt pan with about ½ cup of flour. Roll around and cover all of the areas to make sure your cake doesn't stick.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the large eggs, oil and sugar on medium until completely combined. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients - all purpose flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients with mixer on low. Mix until completely combined. Then mix in the pumpkin purée until smooth.
Pour cake batter into prepared Bundt pan. Bake at 350°F for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack.
Then make the glaze - the best part. In small saucepan, bring light brown sugar, water, unsalted butter, and corn syrup to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add powdered sugar; whisk for 1 minute. Let cool for 6 minutes before drizzling on top of the cake. Garnish with pecans as desired.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make this as a pumpkin layer cake? Yes, prepare the cake batter as directed in the recipe. Then pour into two 8-inch round cake pans that have been greased and lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes. Let cool. Then frost your pumpkin spice layer cake as desired. Simply omit the brown sugar glaze. My Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting recipe would work well.

How do I store my pumpkin Bundt? You can keep it at room temperature for 24 hours if you have a cake saver. Or store covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Serve at room temperature or heat in the microwave for about 10 seconds if it's been in the fridge.

Expert tips

• Room Temperature Ingredients - for best results, always use room temperature ingredients for most baking projects. Chilled ingredients mix differently and affect the consistency of the recipe.

• Prepared Pan - It's very important to grease your pan very well to make sure your Bundt cake doesn't stick. Use shortening or butter and rub it all over the inside of the pan, covering all the crevices. Then dust generously with flour. Pour off the excess flour. I don't recommend cooking spray for this particular recipe.

• A Note About Flour - if you can't have gluten, feel free to substitute the same amount of gluten free flour in this recipe instead of regular flour.

• Dairy Free Version - if you want to make this cake completely dairy free, substitute vegetable shortening for the butter in the brown sugar glaze.

Pumpkin bundt cake on a glass cake stand with flowers in the background.

This is a guest post by contributing author, Andrea Ferenchik. She's sharing her Aunt Marie's favorite pumpkin cake recipe today. Scroll to read about Aunt Marie's story.

Old fashioned recipe card of pumpkin cake.

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The story behind this recipe

Growing up, food and baking were always a big part of our family gatherings. Nothing gourmet, just tasty family recipes that never disappointed (except for maybe fruitcake.) My Aunt Marie makes a simple, but delicious Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake. In honor of Fall, I thought I’d make it and share it with you. For the sake of the photos, I decided to add a glaze to it but Aunt Marie enjoys it plain. She says it keeps well and is always moist.

A very special lady

My Aunt Marie is an amazing woman! I had the opportunity to spend time with her this summer at her house. It was so nice to be able to chat with her and hear stories about my dad’s family that I’ve never heard before. She lives on a horse farm and to this day works in the barn and stays extremely active. She lost her beloved Terry, her husband of 49 years almost three years ago to cancer. It was incredibly sad but her outlook on life is so positive. She said, “Andrea, Terry and I had the same interests, we built this beautiful farm, and raised this wonderful family. He’d want me to enjoy it and be happy.”

The art of the handwritten recipe

Aunt Marie drove with her granddaughter down to college to keep her company and stopped along the way so I was lucky to be able to grab some pictures of her and I also asked if she would write out the recipe. I think it’s so important to have family recipes handwritten. One day this may become a lost art with blogs and online recipes.

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