Bready or Not: Brown Sugar Bundt Cake
It’s New Year’s Eve. This year was… something, wasn’t it? Yeah. Something. But now it is almost over, and let’s celebrate with some cake! How about this Brown Sugar Bundt Cake?
The high amount of brown sugar creates magic. The bake results in a crisp, caramelized exterior, while the crumb is soft and sweet and moist.
This cake is fantastic all by itself, but you could also add whipped cream, ice cream, fruit, all kinds of things. It’ll serve as a breakfast, brunch, or dessert.
Modified from the King Arthur Flour Catalog, May 2017.
Bready or Not: Brown Sugar Bundt Cake
Equipment
- bundt pan
- nonstick spray
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- confectioners sugar to dust
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Fully grease a large bundt pan with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, beat butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time.
- In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
- Gradually mix in about half of the dry ingredients into the wet. Add the sour cream and vanilla, scraping the bottom of the bowl to incorporate. Mix in the rest of the dry ingredients.
- Pour batter into the bundt pan and level out. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes; the middle should pass the toothpick test. Let cool for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to completely cool.
- Before slicing and serving, dust with confectioners’ sugar. Store covered at room temperature. Slices can also be individually wrapped and frozen for later.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Pumpkin-Chocolate-Apple Butter Bundt Cake
There’s something especially cozy and right about a pumpkin and spice bundt cake in the autumn. This Pumpkin-Chocolate-Apple Butter Bundt Cake hits all those notes perfectly… and that took some effort on my part, as I actually had two fail-cakes in the process of developing this recipe.
This isn’t a heavily sweet cake. There is no dense glaze. This cake is really all about pumpkin and spice, with the chocolate and apple butter beautifully complementary.
This is the kind of cake that functions well for breakfast, brunch, or dessert.
Bready or Not Original: Pumpkin-Chocolate-Apple Butter Bundt Cake
Equipment
- 10-cup bundt pan
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder sifted
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons pumpkin spice
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups white sugar
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/3 cup apple butter
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup half & half or milk
- confectioners’ sugar to dust top
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Generously apply nonstick spray to a 10-cup bundt pan.
- Combine the flour, cocoa powder, pumpkin spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together sugar, butter, apple butter, and eggs until no eggy streaks remain. Add pumpkin puree and half & half. Fold in the dry ingredients, scraping bottom of bowl to incorporate everything.
- Pour batter into pan and smooth out the top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes; the middle of the cake should pass the toothpick test.
- Let cool for 15 minutes. Carefully invert cake onto cooling rack to cool completely.
- Add sprinkling of confectioners’ sugar over the top. Slice and serve. Cake can also be sliced, wrapped, and frozen for later enjoyment.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Leftover Cranberry Sauce Bundt Cake
I’m sharing this recipe today to help folks out there be prepared for an awesome way to use up leftover cranberry sauce from the holidays: use it to fill this Leftover Cranberry Sauce Bundt Cake.
And if you don’t have cranberry sauce–or the full amount this recipe calls for? Use a thick fruit jelly, jam, or preserve.
The texture of this is like a pound cake, moist and soft. It’s perfect for a breakfast, brunch, or dessert.
Bready or Not Original: Leftover Cranberry Sauce Bundt Cake
Equipment
- 10 cup bundt pan
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup leftover cranberry sauce or thick fruit jelly, jam, or preserve
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) softened
- 1 3/4 cups white sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream or plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 3 Tablespoons milk or heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
Instructions
Make bundt cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan.
- If the cranberry sauce or other filling is cold from the fridge, zap slightly in microwave to bring to room temperature and loosen.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla. Alternate mixing in the flour mixture and sour cream.
- Spoon about half the batter into the pan. Use a spoon to create a deep trench in the batter going all the way around the pan. Spoon in the cranberry sauce to fill the trench, taking care that it doesn’t touch the sides of the pan; if it touches, it may stick and make cake removal trickier.
- Pour the remaining batter over the top. Smooth out.
- Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour 5 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes inside the pan. Invert the cake onto a wire rack. Cool cake completely.
Make glaze
- In a bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla. Add more sugar or milk as needed to form a thick texture. Drizzle over the cake. Let set 30 minutes before cutting.
- Cake can be stored under a dome at room temperature. It can also be sliced and individually wrapped to freeze.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Ginger Cream Filling
This Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Ginger Cream Filling is a winning combo of flavors: pumpkin, spices, ginger, and sweetness.
It’s a pretty cake, too, no matter what bundt cake mold you use. Filled cakes look so great when they are sliced open, like you’re revealing a present inside. And with a thin layer of glaze on top? Yum!
I’ve used this combo of ginger pumpkin before on Bready or Not. Here are some examples!
Bready or Not Original: Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Ginger Cream Filling
Equipment
- 10-12 cup bundt cake pan
- nonstick spray with flour
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) softened
- 3 cups white sugar
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree
- 4 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup buttermilk or soured milk, see note
Filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese (1 box) softened
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons milk or half & half
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Generously coat the interior of a large bundt pan with nonstick spray with flour.
- In a big bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the pumpkin. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping the bottom of the bowl to incorporate everything.
- In another bowl, combine the flour, cardamom, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the big bowl alternatively with the buttermilk/soured milk. Scape the bottom of the bowl again to make certain everything is combined.
- In another bowl, mix together the cream cheese, ginger, brown sugar, and flour.
- Scoop about 2/3 of the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan. Spoon in the filling, being careful to make sure it doesn’t touch the sides of the pan (it could possibly stick and cause the cake to pull apart). Spoon the remaining pumpkin batter on top, evening out.
- Bake for 65 to 75 minutes; the middle of the cake should pass the toothpick test. Let it cool about 15 minutes, then carefully invert it onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely.
- Make glaze, adjusting the amounts as needed to create a thick texture. Drizzle atop cake. Let set at least an hour before cutting. Store covered or as wrapped individual slices.
OM NOM NOM!
Notes
Bready or Not Original: Pumpkin Cinnamon Bars
These Pumpkin Cinnamon Bars are pure cakey goodness. Moist because of the pumpkin, with that pumpkin flavor prominent, these are a perfect seasonal (and year-round!) treat.
I’ve got to say, I love how the pictures of this recipe turned out. They do a lot to depict how tasty these bars are.
I always look for recipes that use an entire can of pumpkin. I like using the whole thing and not worrying about a dab stuck in a bag in my freezer.
Bready or Not Original: Pumpkin Cinnamon Bars
Equipment
- aluminum foil
- nonstick spray
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks
- 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree 1 can
- 2 2/3 cups brown sugar packed
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Filling/topping
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 325 degrees. Line a 13×9 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
- Melt butter in microwave in microwave-safe bowl. Set aside to cool.
- In a medium bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together pumpkin puree, brown sugar, and vanilla. Mix in the melted butter. Gradually work in the dry ingredients until no white streaks remain. Spread about half to cover the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Begin making the filling/topping by mixing the white sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Place about half of that mixture in another bowl; stir in flour.
- Sprinkle the sugar-cinnamon-flour mixture on top of the batter in the pan. Add the remaining batter on top and spread out evenly. Sprinkle the sugar-cinnamon mixture on top to coat.
- Bake for 45 to 55 minutes; the middle should pass the toothpick test. Let cool in pan on wire rack, speeding process in fridge if desired. Use foil to lift contents onto cutting board to slice into bars.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 3 days.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Raspberry-Almond Snack Cake
This Raspberry-Almond Snack Cake is a delicious treat. It’s great for everything from breakfast to snack to dessert.
What I like about it is that it’s packable. This is not a fragile coffee cake. Encase this in plastic wrap or stick it in a sandwich bag, and it’s a dense homemade treat-to-go.
This is also a good cake to bake, cool, slice up, and freeze some for later. It keeps for weeks like that, and is fast to thaw later on.
Bready or Not Original: Raspberry-Almond Snack Cake
Equipment
- 9×9 pan
- aluminum foil
- nonstick spray
- food scale
Ingredients
Cake
- 300 grams frozen raspberries
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) softened
- 1 3/4 cups white sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup milk or half & half
- 1/2 cup Greek vanilla yogurt or sour cream
Topping
- 2 Tablespoons turbinado sugar
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 375 degrees. Press foil into a 9×9 pan. Apply nonstick spray.
- Weigh out the 300 grams of raspberries. Use kitchen shears or a knife to gently shatter the berries into smaller pieces. Place back in freezer as the recipe is assembled.
- In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until they are fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by both the extracts.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, corn starch, baking powder, kosher salt, and baking soda. In another bowl, combine the milk and the yogurt.
- Take turns adding the dry ingredients and the milk mix in the big mixing bowl with the butter. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to make certain everything is combined. Gently fold in the frozen raspberries.
- Spread the batter in the prepared pan and even out. Sprinkle the turbinado sugar over the top, followed by the sliced almonds. Gently press in.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350. Continue baking for an additional 45 to 55 minutes. (Note that the bake time is longer because of the moisture in the frozen berries. If you’re using fresh instead, the bake time will likely be reduced, so monitor closely.) The middle should pass the toothpick test.
- Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Use the foil to lift the cake onto a rack to fully cool.
- Store in an airtight container or bag in the fridge or at room temperature for up to 3 days. This is also a great cake to freeze in slices.



















