Pumpkin-Chocolate Marble Bundt Cake
Just in time for autumn and Thanksgiving, here is an updated version of a classic “black and white” marble cake. Redolent with all the aromatic spices and flavors you would expect in a festive fall dessert and “dressed up” with a decadent dark chocolate glaze, this show-stopping cake will look beautiful on your holiday table. (View my entire collection of Healthier Indulgences HERE)
And-by tweaking selected ingredients with better-for-you choices, as well as reducing the quantities of butter and sugar, you can now enjoy a slice of this scrumptious treat without guilt!
Recipe Adapted from: Dark Chocolate and Pumpkin Swirl Cake by Who Needs a Cape?
Yield: 10 to 12 slices
And-by tweaking selected ingredients with better-for-you choices, as well as reducing the quantities of butter and sugar, you can now enjoy a slice of this scrumptious treat without guilt!
Recipe Adapted from: Dark Chocolate and Pumpkin Swirl Cake by Who Needs a Cape?
Yield: 10 to 12 slices
Ingredients
- 10- inch bundt pan holds 9 cups *can also use a 9 x 5-inch baking pan
- Butter or olive oil spray
- 1 ¾ cups white-whole wheat flour I like King Arthur’s
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice mix or store-bought such as McCormick’s
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup organic sugar or regular cane sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup 100% natural unsweetened applesauce such as Musselman’s
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt mixed well with 1 tablespoon water or ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips melted (I like Ghirardelli’s Bittersweet Baking Chips)
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Glaze
- ¾ cup dark chocolate chips
- ¾ cup half and half can also use heavy whipping cream-see MPM Mini-Bites
Instructions
Cake: (no mixer needed)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat bottom, sides and inner tube of bundt pan with either olive oil spray or butter.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a medium bowl, stir together eggs and sugar.
- Stir melted butter, applesauce, yogurt (or buttermilk), and vanilla into the egg-sugar mixture.
- Fold in pumpkin puree.
- Combine pumpkin mixture with flour mixture, stirring just until lumps have disappeared.
- Divide batter into 2 portions, stirring melted chocolate and cocoa into one portion.
- Alternate scooping each batter into prepared bundt pan.
- With a knife, swirl batters together. (batters will be thick)
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool cake on a rack in pan for 20 minutes.
While cake is cooling, make glaze:
- Place chocolate chips in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, heat half and half over medium-low heat just until it reaches a simmer (with small bubbles appearing on surface)
- Pour hot half and half over chocolate chips; whisk together until chocolate has melted and glaze is shiny.
Assembly:
- Loosen cake by running a sharp knife around pan. Transfer cake to a serving platter.
- Immediately, pour glaze over cooled cake, allowing it to run down the sides. Allow glaze to set for 20 minutes before slicing.
Notes
Make Ahead and Storage Tips: cake may be made up to 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving. Cake may be frozen, tightly wrapped for up to 4 months. (Hint: before wrapping cake, freeze uncovered for about 2 hours so not to disturb glaze)
White-whole wheat flour: all the wonderful texture and taste you would expect from a white all-purpose flour with whole grain goodness. I have used this flour successfully in quite a few baked goods such as muffins and cakes and honestly cannot tell the difference. Check out what King Arthur has to say about using this versatile and nutrient-enriched flour. Note: for baking, King Arthur recommends only substituting up to a third of white all-purpose flour with white whole wheat flour. But due to the denser texture of this cake, I thought it could withstand the heartier white whole wheat flour and was very pleased with the results. You certainly can swap all-purpose white flour for all or part of the white whole wheat flour.
Try making your own pumpkin pie spice mix! It takes just minutes and I bet you’ll find the taste superior to many high-priced commercial products. You can find my tried ‘n true recipe HERE.
Which is better for making the glaze-half and half or heavy whipping cream? Here’s the scoop: both will work wonderfully and are incredibly delicious! Half and half having a thinner consistency, will produce a glaze thick enough to harden, while still thin enough to run down the sides of the cake. On the other hand, heavy whipping cream being thicker, will yield a truly decadent chocolate ganache that will reluctantly run down the cake with some “urging” with a spoon. Note: as ganache sets fast, you must work quickly to prevent it from hardening before glazing the sides of the cake. Also, being lower in fat, half and half does have fewer calories. The choice is yours!
Other pumpkin desserts with healthier tweaks you may enjoy are: Gluten-free Pumpkin Applesauce Bread, Pumpkin-Pecan Cheesecake Bars and Double Chocolate Spiced Pumpkin Brownies.
