Pumpkin Vanilla Spice Cake with Cinnamon Vanilla Bean Glaze

I’m not a person to easily tire of all the pumpkin flavored everything that is out this time of year. I love it. There is just something about the smell of pumpkin and cinnamon baking. Its as if the house is filled with the smell of a baker’s heaven!

This is a recipe I had been mulling over in my head for a week. I decided to make it on Tuesday. And then…I woke up with a horrid earache. I was certain that once I got up and going, and was filled with a sufficient amount of coffee, I would be filling much better. I was wrong. So, after a quick jaunt down to the urgent car, confirmation of an ear infection and sufficient supplies of drugs in my hands, and instructions to rest, I came home and did what I should have done…baked, of course! After all, I felt fine other than this stupid pain in the hole in my head (more on that brilliant idea at the end of this post)!

This recipe was adapted from one on Gonna Want Seconds blog. I loved her recipe, but I’m very partial to a much more moist cake than what spice cake usually delivers. This being said, I added a box of vanilla pudding and another egg. I didn’t think about the vanilla pudding and egg until after the ingredient photo was shot – blame is on the ear issue! I also REALLY tweaked the glaze to a StacyMac glaze!

Pumpkin Vanilla Spice Cake with Cinnamon Vanilla Glaze

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 box Spice Cake Mix

• 1 can (15 oz.) Pumpkin Puree (not pie filling)

• 1 small box instant Vanilla Pudding

• 3 large Eggs, room temperature

• ¼ c. Granulated Sugar

Glaze Ingredients:

• 1 c. Powdered Sugar

• 3 Tbs. French Vanilla coffee creamer

• 1 tsp. Cinnamon

• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

• 1 Vanilla Bean

Directions:

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Liberally grease a bundt pan. In a bowl mix together all cake ingredients with an electric mixer until well blended. Pour mixture into greased bundt pan and bake for 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

 

 

Allow cake to cool in pan for 15 minutes before inverting onto a plate. Allow to cool completely before pouring glaze over top.

I can't even tell you how happy  was that it came out of the pan perfectly. This pan has such sharp indents, I rarely get a clean outcome!

 

For the glaze, using a sharp knife split the vanilla bean down the center and scrape the caviar out with the flat side of the knife.

 

 

Place the caviar into a small bowl with the creamer, blend with a fork and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Mix powdered sugar and cinnamon together and add vanilla and creamer/vanilla bean mixture. Blend well with a spoon until the proper consistency to drizzle the glaze over the cake. Add more creamer if needed. Drizzle over cake and serve.

 

To revisit the whole ‘feeling fine’ statement I made above…I was really feeling fine when I made the cake and even worked on some other projects. Then…I did what the doctor said and went to lay down and rest/nap. That’s when the fury of the germ warfare took over and I woke up feeling like I had been hit by a Mack truck. No joke…I’m thinking if I would have not rested I would have been fine! Alas, this is the season of allergies here in the desert and with that come many sniffles and runny noses, and apparently ear infections. So…lesson learned, never rest – right!?