Pumpkin Chocolate Marble Bundt Cake {New post - about blummin' time}

Ok so two things:

One - I have been totally wrapped up in starting my second year of uni (I forgot how much work there was to get behind on so quickly) so have not posted for umm let's just say a while..
Two - the Harvey Nicks food pop up sells tinned pumpkin wahoooo (at £2.85 a pop not so wahooooo) so I baked ya a pumpkin chocolate marble cake to say I'm sorry about point one.

This cake only requires half a tin of pumpkin so don't be surprised to see more pumpkin recipes on hippopotamousse in the not too distant future! (I'd promise but ya know between essays on the manipulation of dopaminergic neurotransmission in the treatment of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders and cloning DNA I'm a pretty busy woman!) I just made my degree sound ten million times more interesting than it is that's an achievement in itself.

Now here is something I CAN promise you - this cake is so pumpkin spice-y and deliciously moreish and moist all by itself, you can totally do without lathering it in chocolate fudge icing which is what I initially intended on doing, call it a diet cake if you will (I joke). An icing sugar dusting is all this swirly beauty needs.

My scales completely gave up on me a fortnight ago and I haven't had the chance to get one of those little round batteries for them so I am working in cups for this recipe. Since I started out developing this recipe in cups and got it to what I deem to be the perfect bundt cake via trial and error I don't have a to-grams conversion for you but there are loads of internet sources that can convert for you - I should know, not having scales is a time consuming pain in the neck.

I suggest you invite all your friends over when you bake as this cake is deffo too big for two! Well not really, Hannah and I managed it. But ya know brownie points and all that.

We are watching American Horror Story atm like electricity is going out of fashion (followed by Glee because AHS + sleep = disaster) and so I can definitely vouch from multiple experiences that snuggling up with a slice of pumpkin chocolate marble cake and maybe an accompanying mug of hot chocolate will make you feel all autumnal.

A fab alternative to feeling all back-in-education-al.

 

Ingredients

For the pumpkin cake

1.5 cups white self-raising flour
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 tin pure pureed pumpkin (oooh tongue twister)
2 medium free-range eggs
0.5 cup vegetable oil or melted butter/spread
1 tsp baking powder
1.25 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 3/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp mixed spice)

For the chocolate cake

1 cup white self-raising flour
1 cup white granulated sugar
0.5 cup cocoa powder
2 medium free-range eggs
3/4 cup melted butter/spread (e.g. Stork)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Directions

1. Pre heat oven to 180 degrees C and grease a 9 inch bundt pan. To make the pumpkin cake cream together the melted butter/veg oil and sugar in a mixing bowl then mix in the pumpkin and eggs followed by the dry ingredients.
2. To make the chocolate cake, in another mixing bowl cream together the melted butter and sugar then beat in the eggs. Sift in the cocoa and add the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well.
3. Spoon each mixture alternatively into the bundt tin i.e. fill the tin in layers, the bottom layer having a spoon of pumpkin, a spoon of chocolate and so on to form the ring, then on the next layer spoon the pumpkin on top of the chocolate and the chocolate on top of the pumpkin to allow for extra groovy marbling.
4. Insert the end of a wooden spoon into the cake mixture and drag it around. Not too much or you'll end up with a mono-coloured cake somewhere between brown and orange!!
5. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Slide a palette knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it from the tin then (still wearing oven gloves!!!!) turn the tin upside down (so you can't see the cake) to cool. After about 30 minutes to an hour of cooling time lift the bundt tin off the cake.
6. Leave the cake to cool completely before dusting with icing sugar.
7. Serve, share, eat and ENJOY :)