How to Philosophize with Cake: Pumpkin s'mores bundt cake (#BundtBakers)

It’s that time of the month again. No, we’re not talking about feminine bodily functions—this is your monthly Bundt Bakers post, this time featuring a totally adorable, delicious pumpkin s’mores bundt cake.

Our host this month? From Gate to Plate, with a rather creative theme, so creative in fact that it has creative in the name: creative s’mores! Forget about just graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate—think nutella s’mores, caramel s’mores, fruit-infused s’mores, peanut butter-stuffed s’mores, candy-filled s’mores. Basically whatever your younger self would have loved to stuff in your chocolate-graham cracker-marshmallow sandwiches, if only your parents would let you.

Fall being around the corner, I sought ought a flavor that would represent the impending cooler weather. Something that would make an interesting contrast to traditionally summery s’mores. What else could I have chosen besides pumpkin? It was inevitable.

Or at least that's what I tell myself.

I blended two recipes from two cookbooks to get the desired effect. From Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, I took a graham cracker cake recipe; and from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook, a recipe for pumpkin ganache. Together, with the cutest little graham-chocolate sandwiches on top, you have a pumpkin s’mores bundt cake.

Basically.

I thought about making vegan marshmallows to assist with the s’mores theme, but it was a school night and I was tired as fuck and not in the mood to fuss with ever-finicky vegan recipe testing. Because vegan recipe testing is stressful, yo. There’s nothing like spending all of this time and effort on a recipe only to find that alas, it does not work—something that has already happened in the realm of marshmallows. Like, three times.

And I am pretty fucking sick of trying to make vegan marshmallows and having them fail on me. Not fun. Especially since a failed batch of marshmallows isn’t exactly...edible. Unlike, say, a failed cake.

But enough of that negativity. Let’s celebrate the cake we do have here today.

Live in the moment, June!

One note about the pumpkin ganache—or, actually, two. First of all, if you want to make a 100% vegan ganache you must use nondairy white chocolate. It’s super easy to make and so worth the extra time spent in the kitchen. And secondly, I must say that the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook claims that the pumpkin ganache must be made with an immersion blender, something that I know a lot of people don’t have. We’re lucky enough to have one on hand, but if you don’t, feel free to try using a regular ol’ blender. It might work. I, personally, don’t see why it wouldn’t work, but I’ve not tested it so I have no idea if it does. All I know is that the immersion blender does indeed make a splendid ganache. I may be using it for ganache glazes in the near future...

Anyway. I’m done talking for today. Here’s the recipe.

__________

Pumpkin s’mores bundt cake

Ingredients

Graham cake (adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz)

250 grams • light brown sugar • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons

154 grams • vegetable oil • ¾ cup

60 grams • maple syrup • 3 tablespoons

90 grams • nondairy yogurt • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons

458 grams • nondairy milk • 1 ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons

6 grams • vanilla extract • 1 ½ teaspoons

204 grams • all-purpose flour • 1 ½ cups

6 grams • baking powder • 1 ½ teaspoons

3 grams • baking soda • ¾ teaspoon

2 grams • ground cinnamon • 1 teaspoon

3 grams • salt • ½ teaspoon

64 grams • graham cracker crumbs • ¾ cup

160 grams • chocolate chips • 1 cup

Pumpkin ganache (adapted from Momofuku Milk Bar by Christina Tosi)

150 grams • vegan white chocolate • 5 ¼ ounces

25 grams • vegan butter • 2 tablespoons

18 grams • corn syrup • 1 tablespoon

55 grams • coconut milk, full-fat • ¼ cup

75 grams • pumpkin puree • 1/3 cup

4 grams • kosher salt • 1 teaspoon

1 gram • cinnamon • ½ teaspoon

Toppings

4 graham crackers, cut into 16 small squares

8 squares of dark chocolate

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup bundt pan and dust lightly with flour.

In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, oil, maple syrup, yogurt, milk, and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a separate medium bowl. Add graham cracker crumbs to dry ingredients and mix well. Add dry ingredients to wet in three batches, mixing well after each addition. Fold in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the ganache, start by combining white chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe dish and gently melting them in a microwave in 15-second bursts, stirring between. Be careful not to over-heat your chocolate.

Transfer chocolate to a container that can accommodate an immersion blender, preferably something tall and narrow. Place corn syrup in a small bowl and warm in the microwave for 10 seconds, then immediately add to chocolate mixture and blend with an immersion blender. After a minute, stream in the coconut milk, keeping the blender running.

Add the pumpkin puree, salt, and cinnamon and blend. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let cool at room temperature.

To finish the cake, pour ¾ of the ganache over the top of the cooled bundt cake. Using the graham cracker and chocolate pieces, make 8 little pumpkin s’mores sandwiches with two graham cracker squares, one piece of chocolate, and a smear of pumpkin ganache. Place sandwiches on top of cake as decoration.

________

Those mini sandwiches though.

BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely bundts by following our Pinterest board.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.