Pumpkin and Dark Chocolate Swirl Cake with Crystalized Ginger
Makes 8-10 Servings.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 1½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ⅓ cup half-and-half
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- For the ganache topping:
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- ¾ cup whipping cream
- ¼ cup chopped crystallized ginger
Directions
- Preheat oven to 300°. Spray a silicone bundt pan with non-stick spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat brown sugar and butter with a mixer at medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a medium bowl, whisk together baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Spoon 1 cup vanilla batter into a medium bowl and set aside. - Add the pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice to the remaining vanilla batter; beat until combined. Add half-and-half and cocoa to reserved 1 cup vanilla batter, whisking until combined (the batters will be thick.)
- Spoon one-third of pumpkin batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Spoon half of chocolate batter by heaping teaspoonfuls over pumpkin batter. Repeat once more, spooning remaining pumpkin batter on top. Gently the swirl batters together with a knife. Bake until a wooden pick inserted near centre comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan, and let cool completely on a wire rack.
- In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate and cream together over low heat. Stir until all the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth and glossy. Pour the mixture over the cooled cake, then sprinkle over the crystalized ginger. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.