Pumpkin Espresso Cake

This cake sounds sort of weird - pumpkin & espresso? - so it intrigued me and since I had pumpkin and espresso powder I made it any way ...

It turned out to be really good - so good I had to give most of it away to Liz ... so I wouldn't eat it all - but it does freeze well.

From : Pastry Affair

Pumpkin Cake

1 1/2 cups (370 grams) pumpkin puree
4 large eggs
3/4 cup (177 mL) vegetable oil
1 cup (200 grams) brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (250 grams) white whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (or mix of cinnamon, ginger, cloves ...)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt

Espresso Filling
1/3 cup (66 grams) brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Coffee Rum Glaze
1/3 cup (78 mL) strong coffee
1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum  (I used Kahlua)
1/3 cup (66 grams) granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Heavily grease a 10-cup Bundt pan. Set aside.

For the pumpkin cake, beat together the pumpkin, eggs, oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until well blended. Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt until smooth and uniform in appearance. Set aside.

For the espresso filling, whisk together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and espresso powder in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.

In the prepared baking pan, spoon in 1/3 of the pumpkin cake batter evenly into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle 1/2 of the espresso filling over the top. Spoon another 1/3 of the pumpkin cake batter into the pan and sprinkle with the remaining espresso filling. Layer the remaining cake batter on top and smooth with an off-set spatula.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in pan for 15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

While the cake is baking, make the coffee rum glaze by whisking together the strong coffee, rum, and granulated sugar. Brush all of the glaze evenly over the cake with a pastry brush while it is still warm. Serve after the glaze has fully set.