All-In-One Holiday Bundt Cake

What started out as a plan to cook from a new cookbook, changed to thumbing through Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours....yet again.  It's quickly becoming my go-to baking cookbook.   I'm not sure it's just because Dorie is a genius, or if because it's such a HUGE cookbook, it has every baked good you could possibly want to bake.

I was looking for a new pumpkin bread recipe and while Martha had one that involved molasses, and other cookbooks had some new takes on that fall favorite, Dorie trumped it all by throwing apples and cranberries in hers.  Okay, so it was technically a bundt cake and not a quick bread--but aren't they really the same?

 Are apples or pumpkins the greater baking joy of fall?  I love that Dorie doesn't make you pick. Cinnamon, check.  Nutmeg, check.  Ginger, check.

This was such a moist cake even though I substituted whole wheat pastry flour for half of the all purpose flour--I guess that's what pumpkin, apples and cranberries can do for a cake.  Add those spices and this is very appropriately named the All-In-One Holiday Bundt Cake.

All-In-One Holiday Bundt Cake
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home To Yours

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 1/4 sticks (10 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 large apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
1  cup chopped cranberries

Maple Glaze
6 tbsp powdered sugar
maple syrup

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9 to 10 inch (12 cup) Bundt pan. Don't place the pan on a baking sheet - you want the oven's heat to circulate freely through the Bundt's inner tube.

Whisk together the flours, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and ground ginger.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and both sugars together at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat for 1 minute after each addition. Beat int he vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the pumpkin and chopped apple - don't be concerned if the mixture looks curdled. Still on low speed, add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. With a rubber spatula, stir in the cranberries and pecans. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with the rubber spatula.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding, then cool to room temperature on the rack before glazing.

For Glaze: add two tsp of maple syrup to powdered sugar and stir to blend.  Continue to add maple syrup in half teaspoon increments until glaze is thin enough to drizzle across cake.