All Through the Year Cheer: Thanksgiving

11/24/09 Update:  This cake was selected as the winner!  Yay!  Thanks to Laurie Lufkin, who created the recipe as well as Faith & Nutmeg Nanny for making the selection.  I will soon be the proud owner of a copy of Holiday Entertaining by Williams-Sonoma :)

In search of a dessert that showcases all of autumn's best flavors?  Look no further.  The prize-winning "Taste of New England Harvest Bundt Cake" by Laurie Lufkin (of GoodMorningGloucester) is the perfect addition to any holiday table.  Cream cheese, maple syrup, cranberries, spices, pumpkin, apples, nuts--what more could you want?   And lest you think there are too many flavors in this cake, don't worry.  This cake tastes like pure Autumn, without any of that pesky "too much going on" syndrome.

Be sure to check out all the entries for Thanksgiving's "All Through the Year Cheer" event.  Recipe round-up and winner will be posted on November 23rd--just in time for you to add a few recipes to your Thanksgiving menu!  The original recipe may be found below, with my changes written in BLUE.  It's a long recipe, yes, but the final product is well worth the effort!

Taste of New England Harvest Bundt Cake
by Laurie Lufkin of GoodMorningGloucester (link)

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 egg yolk (used a whole egg by mistake)
2 Tbl. cornstarch
¼ cup Vermont maple syrup
¼ cup brown sugar
2 Tbl. butter, softened
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon (omitted)
2 Tbl. Cape Cod whole berry cranberry sauce (used orange marmalade)
⅓ cup dried Cape Cod cranberries, chopped
added: ½ tsp. orange extract

Cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
¾ tsp. nutmeg, freshly grated
¾ tsp. powdered ginger
½ tsp. salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
4 eggs
1 cup butternut squash or pumpkin puree (used canned pumpkin)
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Topping:
½ cup Macintosh, Granny Smith, or other tart New England apple sauce (used Mott's® unsweetened applesauce)
1 cup confectioner's sugar
¼ tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbl. apple brandy (used apple butter--cake needed to be work-friendly!)
2 Tbl. heavy cream
¼ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup New England hazelnuts, toasted and chopped (used walnuts)
¼ cup dried Cape Cod cranberries, chopped

In a medium bowl prepare the filling.  Beat together cream cheese, egg, cornstarch and maple syrup.  Add brown sugar, butter, salt, cranberries, orange marmalade and orange extract until combined.  Refrigerate until ready to use but for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Heavily grease a 12-15 cup Bundt pan and set aside.

In another bowl sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt and set aside.

In a large bowl beat granulated sugar, brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy.  With mixer running, add eggs one at a time and mix until blended.  Beat in squash/pumpkin, sour cream and vanilla until well combined.  Beat in flour mixture until just combined.

Spoon one third of the batter into the pan.  Spoon filling in a circle on top of batter but do not allow filling to touch the edge of the pan (a tiny ice cream scoop is perfect for this; I put the filling in a pastry bag and squeezed a ring of filling onto the batter.  I couldn't stop the filling from spreading and touching the sides of the pan.  So instead of a ring of filling I got more of a swirled cake).  Top with remaining batter.

Bake at 350°F for 55-65 minutes until golden brown and cake tester comes out clean.

Remove from oven and place on cooling rack for 15 minutes.  Turn out onto serving plate to cool completely.

Before serving, make the glaze.  Whisk together apple sauce, confectioners sugar, cinnamon, apple brandy (or butter), heavy cream and vanilla extract in small bowl.  Drizzle glaze over cake and sprinkle with walnuts and cranberries.  Enjoy!