Pumpkin Streusel Swirled Cream Cheese Pound Cake

After the Sunday morning service, our new church held a potluck and a licensing and installation service for Marshall.  I wanted to make something to take for the lunch, and since it was Marshall's big day, I let him browse my Pinterest pumpkin desserts board and pick out whatever he wanted.  He knew exactly what he wanted me to make: Pumpkin Streusel Swirled Cream Cheese Pound Cake.

The recipe came from Willow Bird Baking, which is also where I found the Pumpkin Pull Apart Bread.  She must like pumpkin as much as we do!

Pumpkin Streusel Swirled Cream Cheese Pound Cake
(click to print)

Cream Cheese Pound Cake Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

Pumpkin Pie Filling Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves

Pecan Streusel Ingredients:
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold butter
1 cup chopped pecans

Maple Brown Sugar Glaze Ingredients:
2 tablespoon butter
4 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons real maple syrup
pinch salt
1 1/2 – 2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Make the creamy pumpkin pie filling: Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy and smooth. Add the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves, and mix until combined. Set the filling in the fridge while you make the cake.

Make the streusel: Combine the flour and brown sugar in a medium bowl and cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in 1/2 cup of the chopped nuts. Save the rest of your nuts for decorating the finished cake. Set the streusel aside.

Make the pound cake: Beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until it’s creamy. Gradually add sugar and beat 5-7 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating only until yellow disappears after each one. Stir in the vanilla.

Sift the flour and salt together in a bowl and add to the creamed mixture gradually, beating on low speed after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Pour 1/3 of the batter into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan (all I had was a bundt pan, and that worked, too) and use a spatula to level it. 

Dump your streusel into your pumpkin pie mixture and fold it together a few times mix. Drop big spoonfuls of the pumpkin mixture on the batter in your tube pan and swirl with a wooden skewer or table knife. Top this layer with another third of the batter and add another pumpkin layer (swirling again). Top with the final third of the batter. Fill a 2-cup ovenproof measuring cup with water and place in oven with cake (this keeps it moist!). 

Bake the cake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 55 minutes.  Cover the top with foil if it’s getting too brown. To test for doneness, insert a wooden skewer in a few different areas of the cake and pull it out. You want it to come out with just a few moist crumbs.

Let the cake cool on wire rack for 10 minutes before running a knife or spatula around the edge of the pan. Remove the cake from the pan by topping the pan with a plate and carefully inverting it. Let cool completely (at least 1 hour). 

Make the Maple Brown Sugar Glaze: Brown the butter and in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the brown sugar, milk, syrup, and salt, whisking until the brown sugar melts.  Whisk in the powdered sugar, starting with 1 cup and adding more to thicken to your preference. Drizzle the glaze over the top of your cooled cake. Sprinkle the cake with toasted pecans before the glaze sets, and dust with cinnamon. Serve immediately. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container.