Pumpkin Raisin Bundt Cake,...

For my Grandma Hunky, and my beloved Amanda. It is fall and pumpkin is begging to be taken into the house and used up. If you are an ambitious cook, make your own pumpkin puree. I have given you this recipe using canned pumpkin puree. It is fine to use some canned things in the kitchen. We are not all Thomas Keller and are not selling slices of cake for $14 in Napa.

Preheat oven to 350F. *Note you will turn this down to 325 when the cake goes in.

Mise en Place

For the Cake.
1 1/3 - cups Vegetable Oil (safflower is best)
2 - cups Granulated Sugar (substitute 1/2 cup brown if you like)
3 - whole Large Eggs
1 - tsp Vanilla (pure extract or / half a bean rubbed into sugar)
1 - 15oz can of Pumpkin Puree

3 - cups AP Flour (use unbleached when you can)
1 - tsp Baking Soda (half this above 5000 feet, that means Denver)
1 - tsp Salt
1 - tsp Cinnamon
1/2 - tsp Nutmeg (my favorite spice)
1/2 to 1 - cup of California Raisins (depending on how much you like Raisins)

For the topping
1/2 - cup Fine Chocolate Chips
2 - TBS Vegetable Oil
1 - cup Sweetened Coconut

Cream the sugar and oil together. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then vanilla. And finally pumpkin puree. Do not over mix. Too much air = a collapsed cake.

Sift together the dry ingredients, and toss the raisins in this dry mix. Tossing the raisins keeps them suspended in the batter when baking. Add the dry mix to the wet. Mix well, but do not overmix.
Pour mix into a well greased Bundt pan. Use pan grease (1 part Crisco:1 part Vegetable Oil:1 part Flour)

Place on middle rack of oven on a sheet pan. ****TURN OVEN DOWN TO 325F!!**** Bake for 1hr/25min or until inserted pick comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 20min, then turn out.

While the cake is cooling, toast coconut. Melt chocolate over double boiler. Add oil and stir until fully incorporated. Drizzle chocolate over cake and sprinkly the coconut while chocolate is still liquid.