The mister and I were watching a show on ABC, when the commercial came on, with remote in hand, he immediately changed the channel to NBC, so we could watch one and a half minutes of that show. He is savant like in his commercial timing abilities...not changing the channel back until precisely the exact moment when the show begins. This comes from years and years of "remote work." Nothing irritates the mister more than when the commercial comes on and he changes the channel only to find another commercial! "There ought to be a law about this!" He loudly proclaimed! "The networks should schedule their commercials so they are at different times - this is criminal!" I am not making that up - he actually said C R I M I N A L...and he wasn't joking. I'm sure that one day he will spend what few remaining braincells he has left to have "Non-conflict Commercial Scheduling" put on the ballot so all of America can vote to stop this outlandish (and probably conspiratorial) behavior by the networks!
You're going to want to make this cake. For Halloween. For Thanksgiving. And for any birthday or celebration in between. It's good...dang good. The pumpkin part of the cake is so moist - it will remind you of a cross between pumpkin pie and a soft pumpkin cookie. The chocolate part of the cake is almost fudge like - rich and dense and chocolatey...and the two flavors are happily married - it's a winning combination for sure!
Chocolate-Pumpkin Marble Cake - Adapted From Sunset Magazine
1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
2 teaspoonfuls vanilla
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup Dutch-Processed unsweetened cocoa (I suppose you could use Hershey's Cocoa but the Dutch processed is SO much better!)
2/3 cup buttermilk
Chocolate glaze - recipe follows
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt cake pan. In a large bowl, with mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Scrape half the mixture into another bowl.
To make pumpkin batter: Beat pumpkin into half the butter mixture until well blended. In another bowl, stir together 1 3/4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and beat on low speed or fold in with a flexible spatula just until blended. Batter will be thick.
To make chocolate batter: In another bowl, mix remaining 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspon salt, and the cocoa. Add flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk to the other half of the butter mixture (starting and ending with flour mixture), beating after each addition just until blended.
Spoon half the pumpkin batter into the prepared pan. Drop half the chocolate batter by spoonfuls over (but not entirely covering) the pumpkin batter. Repeat to spoon remaining pumpkin and chocolate batters into pan. Gently run the blade of a butter knife around the center of the pan several times, then draw the knife across the width of the pan in 10 to 12 places to swirl batters.
Bake in a 350 degree oven until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 55 to 60 minutes. Let cake cool 10 minutes in pan, then invert onto a rack, left off pan, and cool cake completely. Pour warm chocolate glaze over top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Let stand until glaze is set, about 2 hours, or chill about 30 minutes. Serves 12 to 16.
Chocolate Glaze: In a heatproof bowl of the top of a double boiler, combine 4 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate (semi-sweet chocolate chips are okay), 1/2 cup whipping cream, 1 tablespoon butter, and 1 teaspoon corn syrup. Bring an inch or two of water to a boil in a pan that the bowl can nest in or in bottom of double boiler, then remove from heat. Place chocolate mixture over water and let stand, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth, about 10 minutes. 
"Temperance and labor are the two best physicians; the one sharpens the appetite, the other prevents indulgence to excess." - Jean-Jacques Rousseau
