Fall evokes many things for me. It's a season of change where the chill in the air is more noticeable and you know that winter is creeping right around the corner. I have an aversion to freezing temperatures so hibernation mode has been on this week since mother nature apparently wanted us to experience a glimpse of winter already. However, I love that I can finally take out my warm sweaters, coats, and cozy scarves and know that my favorite holidays will also be coming up soon.
In terms of food, I'm not a huge pumpkin person. I know people get giddy as soon as Starbucks puts their pumpkin spice latte on the menu but I just can't get on board with that excitement. That drink just tastes awful to me. Same goes for pumpkin pie. Not only do I think that it's just way too much pumpkin flavor for me but I dislike the texture of it so it's always been a pass for me whenever I see it on the menu/table. Not even a second glance.
Pumpkin bread has always been the exception and a favorite for me, but it's also one of those tricky desserts where it has to have the perfect balance of spices and sweetness to evoke just the right amount of pumpkin spice taste. When I came across this pumpkin cake recipe, I was fully interested in making it since the ingredients needed were similar to my go to pumpkin bread recipe, only with slight differences.
So let's talk about the cream cheese frosting. I don't even like frosting but cream cheese frosting is
special. It gets me. There is nothing new about cream cheese frosting but the combination of pumpkin cake with cream cheese together is really something. A relationship that makes absolute sense, similar to carrot cake and cream cheese. Trust me when I say that this is the perfect pumpkin cake with equal parts sweetness and spices that is decadently moist <---KEY. I mean I'll just put it this way--my newfound problem with portion control I never knew I had suddenly had became an issue when eating this cake.
After reading people's review on this recipe, the only changes I made was adding a teaspoon of vanilla extract, increasing the ground ginger amount, and decreasing the sugar in the frosting. This recipe is 1000 percent going into my recipe archives and will debut again for Thanksgiving per the request of loved ones and for the purpose of having leftovers. Because cake for breakfast is
always a good idea. In bed. Crumbs optional.
Have a great weekend. Xo.
Ingredients (Adapted from http://southernfood.about.com/od/pumpkins/r/bl30212s.htm)
2 cups of sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups pumpkin puree or cooked mashed pumpkin
Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup butter
1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese, room temperature
2 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Procedure
1. Combine sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl; mix well.
2. Sift dry ingredients in separate bowl; stir into oil mixture, beating well. Stir in pumpkin puree.
3. Pour batter into two greased and floured 9-inch round layer cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Turn onto racks to cool. Frost pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with chopped pecans.
Cream Cheese Frosting
1. Beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add the sifted confectioners' sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract; beat until smooth. Makes enough for 2-layer cake or 1 large round cake.
