Celebrate with Pumpkin Cake....by (Angela) Jean

I firmly believe that when you make a cake, it should taste as good as it looks. I love a fancy-looking cake as much as the next gal, and I'm truly amazed by the creativity of cake artists, but what good is a cake if it tastes...well....blah?

I hosted a birthday party for a dear friend last Friday and I decided to make pumpkin spice cake. You can use canned pumpkin for this cake, but it is SO easy to roast your own that I strongly encourage you to do so. If you roast a couple of pumpkins you can use the rest for soup, or even freeze it for later.

Cut the pumpkins in half, and scoop out the seeds. Place them face-down on a baking sheet (I line mine with foil, but I don't think you have to) and roast at 350 degrees Farenheit for about an hour. Just like that. No oil, nothing.



When the pumpkin flesh is soft and you can easily scoop it out with a spoon it's done.

Pumpkin Birthday Cake
This recipe is adapted from several different recipes I have tried over the years. It makes a big batch of batter so you can bake three large loafs, or 48 cupcakes. This time, I made 2 8-inch layer cakes, and 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients 

• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 4 eggs 
• 1 cup vegetable oil 
• 1/3 cup water (a bit more if you use canned pumpkin) 
• 2 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 2 teaspoons baking soda 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour baking pans or muffin tins. 
In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.

 Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.

I used these really cute silicone baking cups. They look great, but are a bit of a pain because you have to wash them after. Part of the beauty of cupcakes is the absence of washing up!

Bake for about 50 minutes.(cupcakes take about 25 minutes) 

Cakes are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

These cakes smell and taste divine! The kids loved them and hey, they got an extra serving of vegetables with dessert! 
I used this Martha Stewart recipe for cream cheese frosting.

• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Place cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Add butter, and beat until fluffy.
Reduce speed to low; gradually add sugar, and continue beating until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, and mix to combine. 

Happy Birthday, Auntie Burt. Biggie says 'hi'.