A Dream Pumpkin Cake

Photo: tomsfarm.com

Autumn begins on Sunday. Temperatures are dropping making it the perfect time to turn on the oven. A recipe that's traveling around the internet [see The Novice Chef] sounds delicious. As usual, I tweaked the ingredients to make the cake slightly healthier, but don't fool yourself! It's still a gooey, buttery dessert, not an all-you-can-eat leafy green vegetable. However, if you eat healthy most of the time, you can have a slice of cake, unless of course your doctor says otherwise.

Dream Pumpkin Cake

For the cake -

Ingredients: 
3 cups flour (I use half all purpose and half whole wheat.)
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, softened
1 ¼ cups sugar (I reduce it from 2 cups, eek!)
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
A dash of cinnamon
1 15 oz can pumpkin
¼ cup olive oil
1 cup buttermilk (Add another ¼ cup, or so, if needed to get a not too dry or runny consistency. Eyeball it.)

Directions:

Photo: The Novice Chef

1. In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt.

2. Add the remaining ingredients, one at a time and blend with an electric mixer until creamy.

3. Divide the batter evenly by pouring into 2 greased cake pans.

4. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 35 to 45 minutes, or until done in the center.

5. Let cool for about 5 - 10 minutes in the freezer and remove from the pans. Don't let the cakes continue to bake in the hot pans. You want to keep them moist.

For the frosting -

Ingredients: 

12 oz (1 ½ packages) cream cheese, softened 
½ cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablesoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon
6 cups powdered sugar 

Directions:

1. In a bowl, mix the butter and cream cheese until creamy.

2. Beat in maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon. 

3. Add the powdered sugar and blend until smooth. 

4. Frost the top, middle and sides of the cake.

5. Professional bakers will put the cake into the refrigerator to let the frosting set, then remove it to frost it again. So a second frosting is totally up to you.

Serve with coffee, tea or milk. 

You get some protein, fiber, vitamins A, B, E, D and calcium in this pumpkin cake, but probably not enough to offset the sugar, nor count as a healthy food. So it's a ring-in-the-fall special treat. Enjoy!

You may also enjoy:
The End Of Summer
The Best Cookbooks Ever
Homemade Vanilla Extract
Jamie Oliver's The Food Revolution