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Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting


I love cake. I love chocolate cake, red velvet cake, German chocolate cake, black forest cake, coconut cake, carrot cake, gingerbread cake, hummingbird cake, apple cake, vanilla cake, sponge cake, angel food cake, devil’s food cake, funfetti cake- name a cake and I love it. During fall, however, the cake that I crave is pumpkin cake generously frosted with cream cheese frosting. 
 I wasn’t going to make myself a birthday cake this year; I had made myself apple cider doughnuts and thought that they would be enough, but my soul craved to decorate cake and my tummy something pumpkin. I do have an extravagant cake percolating in my mind’s eye for Halloween, so for this birthday cake, I decided to go with a very simple piped design for my decoration and just jazzed it up with a very few well-placed sprinkles. 
The flavor of this cake is perfectly spiced and the pumpkin flavor really shines through; the cake’s crumb is tender and moist, and the cream cheese frosting takes the cake to the next level. Cut yourself a big old slice and enjoy! 

Ingredients: 
½ cup butter, softened
¼ cup oil
2 cups granulated sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
3 eggs
1 can of pumpkin puree (15 ounces)
2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla bean paste
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk

Frosting:
8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1 cup of butter, softened
7 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method: 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prepare 2 8 inch round cake pans with butter and flour; line the bottoms with parchment and butter and flour that as well. 
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, spices, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
In another bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add an egg, one at a time, beating well. Add the oil, pumpkin puree and vanilla bean extract and mix until thoroughly combined.
Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and incorporate. Add half of the buttermilk, and mix well. Finish alternating between the flour and buttermilk (1/2 the flour, rest of buttermilk, rest of flour). Divide the mixture evenly between the 2 prepared pans and tap them to release any air bubbles.
Bake, rotating halfway through, for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for ten minutes, then remove the cakes from the pan and place them on a wire rack to cool completely before you frost and decorate.

While the cakes cool, make your frosting. In a large bowl, beat together the softened cream cheese and butter until smooth; add in the vanilla and mix well. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until the frosting is creamy, smooth and thick. Using a long knife or spatula, spread a crumb coat of frosting onto the cake. Put it in the fridge for 15 minutes to set. Place frosting into a piping bag with the tip of your choosing, remove the cake from the fridge, and pipe your chosen pattern. Decorate and adorn as desired. Watch it get demolished!


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