Pumpkin Cake

I’ve had a history with Pumpkin Cake but had never made it till last month. In college my roommates baked one, and I couldn’t get enough. When I got married, my mom’s friend gave me a copy of the recipe and it sat in cooking notebook unused (till now). Then when I asked for Pumpkin recipes, many of you recommended Paula Deen’s Pumpkin Goey Butter Cakes and I knew it was time to make the cake myself.

So, I did. And I made it three times because I wasn’t satisfied with the cake/pumpkin ratio. The original recipe had too much cake and not enough baked pumpkin goodness. So I’ve tweaked the recipe to my liking and here it is.

The dessert is fairly straightforward, with a yellow cake mix on the bottom, pumpkin pie filling in the middle, and cake mix/butter crunchiness on top.

PUMPKIN CAKE

NOTE: This recipe is for an 8×8 square dish. Most recipes similar to this are for 9×13, so some of the measurements have been halved, from the original recipe.

Cake bottom:

1 cup of yellow cake mix (you’ll also need 3/4 cup of the cake mix for the topping and can save the rest for making this dessert again)

2 Tbls melted butter

1/2 of an egg (more info below)

Pumpkin filling:

1 15 oz can of pumpkin (or 2 cups of fresh puree)

2 eggs, slightly beaten

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp cloves

1 can evaporated milk

Topping:

3/4 cup yellow cake mix

2 Tbls sugar

2 Tbls butter

First prepare the bottom cake layer.

Melt the butter in the microwave or stove and let it cool slightly (so you the eggs don’t curdle when added to the mix). Then pour the butter and 1/2 of an egg into the 1 cup of cake mix and stir. (Since this recipe has been halved from the original, it calls for 1/2 of an egg. Whenever I need 1/2 eggs for a recipe, I crack and whisk up one egg in a small bowl and then just pour about 1/2 of the mixture into the recipe. I don’t measure exactly since eggs vary in size anyway. It usually works pretty well).

Press the cake mixture into the bottom of an 8×8 Square dish (which has been sprayed with cooking spray). The mixture will be very sticky, so use a plastic bag over your hand to evenly press it around.

Next, prepare the topping. Mix 3/4 cup of yellow cake mix with 2 Tablespoons of sugar in a bowl. Using a pastry cutter or fork, cut in 2 Tablespoons, till well blended. Set this aside.

Now the Filling.

You’re going to make this exactly like you would a pumpkin pie. If you have a small can of Libby’s canned pumpkin, you can follow that recipe exactly or use the ingredients listed above (which are from the Libby’s can!). Mix everything together with a wire wisk.

And pour it over the bottom cake layer.

Finally, sprinkle the topping evenly over the top.

Stick it in a 350 degree oven and bake for 45 min to an hour.

Now because I doubled the amount of pumpkin filling in this recipe, it takes much longer for the pumpkin to set in the middle. Of course you don’t want the top of your dessert to get overly brown in the process. So, I haven’t perfected this part yet, but I recommend covering the top with foil for the first 15 minutes or so of cooking (doesn’t have to be tight on the pan, just sitting on top of the dish). Remove it during the cooking and let it cook the rest of the time, uncovered. This is often what I do with pie crusts as well. If you have better suggestions, I’d love to hear!

When you’re done, you have this:

Let it cool for a bit, top with cool whip, whipping cream, or vanilla ice cream, and serve!