Spiced Pumpkin Cake ~ Fall Is Officially Here

Fall is in the air in Colorado that is for sure. My parents even received 5 inches of snow at their place last week. I can’t believe that it’s truly upon us but I must say that I am ready for cooler temps. For those of you who don’t know me you should be told that the colder temps the better. I have no problem keeping my house at 55 degrees, maybe I have three problems with that scenario: Cory, Coulter and Corbin.

I love when the leaves start to turn and the air takes on that clean and fresh smell that fall brings. Besides the cool crisp smell that fall brings it also brings the smell of wood stoves burning. This is my favorite smell of fall and I have my mom to thank. Even after we had natural gas furnace put in our house my mom would lite the wood stove a couple times a year because we would crave that smell, while we watched the snow fall on a winter’s day. It always seemed like she would lite the stove when fall began as well because it truly signaled that the cooler temps were to stay. We would cuddle up on the deck with a steaming cup of Hot Spiced Tea, watch the colorful leaves fall and just sit. Once in awhile a snippet of conversation would pass but it was just nice to sit in silence and feel the love while taking in the smells of fall (including the fireplace).

One other thing that means fall in our house was the smell of pumpkin baking in the oven. Anything pumpkin was guaranteed to be a family pleaser in our house growing up. I have a TON of frozen pumpkin in the freezer that I made up a couple of years ago (thanks to my foodsaver for keeping them this long) and it’s time to get it used up. Cory is also in need of some type of dessert for his lunch and dinners I am packing during custom harvest and I really don’t want to run to the store.

Spiced Pumpkin Cake is my way to get some of that pumpkin used up and make a happy husband with dessert. I tossed in a few mini chocolate chips in the second pan I made because who doesn’t love chocolate chips with their pumpkin? I will warn you that when I say a 9×13 pan I mean find a deep one. I have one of the Pampered Chef stoneware pans and it is deep yet this Spiced Pumpkin Cake was at the top. It might be best to bake a 9×13 cake and then have a few cupcakes or small round cake on the side. My other warning is that I would start with 2 cups flour and adjust as needed. I make my own pumpkin puree and then freeze it so it can be runny. If your using canned pumpkin from the store you won’t need as much flour as I did. You could easily cut this recipe in half as well. Like I said above I ended up with a thick cake but I was hoping to have snack for the 4 kids I had at the house for the day and dessert for my husbands lunch for a week.

I topped with cream cheese icing because I love cream cheese icing (I could really eat a whole batch by the spoonful) and it was a treat that I am having a hard time staying out of. I think I have snagged more tastes of this Spiced Pumpkin Cake than any other dessert I have made recently. Yep it’s all a true sign that fall is here and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Spiced Pumpkin Cake Cast

6 cups pumpkin puree
2 cups sugar
6 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger and nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cloves
3 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
2/3 cup oil (I like extra virgin olive oil)
9 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour

Directions For Spiced Pumpkin Cake

1.  Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

2.  Combine pumpkin puree, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ground ginger.  Mix well.  Add in vanilla, eggs and oil.

3.  Add baking soda and flour to pumpkin mixture and mix well.  Pour into a deep greased 9×13 pan.

4.  Bake in pre-heated oven for 60 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

**I bake all of my cakes at 325 degrees because this is something I have learned from decorating cakes.  They take longer to bake but I seem to get a more even cooked cake especially when dealing with larger cakes.  I have just carried this principle into all of my cake baking.  You could bake this Spiced Pumpkin Cake at 350 for about 45 minutes, especially if you will be leaving it in the pan to serve (which I recommend).

5.  Allow to cool completely and top with white or cream cheese icing.

Because my cake is so deep I cut small pieces and was able to get 24 servings from this cake.  If you opt to cut it the recipe in half you should get 12 slices with ease.

What is your favorite flavor of fall?  How about your favorite fall smell?  Favorite fall activity?