This pumpkin cake with
cream cheese frosting is one of my favorite desserts for autumn, and the mix of cinnamon, cloves, allspice and ginger will fill your home with a wonderful aroma. Chef James Brockman has also given us a way to turn this basic recipe into
cupcakes, which my kids adore (especially for Halloween). Whether you're making cake or cupcakes, do cool completely before frosting; otherwise, you will have melting cream cheese running all over!
step 1Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
step 2In a medium-sized bowl, sift together dry ingredients: flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
step 3In a large bowl, place butter and sugar and beat together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
step 4Add the eggs one at a time to the wet ingredients (large bowl), beating in each addition. Stir in the vanilla.
step 5Stir 1/3 of the flour mixture (from Step 2) into the wet ingredients (large bowl), then 1/2 the can of pumpkin. Follow that with 1/3 flour mixture, then the rest of the pumpkin and then the remaining flour mixture (dry ingredients).
step 6Spray the cake pans with nonstick cooking spray.
step 7Divide the batter between the two cake pans and spread out evenly with a rubber spatula.
step 8Bake the cakes for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
step 9Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for a minute and then turn out the cakes from the pans onto the racks. Let cool completely. Frost with
Cream Cheese Frosting.