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Sharon’s Pumpkin Spice Cake
One 8-Inch 3-Layer Cake

We served this for friends at a lovely autumn dinner party at our home in 2003. It is perhaps a more sophisticated alternative to traditional pumpkin pie. Sharon ices the entire cake, but you can also simply ice between the layers and on top.

Pumpkin Cake Batter
¾ cup unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks)
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin purée
½ cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fresh-ground nutmeg

Pumpkin Cream-Cheese Frosting
(Double this if you intend to frost the entire cake)
1 8-ounce package cream cheese (do not use fat free)
¼ cup pumpkin purée
¼ cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick), softened
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Preparation: 1. Heat your oven to 350?F. 2. Prepare cake pans: lightly coat three 8-inch cake pans with softened butter. Cut three 8-inch circles out of parchment paper and fit them into the bottoms of the cake pans. Lightly coat the paper with butter and set aside. 3. Make the batter: Cream butter until smooth in a large bowl with your electric mixer set at medium speed. Add the sugars and mix smoothly. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, until the mixture is smooth and light. Set aside. Combine the pumpkin purée, buttermilk and vanilla in a medium bowl and set aside. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and nutmeg in a large bowl and set aside. In thirds, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to the butter mixture, blending well after each addition until smooth. 4. Bake the cake: Pour batter into prepared cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of each cake comes out clean; about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan on wire racks for 30 minutes. Remove cakes from the pans and return to the racks until completely cool. 5. Assemble the cake: Place one layer on a cake plate and top with one-third of the pumpkin cream-cheese frosting mixture. Repeat with the second and third layers.

Sharon & Richard WOTTRICH