Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

Every time a Birthday rolls around at the Office we all take turns making something to celebrate their special day....it also makes for a good excuse for an afternoon snack!! So this time around since I had today off from working the weekend I decided to utilize cousin Dana's recipe and make this cake entirely from scratch! Now I'm not usually the most graceful baker and tend to make more of a mess than a success! Baking can be so tedious because your measurements must be exact. When I cook I like to be free to add a little of this, a little of that until I think it tastes right. I also tend to be a perfectionist and it has to look just so or I will not be satisfied. Just ask Milissa after our cupcake decorating class & trying to make Roses!! Uggh what a nightmare not to mention I was fresh off of one of my hand surgeries so that was quite the hindrance. Well cupcake class is a whole other story for another blog entry.

So all in all, I think today's experiment in baking came out superb! Not to mention I was able to put my lovely red Kitchenaid Mixer to use (thank you Aunt Denise, Aunt Penny, Cousins Krista & Nicole for that wedding shower gift!) I feel I may have overdone the amount of Ganache...but according to Dana you can never have too much!! It was prettier before adding the glaze but Rob says he thinks its going to taste better with the chocolate topping....Lets just hope there is a slice left for him to try tomorrow ;)

*Warning: The Icing is quite possibly the devil and you may be tempted to toss the cake & sit down with just the icing and a spoon instead....Must resist the temptation! Thank you to Dana Grohol for sharing this fabulous family recipe!!

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake.

Cake:

1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cups butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large (plus one yolk) eggs

Icing:

6 oz Cream Cheese

1 ½ Cups Powdered Sugar

¼ tsp Cinnamon

1 ½ tsp Cocoa

1 tsp Vanilla

1 ½ Cup heavy cream

½ Cup Powdered Sugar

Orange Food Coloring

½ Cup semi sweet Chocolate

½ cup Heavy Cream

· Preheat oven to 350 F

· Line the bottoms of two 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper and lightly butter.

· Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.

· Stir the buttermilk, pumpkin, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl.

· Beat the butter and sugars together using an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and yolk, one at a time. Reduce mixer speed to low and alternately beat in the flour and buttermilk mixtures in thirds.

· Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake until a tester, inserted in the center, comes out clean--about 35 minutes. Cool layers completely before icing.

· The icing is 6 ounces of cream cheese whipped, add 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 1/2 teaspoon of cocoa and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. In another bowl whip 1 1/2 cups heavy cream with 1/2 cup powdered sugar and some orange food coloring. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until incorporated.

· Ice the cake and eat the leftovers. After an hour in the fridge make up a Ganache by melting a half cup semi sweet chocolate into half a cup of heated heavy cream. Pour over the entire top of the cake like a glaze and return to the fridge.

Recipe Courtesy of Dana Grohol. Thank you for sharing!

Click here or Copy & paste link into browser for Recipe:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/72730634/Chocolate-Pumpkin-Cake