I found this truly wonderful
recipe for a pumpkin cake several years ago and finally got around to trying it today. You can go to the link if you like. This is just going to be notes about things you should know if you're going to try it.
Like... Note the photograph above. I had to laugh when I tried to follow the instructions to beat the cream cheese (for the frosting) at medium until creamy. Even though it was at room temperature, it all migrated instantly to the beaters!
This is where the recipe's 20-minute prep time first gets thrown off (unless, like me, you realize that neither you nor your husband actually put the eggs into the cart and you have to wait for reinforcements) as it takes 3-5 minutes to repeatedly scrape the cheese off the beaters as you try to get it creamy.
Tip #1, kind of: Next time I will try adding in just a few spoonsful of the pumpkin puree at the beginning. (Maybe I'll let you know. I'm making this again for Thanksgiving.)
It will also take you another few minutes if, like me, you have to pause to laugh helplessly, find your camera and stage several shots along the way.
Tip #2: Don't believe them when they say to mix the frosting in a "small bowl." What is Kraft's definition of a "small bowl" anyway!? I had a suspicion that my definition of a small bowl wouldn't hold the 8 oz. of cream cheese, 7 oz. of pumpkin puree, 8 oz. of confectioner's sugar and full tub of Cool Whip.
Right I was. This bowl is probably about 2 quarts and it's just about full!
Tip #3: KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR PARROT AT ALL TIMES!
Or he might just wander over--while you're waiting for the cakes to cool and trying to design your Christmas card online--and take a
big bite out of one of them.
If this does happen, simply cut around the bite with a knife and fill in with frosting. Don't tell anyone about this. It will only make them uneasy about eating in your home.
Unless they have cats. People with cats have fewer food/animal issues because if they're honest with themselves, they know that their darlings dance all over everything in the kitchen anytime you leave the room.
Tip #4: Half of this cake is enough for most reasonable people to enjoy. I called Braveheart for advice on freezing cakes. (In her spare time, she is the Mistress of Cakes and the Doyenne of Pies.) I wrapped the other 8-inch round in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and slid it into the freezer for later. Froze the extra frosting separately, in a yogurt container.
If you followed the link, you'll see that this cake is configured differently because it's only two layers (really one layer split into two) and it has frosting on top, and there are no pecans.
Which leads us to
Tip #5: If it's your boss's birthday and she's allergic to nuts, don't even bother to toast the pecans and take them on the side. Let her feel that the cake is complete as it is.
Or, like me, tell her that you omitted the pecans because you didn't think she should have to provide the entertainment by puffing up and being Medivacked to the hospital.
"Happy Birthday! Buh-bye!"
A good, hypoallergenic time was had by all.
