What’s not to like about this pumpkin-shaped cake? It doesn’t require a huge amount of effort, and it’s a Halloween treat that looks and tastes great. Note: there is no pumpkin flavor in the cake or the frosting.
Where I got the idea: a picture on Pinterest (the link did not work)
What I like about this recipe: It’s really cute (and seasonal) without requiring a huge amount of effort, and it tastes great as well.
Difficulty: Medium
The Recipes
Grandmother Sarah’s Pound Cake (1 recipe cooked in 2 6-cup bundt pans)
http://notjustanotherfoodblogger.com/grandmother-sarahs-pound-cake/
Buttercream Frosting (make 2x this recipe)
http://notjustanotherfoodblogger.com/buttercream-frosting/
The Process
Cake: Bake one recipe of Grandmother Sarah’s Pound Cake divided into two small bundt pans. Let cool on cooling racks. If the bottoms of your cakes (top while they’re in the pans) are rounded, cut most of this off to get the desired pumpkin shape when the cakes are placed on top of each other bottom to bottom.
Frosting: Make 2x the Buttercream Frosting recipe, using a little less milk than it suggests since you’ll be adding quite a bit of moisture with the food coloring. I used Wilton orange food coloring and next time will add some yellow food coloring to make it closer to a real pumpkin color.
Pulling it all together: Place one cake upside down on your cake plate with several strips of wax paper tucked under the edges to catch extra frosting. Frost the top of this cake (actually the bottom of the cake that is facing up) and place the other cake on top of the icing. Next ice the cake with a thin layer of icing (a “crumb layer”) to seal the crumbs. Then ice the cake, using extra icing in the hole in the center, while still leaving room for your stem. Use upward strokes on the frosting to create the look of a grooved pumpkin. Cut a bunch of chocolate twizzlers to the desired height (they can be tall enough to rest on your cake plate), and place them in the middle for the stem. Touch up the frosting around the stem and add twizzlers to the edges to cover up any frosting that has gotten onto the twizzlers.
The Story: I saw this on Pinterest the week before Halloween and just HAD to try it. So I made it for book club and served it with ice cream and fudge sauce. It was a hit both at book club and at the office as leftovers.
http://notjustanotherfoodblogger.com/really-fudgy-hot-fudge-sauce/
