Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
Fall is officially here! Time to make all the pumpkin recipes I can get my hands on! This recipe happens to be a favorite of ours, that everyone loves (except my husband who does not like sweets... Yeah, I don't get it either!). And just saying we love this recipe really isn't enough, because we actually LOVE and ADORE this recipe so very much!
A sweet lady at our church handed the recipe to me several years ago, and since then, we make it a point to make this tasty creation several times each fall season at least. I did make one small change, so that the cake is just a tad healthier, and after tasting the recipe before and after making this change... the healthier way is just as good and it is still so moist!! It's a win, win for all!!
So, what is this one small change??? It is actually something I do pretty often while baking (except when making brownies, for some reason it changes the texture too much for my liking). You know how most dessert recipes call for vegetable oil? And sometimes recipes call for a LOT of vegetable oil? I try to avoid using vegetable oil whenever possible. Instead of the oil, I use applesauce (regular or cinnamon, depending on the flavor of the cake). I use the same exact measurement of apple sauce and leave out the oil. Simple as that!
This cake is easy to make, only requires one bowl for the cake and one bowl for the icing and only has to cook 20-25 minutes!! So, it is great to keep on hand when you need to whip something up relatively quickly. It also makes a very large cake, so it is perfect to serve a crowd! You need a jelly roll pan, or 16X12, as I used for mine.
(The Best and Most Moist) Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients needed:
CAKE
2 Cups all purpose flour
2 Cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/4 Cup vegetable oil (OR cinnamon applesauce, like we use)
2 Cups pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
ICING
8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Approximately 1 box of powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients to make the cake. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Bake in a greased jelly roll pan (17X11X1) or (16X12X1) - we used the 16X12 size and it worked fine for us. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until fork comes out clean after being inserted in the middle. Do not overcook, or the cake will not be as moist. Let the cake cool.
Once cake is cooled, mix all ingredients for the icing and spread over your cake. Enjoy!!
