Pumpkin Cake

This Pumpkin Cake is filled with pumpkin, cinnamon, and cloves.  It's the perfect dessert for fall!

For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned to Amy's blog, The Savvy Kitchen.  Her blog is new to me, and I'm so happy that I found it.  Amy and I have a lot in common, she has a toddler--her son is about 2 months younger than Summer.  She also enjoys reading, running, and spending time with her friends and family--sounds a lot like me!

It was no surprise that I found a large selection of recipes I wanted to make this month.  I looked through her Tiny Tot Tuesday recipes and found quite a few that I think Summer will enjoy, like this Mac and Cheese for One. I was also tempted by her recipes for Spanikopita, Easy Parmesan Knots, and Crock-pot Queso Dip.

I am having quite a bit of success with my healthier eating habits and following the 21 Day Fix guidelines, so I was also intrigued by her recipe for Healthy Banana Cookies.  Ultimately though, partly because I procrastinated on making my recipe and needed to bring dessert for our small group, but also because it looked delicious, I opted to make Amy's recipe for Pumpkin Bread.

I took a few liberties with this bread, and though I left the recipe part alone, I opted to bake it in a bundt pan as a cake and then drizzle it with a pumpkin spice icing.  Admittedly, this doesn't exactly follow clean eating, but I have to treat myself every once in a while.

Like I said before, I brought this for dessert to our small group gathering.  Everyone liked it--including the toddlers.  And that, my friends, is a victory in my book!

The batter comes together quickly.  The added spices add a boost of flavor the cake and I loved the fall taste!  I ended up stocking up on canned pumpkin at the store last week so I can make more pumpkin recipes like this one and one coming later this week.

I added a little bit of pumpkin pie spice mix to the icing before drizzling it over the cake.  I thought it added a little extra flavor, but if you don't have the spices, don't worry about it.  This cake was dense, but moist, and was full of flavor.  I'll certainly be making it again!

Pumpkin Cake

Serves 16

Ingredients:
3-1/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup butter, softened
2-2/3 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
2/3 cup water

1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice mix
1 Tablespoon milk (more as needed)

1.  Mix flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, and baking powder in a medium bowl.

2.  In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

3.  Add the eggs, pumpkin, and water and mix well.

4.  Stir in the dry mixture and mix until just combined.

5.  Pour batter into a greased bundt pan.  Bake at 350 for 60-65 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

6.  Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting on a plate.  Cool completely.

7.  While the cake is cooling, mix together the powdered sugar and pumpkin pie spice.  Add milk to achieve desired consistency.  Drizzle icing over the cooled cake.

Store covered, at room temperature, for up to a week.

Source: The Savvy Kitchen

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