Adapted from Betty Crocker
Fall is here and what better way to celebrate than pumpkin-flavored baked goods? Lately I've been craving cake. I had some leftover pumpkin puree to use up and decided to make pumpkin bars with it. I used a 9x13-inch pan, so this turned out to be more of a cake than bars. Call it what you want- I call it delicious. It's moist and full of that fall pumpkin flavor that I love.
I went for a thin layer of cream cheese frosting for this cake. The cake is moist enough and the frosting is sweet enough that this was plenty for me. If you prefer more, feel free to double the frosting recipe. You can also adjust the amount of milk and powdered sugar to obtain your desired consistency and sweetness.
Ingredients
Cake:
Cooking spray
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce (or use vegetable oil if preferred)
2 cups pumpkin puree
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Frosting:
3 oz. cream cheese, softened (I used 1/3-less fat)
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 T. milk
1 t. vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups powdered sugar
Chopped walnuts, if desired
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13-inch glass baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine sugar, apple sauce and pumpkin; stir well to combine. Add the beaten eggs and stir. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
Add dry ingredients to the sugar/egg mixture, stirring well to combine. Pour into prepared baking pan, spreading the batter evenly.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, milk and vanilla with an electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Gradually add in powdered sugar, beating on low speed until smooth. Spread frosting over the cake. Sprinkle with walnuts.
Refrigerate any leftovers.
Yields: one 9x13-inch cake.
Yum! I'm loving all the pumpkin baked goods I'm seeing lately!
ReplyDelete