I have one more pumpkin recipe to share with you all. I figure with Thanksgiving right around the corner you may need a back-up pumpkin recipe. If not, I dressed it up all Christmas like so you could use it for Christmas as well.
How beautiful is this! It was so fun to make. We had a party at my hubby's bosses house this weekend and I was in charge of dessert. To most people this would be nerve racking but the boss is also a dear friend of ours and has been for years. He's part of our D&D group so he partakes in my desserts about once a month, more than that if we're lucky and can get together. But, as adults with families, that rarely happens. Boo! My rogue rarely gets to come out and play.
Okay, enough nerd talk. As long as you all still have a little respect for me I had better not scare you off.
So, you're wondering to yourself, "Self, how did she do that?" Well, I have the answer for you my dear friends!
I picked the rest of my rosemary out of my garden and then I smelled my fingers. What? Oh, you know you do that too when you pick rosemary! Don't deny it. It smells like Christmas. Then I pulled the bag of fresh cranberries from the fridge and dumped a few in a bowl. I rinsed off the rosemary and patted it dry a bit and did the same for the cranberries. I put a bunch of sugar in a pie plate and then I dredged the rosemary through the sugar and placed it on a wire rack to dry. I put the cranberries in the remaining sugar and shook the pie plate around until they were completely covered in sugar and placed them on the wire rack with the rosemary. After they were all dry, which took a couple of hours, I decorated my cake.
Let the praise begin! Tell me how I'm such a genius! Come on now, get down on your knees and kiss my feet! Okay, you can stand up now. For, you see, I'm not the real genius behind this masterpiece. That would have to be the good 'ole Mrs. Paula Deen herself. That would've been cool if I were though. Huh? Is this awkward now that you have kissed my feet?
Natalie said the garnish looked like Julius Ceaser's headpiece.
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Hubby said it looked like the Ghost of Christmas Past's headpiece.
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Pumpkin Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Yield: 1 (9-inch) cake
Ingredients:
Adapted from Paula Deen
Yield: 1 (9-inch) cake
Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter, softened - this is Paul Deen after all!
- 2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 t. baking powder
- 1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 t. baking soda
- 1/2 t. ground nutmeg
- 1/4 t. salt
- 1/4 t. ground allspice
- 1/2 cup whole milk - I used skim
- Maple Cream Cheese Frosting - recipe follows
- Garnish: sugared rosemary, sugared cranberries
- 12 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 2 T. pure maple syrup
- 1/4 t. ground cinnamon
- 4 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
Instructions for Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350. Spray 2 9-inch round cake pans with Pam.
- In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in pumpkin until smooth.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, soda, nutmeg, salt and allspice. Gradually add to batter mixture, alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Spoon batter evenly into prepared pans, and bake for 22 to 27 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack. Spread Maple Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Garnish with sugared rosemary and cranberries just before serving if desired. Store cake in refrigerator.
Instructions for Maple Cream Cheese Frosting:
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Reduce speed to medium-low; add syrup and cinnamon. Gradually beat in confectioners sugar until mixture is smooth. Use immediately.
Servings: 1 slice of cake
Calories: 581
Total Fat: 29.4 g
Cholesterol: 130 mg.
Sodium: 307 mg.
Protein: 6.4 g.
First of all, I'm totally impressed that you knew what D&D stood for. Second, you know what RPG means!! WOOT! Thank you for being nerdy with me :)
ReplyDeleteHigh praise on the cake decorations! Ingenious! You are right that rosemary smells like Christmas. I love cutting sprigs of rosemary and bringing them in the house. It smells so wonderful! Your cake looks beautiful and sounds delicious! With all the pumpkin I bet it's really, really moist. Beautiful post!
ReplyDeleteDee, this looks so wonderful. The presentation is amazing and it sounds delicious.... NICE JOB!!!!
ReplyDeleteWow, what a beautiful cake!
ReplyDeletehi dee...this cake feels Christmas to me =) I like the decor, sooo good.
ReplyDeleteDee, this cake is all sorts of awesome! It looks so delicious and I love the sugared rosemary and cranberries! And as for the rosemary, oh yes, who wouldn't love that awesome smell?!
ReplyDeleteThis looks so good. The rosemary with sugar is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI think it looks lovely :-)
ReplyDeleteWow! Definitely impressive! That looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteHi Dee! I love what you did to the rosermary and cranberries. Serving this to a Thanksgiving dinner will make your guests look forward to celebrating Christmas!
ReplyDeleteLove the decoration of that cake!
ReplyDeleteYour photos are stunning! I love the way you decorated the cake, best looking pumpkin cake I've ever seen! Love the addition of maple cream cheese frosting, they pair beautifully. Thanks for sharing =]
ReplyDeleteGorgeous! Love the decor for the cake. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteThis looks really delicious and I LOVE the sugared rosemary! ...and YES! I smell my hands after I've worked with Rosemary, too! I smells SO good!
ReplyDeleteOh. My. GOSH, Dee. I just might like you more than ever. I read your initial paragraphs and giggled, thinking to myself, "I wonder if she knows that I immediately imagined she meant Dungeons and Dragons?" I continued reading, wondering to myself, I wonder what her D&D group really is? Then I finished your post and actually laughed. You get to play RPGs with your husband's boss? How awesome is THAT?! I love friendships that evolve that way.
ReplyDeleteAnd for the record, everything about this post makes me smile. The cake sounds and looks delicious too. LOVE the decorations!