A Piece of Cake: Easy Pumpkin Cake

Pumpkin has been on the menu a lot lately, and I realized I left you hanging telling you how to roast pumpkin without giving you a way to use it.  I'm a fan of delicious, and when delicious is quick and easy, it's major bonus points.  Both of the recipes I've been using for pumpkin cake are cake-mix-based, making them simple and quick.

Moist Pumpkin Cake

This recipe is from a recent issue of the Kraft Food & Family magazine, originally intended for cupcakes but still makes a great cake.  A spice cake is recommended, but for less spice, you could use a yellow or white cake mix and add a tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice.

1 spice cake mix

1 cup sour cream

15 ounces fresh pumpkin (or one 15 ounce can of pumpkin)

1/4 cup oil

3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the cake mix, sour cream, pumpkin, oil and eggs together.  Bake 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Easy Pumpkin Cake

This recipe also uses a cake mix and doesn't come out quite as moist, but is a little more stable if you're going to carve the cake.

Follow the directions for a yellow or white cake mix, using 1/3 to 1/2 cup less water than called for and adding 15 ounces fresh pumpkin (or one 15 ounce can).

Bake according to the directions, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Pumpkin pumpkin cake? Yes, please!

Now to convince my mother that pumpkin cake is better with cream cheese frosting rather than whipped cream...