Hi everybody & thanks for popping in!

I was attending a Halloween party recently and wanted to bring a seasonal dessert. I found this delicious recipe on Pinterest, aka inspiration central, and now understand why it was called Pumpkin Dream Cake. In fact, I couldn’t even find a better name for it. It’s soft, moist and just dreamy..Picture yourself happily floating on marshmallow in the sky. That’s what this cake feels like. The frosting was delicious with its combination of cinnamon and maple. It even smells dreamy! Its pretty too; homemade frosting has a sort of sheen to it that store-bought just doesn’t have and I love how the cinnamon is speckled throughout.

There is an intriguing point in this recipe really sealed the deal for me. It stated that as soon as your cake layers are baked, you must pop the cake pans directly into freezer for a bit. This stops the cooking process and ensures a moist cake! Love it! I will do that with all my cakes now.

Frosting tips: Homemade frosting is softer than store-bought so when you frost between the layers and assemble, your layers may want to slide off, where suddenly you notice your cake is a leaning tower of terror (for me)! While I was panicking – tears in my eyes, my husband, my life-saver, came up with an idea to prevent this.  He put 3 long wooden skewers into the top of the cake and down through the layers, right to the bottom. This holds the layers in place until the frosting sets. Brilliant! Don’t forget to apply a thin layer of frosting aka a crumb coat before the final, thicker frosting is applied. This keeps your frosting from becoming a crumby mess. Putting the cake in the fridge after this helps to set it quickly.

Due to the cream cheese in the frosting, this cake should be refrigerated. Although the high sugar content preserves it quite a bit, it should be refrigerated over night for example.  DO take it out about two hours before serving to bring it to room temperature as it should not be served cold.

I took a chance bringing a cake that I had never made before, thankfully it was easy and it worked out perfectly and people loved it!

Pumpkin Dream Cake with Cinnamon Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Yield: 3 layer cake

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk

12 oz (1 1/2 packages) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon
6 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300°F. Grease 3, 8-inch round cake pans. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl/stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla, pumpkin and vegetable oil. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk.

Divide batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove pans from oven and immediately place in freezer for 45 minutes. (This keeps the cake moist by immediately stopping the baking so the cake does not continue to bake when you remove it from the oven.)

For the frosting: In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon. Add confectioners’ sugar and beat on low-speed until combined, then on high until frosting is smooth.

Assemble the 3 layers with a thick layer of frosting in between each layer. Then apply a thin crumb coat on the top and sides. Pop back in the freezer to harden the crumb coat for about 10 minutes.

Apply one final thick and even layer around the outside of the cake. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.

This recipe was discovered on Pinterest and originates from :http://www.thenovicechefblog.com/2012/10/pumpkin-dream-cake/