Oh So Sinfully Delicious...

On October 11, 2010, Canadians will be celebrating Thanksgiving, a day where one is suppose to reflect on what he or she is thankful for, but really it is a day to stuff oneself full of turkey, mashed potatoes, pot roast, glazed ham, and so on. However, Thanksgiving cannot be complete without the iconic pumpkin pie. Thus this week, we've made pumpkin cake. A recipe posted by Jennifer on allrecipes.com (the Canadian version). We've paired this recipe with a maple cream cheese frosting, which can be found on Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. Any changes we've made to the recipe are in italics. Happy baking, and for those celebrating Thanksgiving, have a happy Thanksgiving ya'll!

Pumpkin Cake II

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil (We used 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce, see Ann's comment below)
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups solid pack pumpkin puree
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (we omitted the walnuts)


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine oil (or applesauce) and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and mix well. Add the flour mixture and beat until smooth. Add nuts and pumpkin and blend until smooth. Pour batter into greased 10 inch tube pan.

3. Bake at 375º F (190º C) for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and finish cooling. Dust with confectioners sugar before serving. (This is optional, we used maple cream cheese frosting instead, see the recipe below.)

Maple Syrup Cream Cheese Filling*


3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla


Directions:

1.In the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth with no visible lumps. (You can totally do this with a bowl, wooden spoon, and your arm).

2. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined.

3. Add the powdered sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla, and beat until smooth. Be careful not to over beat the filling, or it will lose structure.

* We halved the recipe because we wanted to spread the frosting on top of the cake but if you want to spread it around the side of the cake then feel free to use the full amount.

Ann's Thoughts

I've made this cake a few times in the past, following the ingredients exactly as posted. However what bothered me was how oily the cake turned out, cause if you've noticed, this recipe calls for a whopping amount of one and a half cups of oil - that's seriously fattening. What's so great about allrecipes.com is that many baking enthusiast not only vote on the recipe, but comment and make suggestions on how to make the recipe better or slightly different. One suggestion that's been made by allrecipes members is to substitute the oil for 1 cup of applesauce. So Ana and I used unsweetened applesauce instead, and the cake turned out really, really good. So good, that my share of the cake is already finished! This pumpkin cake is an awesome addition to any Thanksgiving feast, people will be asking for seconds, trust me.

Ana's Thoughts

I wish we had Thanksgiving in Brazil, too. Then I would have another excuse to bake AND stuff my face with food. As if Christmas' Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's feasts weren't enough. hahaha But I guess if we had Thanksgiving it wouldn't be the same because October is Spring in Brazil, so our table would be filled with Spring food not Fall food. Anyway, back to Pumpkin cake. My very first Pumpkin cake. At first, I thought it was okay. Not bad, the cinnamon overpowered the pumpkin but you could still taste a little bit of it, the cake was moist, not oily. The frosting wasn't my favorite, though. Too sweet for my taste.

But the next day, I tried another piece, with the frosting still cold from the fridge, and Oh my...it was so good. The cake was still moist and the cold, sweet and tangy, frosting was the perfect combination. I think some cakes are better the next day and this was the case for the Pumpkin cake, in my opinion. Now I want to taste pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin everything. So I better get started...See you next week! ;)

Receita em Português:


Bolo de Abóboras


1 1/2 xíc. de óleo vegetal*
2 xíc. de açúcar
4 ovos
3 xíc. de farinha
2 col (chá) de fermento em pó
2 col (chá) de bicarbonato de sódio
3 col (chá) de canela em pó
1 col (chá) de sal
2 xíc. de purê de abóboras**
1/2 xíc de nozes, picadas


Pré- aqueça o forno a 190ºC. Unte e enfarinhe uma forma com furo no meio. Peneire a farinha, o fermento, bicarbonato, canela e o sal. Reserve.
Em uma tigela grande, junte o óleo e o açúcar. Acrescente os ovos, um por vez, misturando bem. Acrescente a mistura de farinha e misture bem, até estar bem homogêneo. Adicione as nozes e a abóbora, misturando bem.
Asse por 1 hora ou até que um palito saia limpo quando inserido no centro do bolo. Deixe esfriar por 10 min na forma, desenforme e deixe esfriar por completo. Polvilhe açúcar de confeiteiro antes de servir, ou sirva com cobertura de Maple e cream cheese (receita abaixo).


Cobertura de xarope de bordo e cream cheese***


3 xíc. de açúcar de confeiteiro
1/2 xíc (115g) de manteiga sem sal, em temperatura ambiente
250g de cream cheese, em temperatura ambiente
3 col (sopa) de xarope de bordo (Maple syrup)
1 col (chá) de baunilha


Bata a manteiga até ficar cremosa. Adicione o cream cheese e bata até ficar homogêneo.
Acrescente o açúcar, o xarope e a baunilha e bata até obter um creme. Cuidado para não bater demais ou ela perderá sua estrutura. Leve para gelar por 30 min.


*Nós substituímos o óleo por 1 xíc bem cheia de applesauce, ou purê de maçãs. Se for usar óleo, aconselho somente 1 xíc. para não ficar oleoso.
**Nós usamos abóboras já prontas e enlatadas sem adição de açúcar e sólida (sem líquido). Acredito que se você cozinhar abóbora moranga e depois amassá-la, será a mesma coisa.
***Nós fizemos somente meia receita.