What's sweet and disappears fast?

We don't really celebrate Halloween in Australia, however it's becoming more common. I don't actually know what Halloween is about. I think it's the eve of something to do with ghosts, but not even sure about that. What I do know is that it's a quintessential American holiday that, like most things, has made it's way off shore and embedded itself into our annual calendar.

Two years ago we completely forgot that it was Halloween, so when the kids came knocking we had to turn them away empty handed. I think we were the first house they visited, as they looked pretty disappointed. The word must have gotten around quick that we had no sweets, as no one else knocked on our door. Last year I was more prepared, however bought cheap chocolate. We had a few kids and their parents come knocking and when I handed over my brandless chocolate, I got some puzzled looks (insight into our neighbourhood - we're the worst house in the street, so most of the households would definitely be brand households). Not that I really care what the neighbours think of us, but I'd like to think if they saw someone trying to brake in while we weren't home, they'd ignore our poor choice of chocolate and call the police. To ensure this is the case, we have delicious brand chocolate this year (note - they were on special).

To fully throw myself into this fake holiday spirit and avoid being a complete scrooge (assuming I can cross reference my holiday terminology here), I've made a spiced pumpkin cake with a creamy cheese icing. This was my first attempt at a pumpkin cake and I must say, it was delicious! Extremely moist with the sweetness of the pumpkin and the aromatics of the spices coming through perfectly. I definitely recommend trying this one. Enjoy.

Spiced Pumpkin Cake

From Joy of Baking

1 small butternut pumpkin
120g unsalted butter, room temperature 
270g light brown sugar 
2 large eggs 
1tsp vanilla extract 
200g sifted plain flour 
1/4tsp baking powder 
1tsp baking soda 
1/2tsp salt 
1/2tsp ground cinnamon 
1/4tsp ground ginger 
1/8tsp ground cloves 
120ml buttermilk, room temperature

Cut the pumpkin into small piece and remove the skin. Fill a heavy based saucepan with water and bring to boil. Boil the pumpkin until tender. Strain and let sit for about 10 minutes, this gives the water in the pumpkin more time to evaporate. Mash the pumpkin and set aside to cool.

Preheat over to 180 degrees celcius. Butter 2 x 8 or 9 inch cake tins and set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add the mashed pumpkin and vanilla extract and mix well until incorporated.

 

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.  Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to the pumpkin batter.  Divide the batter in half and then pour the batter into the prepared pans.  Bake for approximately 25 - 30 minutes, or until a knife is inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then invert and remove the cakes from their pans.  Cool completely before frosting.

Creamy Cheese icing

From Eat, Run, Read

450g cream cheese, softened but still cool 

1 1/2 cups icing sugar 

1 cup cold thick cream

1tsp vanilla extract

Beat together the sifted icing sugar and cream cheese until fluffy and completely smooth/lump free. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream to nearly stiff peaks, then add the whipped cream into the cheese mixture, scrape down the sides of your bowl and quickly and briefly beat to combine. Do not over beat.

To assemble, add about a 1/3 of the icing on top of one of the cakes and spread into an even layer. Leave about 5cm free from the edge. Place the second cake on top of the icing and spread the remaining icing over the top of the cake and around the sides. Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve.