The Great Pumpkin Pumpkin Cake

I had a couple of pumpkin-themed parties this weekend to tell you about. Remember the pumpkin baby shower ideas I shared here. Well, this is the cake I ended up making for the shower. It was a hit, so I thought I would share in case, you are in the market for something besides pumpkin pie on the dessert table this year at Thanksgiving. This could also be fun for a Cinderella party for a little girl.

I got the basic recipe from the Kraft foods site. I made this 4-layer pumpkin flavored cake for Thanksgiving a few years ago and thought it was pretty fun, but what could be more fun than a pumpkin cake that looks like a pumpkin???

I followed the Kraft recipe but I baked the cakes in my bundt pan. That meant doubling the recipe (2 cake mixes) to make two bundt cakes. Don't undercook, if you want the layers to hold up. After the bundt cakes cooled, I sliced them in half to have the layers. I made the whipped cream frosting and carefully lined up the layers to make a pumpkin shape with the cream, nuts, and caramel between each layer.

I found this recipe for homemade fondant and was curious to try it out and see if it is any tastier that purchased fondant. It is, I think. And probably wouldn't have been that difficult to work with if I had remembered the Crisco on the hands part. I applied the fondant in strips (using the remaining whipped cream frosting as glue), giving it more of a rustic look than the uber-smooth look you often get with fondant (which would have been cute, too). I didn't get the orange as colorful as I wanted, so I ended up painting a little more food-coloring (watered down) over the pumpkin. Also, the stem and leaf were a bit dull because you need so much powdered sugar to work with the fondant that it is difficult to get off. I ended up using a damp brush to get off the excess sugar. It left the whole cake a little shiny, but worked.

One more tip, to get the stem to stay put, I filled most of the center of the bundt cakes with full-sized marshmallows. I set the stem on top of the marshmallows.

It's a yummy recipe, and it can double as your centerpiece! What desserts are you concocting for Thanksgiving?