Ladies and gentlemen, it is officially October first! It’s the month of the best holiday of the year, and therefor the best month of the year. And it’s my job to share spooky recipes to make your October the best it could possibly be.
I’ll be honest although this recipe is a pretty big and cool one, it’s certainly not an easy one. But I wanted to start off the month with a bang. And if this recipe is a little too complicated for what you’re looking for, then this blog has a good amount of halloween themed recipes from the past 3 years. Plus, there are five more spooky recipes coming out this month, so stay tuned!
October through December are always my busiest months. Holidays = cooking and baking, so it makes sense. Plus, school and dance are both busy during these months. With that being said, September-December is my favorite time of year. The “ber” months are my favorite weather-wise and Fall is my favorite season. And I like to be busy, and the excitement of this time of year makes it fun too.
I’m doing pretty well with staying on schedule, although I am starting to fall behind a little. But as long as I finish what I need to this weekend, I should be back on track. It seems crazy that I am starting testing my November recipes. I feel as though this year has just begun but it’s already nearing a close.
But let’s ignore that and live in the moment because it’s spooky season! This cake is a BIG cake, made for a party or gathering, and it’s based off of one of my favorite Halloween movies, It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown! This is the “Great pumpkin cake” because of it’s looks, but it truly is a great pumpkin, a very large cake.
Describe This Cake to Me
Taste: The cake is filled with the classic pumpkin cake flavors. Cozy and rich spices bring out the sweet depth of the pumpkin, and a touch of espresso powder adds that final dash of bittersweet warmth. The brown butter frosting adds a nuttiness that takes this cake from boring and classic to new and exciting.
Texture: As is the nature of pumpkin cake, this cake is incredibly moist. It yields a soft and tender crumb which blends perfectly with the light creaminess of the frosting.
Ease: As I said before, this is a challenging cake. Making the batter is a simple process, it’s just the sheer volume that makes it difficult, and makes it take longer. And the decorating can be a bit of a hassle given he irregular shape of the cake. But with a little patience, this cake can be decorated beautifully, even without a whole lot of experience.
The Cake
This is a classic pumpkin cake that uses real pumpkin puree, a mixture of spices, and the flavors of vanilla and coffee to create a rich and flavorful bite. The pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, and eggs ensure that this cake stays moist, but still maintains a good structure. The batter is a no mixer batter, but it’s a lot of batter to mix by hand so be warned. We bake the batter in two matching bundt pans which will eventually create a pumpkin shape.
The Frosting
Now, the frosting is actually a quite simple glue that holds the hole cake together. It takes a classic frosting and adds brown butter to give it an earthy twist. This frosting is wonderful because it is simple, easy to pipe, and easy to build on.
The Great Pumpkin Cake
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and grease two 10-12 cup bundt pans with butter VERY THOROUGHLY. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, pumpkin, vanilla, and espresso powder until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.
- Pour the batter evenly between the two previously prepared bundt pans. Bake for 55-70 minutes or until and inserted toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs. You may have to tent the cakes with foil if the tops are browning too much. Let the cakes cool completely in the pans set on a wire cooling rack. These cakes are big and dense so they will take several hours to cool completely.
- In a large saucepan, melt 1 ½ cups of butter over medium heat. Once melted, keep cooking and the butter will begin to brown. Once the butter has turned a toasted amber color, remove from the heat and pour into a shallow bowl. Place the brown butter in the freezer for 10-15 minutes or until the butter reaches room temperature.
- Once the brown butter has thickened and cooled to room temperature, place it in a large mixing bowl along with the remaining ½ cup of regular softened butter. Using a hand or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the butters on high speed for at least five minutes until pale and glossy. Add the confectioners sugar, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla extract. Whip on low speed for 30 seconds until mostly combined before turning the speed up to high and whipping for 2 more minutes. Add a few drops of orange food coloring and mix to combine.
- Carefully remove the bundt cakes from their pans. Slice off the rounded bottoms of the cake to make a smooth surface. Keep the cut off pieces! We will use them later to make the stem. Place one of the layers on a cake stand, patterned side down and spread a layer of the frosting on the smooth surface. Place the second cake layer on top, patterned side facing up so that the two smooth sides are stuck together. Spread a very thin layer of the frosting all over the cake to make a crumb coat. Place the cake in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Once the crumb coat is firm, spread the remaining frosting on the outside of the cake to cover it fully. Make sure to follow the pattern of the bundt cake to keep the pumpkin design.
- To make the stem, crumble up about half of the cake scraps to fill the hole in the center. Take the remaining scraps and add them to your frosting bowl. You shouldn't have any big globs of frosting in the bowl, just a little. Mix it until you have a texture similar to cookie dough. Shape the mixture into a shape similar to a stem and place it on top of the filled hole in the center of the cake. Place the cake in the freezer to firm up a little while we make the black frosting.
- To make the black frosting, whip the butter on high speed in a bowl using a hand or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until creamy and whipped. Add the confections sugar, cocoa powder, and black food coloring and mix on low speed until just combined before turning the mixer up to high speed and whipping for one minute. Fill a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (I used Wilton #4) with the black frosting. Remove the cake from the freezer and pipe a jack o' lantern face onto one side of the cake.
- This cake stays fresh for up to 5 days sealed in container at room temperature.