Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Surely you must know by now that CAKE is my favourite thing to eat!  But good cake, not store bought, not fluffy icing, not from a box.  A good solid homemade cake with butter cream icing is for me–I have so  many “food rules” about cake (…so much for bending the rules, huh?).  I know that I am fussy about it. I can admit it, and I can be proud of it–it is one of the things that makes me such a good baker (See, you can always find a positive perspective if you change your outlook!)

My favourite cake is Banana with Almond Butter cream Icing, Madeleine’s is Chocolate with Chocolate Icing, and Bil’s is Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Icing…here it is.

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
2 cups flour
2tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp each nutmeg, baking soda and salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup canned pumpkin


Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and continue to cream.  In another bowl mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and cloves.  Combine alternately into creamed  mixture with milk and pumpkin.  Mix until thoroughly combined.
Pour into 2 well greased round cake pans and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.


Cream Cheese Icing
1 block of regular cream cheese softened (do not use light or any variation thereof)
2 tbsp butter
2-3 cups icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

With a hand mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter.  Add the extract and slowly add the icing sugar until it is fluffy and fairly stiff. Whip the mixture to get a little volume and then spread it evenly on your cooled cake.


TIP:  I usually make my cakes in a 9×13 pan, but this one is really a lot better as a layer cake–don’t know why, it just is.  Trust me 🙂