The Great Pumpkin Cakes Recipes

GREAT PUMPKIN DESSERT

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat first five ingredients until smooth. , Transfer to a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with cake mix and drizzle with butter. Top with walnuts. , Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

THE GREAT PUMPKIN PIE RECIPE

Steps:

• Place cranberries in a large bowl; set aside. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 cup of sugar and the water to a boil and whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Remove pan from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Pour sugar syrup over the cranberries and stir. Let the cranberries sit at room temperature or in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight (ideal). You'll notice the sugar syrup is quite thick after this amount of time. Drain the cranberries from the syrup and pour 1 cup of sugar on top. Toss the cranberries, coating them all the way around. Pour the sugared cranberries on a parchment paper or silicone baking mat-lined baking sheet and let them dry for at least 2 hours at room temperature or in the refrigerator. You'll have extra, but they're great for eating or as garnish on other dishes. Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
• Make the pie crust through step 5 according to my directions, tips, and pictures in my pie crust recipe. Or use store-bought.
• Whisk the pumpkin, 3 eggs, and brown sugar together until combined. Add the cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, pepper, cream, and milk. Vigorously whisk until everything is combined.
• Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
• Remove 1 disc of pie dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out into a 12-inch circle. Make sure to turn the dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls. Carefully place the dough into a 9-inch deep dish pie dish. Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is smooth. With a small and sharp knife, trim the extra overhang of crust and discard. Crimp the edges with a fork or flute the edges with your fingers, if desired. Brush edges lightly with egg wash mixture. Line the pie crust with parchment paper. Crunching up the parchment paper is helpful so that you can easily shape it into the crust. Fill with pie weights or dried beans. (Note that you will need at least 2 standard sets of pie weights to fit.) Make sure the weights/beans are evenly distributed around the pie dish. Par-bake the crust for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the parchment paper/pie weights.
• Pour pumpkin pie filling into the warm pre-baked crust. Only fill the crust about 3/4 of the way up. (If using a deep dish pie dish as instructed, you should only have a little filling leftover. Use extra to make mini pies with leftover pie dough scraps if you'd like.) Bake the pie until the center is almost set, about 55-60 minutes give or take. A small part of the center will be wobbly - that's ok. After 25 minutes of baking, be sure to cover the edges of the crust with aluminum foil or use a pie crust shield to prevent the edges from getting too brown. Check for doneness at minute 50, and then 55, and then 60, etc.
• Once done, transfer the pie to a wire rack and allow to cool completely for at least 3 hours. Decorate with sugared cranberries and pie crust leaves (see note). You'll definitely have leftover cranberries - they're tasty for snacking. Serve pie with whipped cream if desired. Cover leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

THE GREAT PUMPKIN CAKES

Steps:

• Prepare and bake cupcakes according to package directions. Fill 24 greased muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350° for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. , For frosting, in a small bowl, combine 1-1/2 cans frosting; tint orange. Cut a thin slice off the top of each cupcake. Spread frosting on 12 cupcakes. Invert remaining cupcakes and place on top; frost top and sides., For stems, place one gumdrop on each pumpkin. Tint remaining frosting green. Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag; insert #5 round tip and fill with a third of the green frosting. Pipe curly vines from pumpkin stems. Using green frosting and #352 leaf tip, pipe leaves randomly along the vines.

THE GREAT PUMPKIN CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter the inside of two 8-inch Bundt pans; dust lightly with cocoa powder.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine granulated sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla, canola oil, buttermilk, and 3/4 cup milk. Slowly add egg mixture to sugar mixture. Using the paddle attachment, mix batter on low speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake cakes until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack, and cool for 20 minutes before removing from the pans.
• Place both chocolates, heavy cream, and 1 tablespoon butter in a medium heat-proof bowl over a pot of gently simmering water. Heat, stirring often, until chocolate is completely melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and let cool to room temperature. Whisk chocolate until lightened; set aside.
• Using a serrated knife, trim the bottoms of both cakes so they are both flat. Spread chocolate evenly on the flat side of one of the cakes. Invert the remaining cake onto chocolate so that a pumpkin shape is formed. Place cake onto a wire rack.
• To make orange butter glaze, combine remaining 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of milk and the food coloring until the mixture is a pumpkin color; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar and 1 cup melted butter. Add reserved milk mixture, and continue whisking until smooth. Working quickly, carefully pour orange butter glaze over the cake, tilting the cake as necessary to coat all sides of the cake. Let glaze set completely before garnishing with chocolate leaves. Serve.

THE GREAT PUMPKIN CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Bake two bundt cakes in fluted cake pans per the cake mix instructions. Let cool.
• In the meantime, empty the frosting into a medium-sized bowl and add the food coloring according to your desired intensity of color.
• Remove one cake from the pan and turn it upside down on a large platter. With a bread cutting knife, slowly take off a thin layer of the top end of the cake to make the end flat. Do the same for the second cake.
• Take small strips of foil and place it around the bottom of the cake; butting it right up to the cake. This will protect the platter from getting dirty while you're spreading the frosting.
• With a knife or spatula, spread a layer of orange frosting to the flat end of the cake that is turned upside down on the platter.
• Take the second cake and turn it upright and place on top of the cake on the platter making sure that the grooves in the cakes match up with each other.
• Begin spreading the orange frosting around the ring between where the cakes meet to fill in the gap.
• Apply remaining frosting to the rest of the cake spreading it in an up and down fashion so you give the illusion of the lines you see in pumpkins. Make sure that you also cover inside the hole of the cake in the same way; at least half way down in the hole.
• Carefully remove the foil from cake platter.
• Now that your cake looks like a pumpkin, take the decorator's icing and with the straight piping cap, create swirls of vines around the pumpkin; then change out the cap and put on the leaf cap and place leaves where you desire on the vines.
• Now step back and admire your work of art!