Pumpkin x 2.

So listen, for as much as I say I hate fall, and I really do, I really love pumpkin. I love pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cake. I think it's a fantastic ingredient that's easy to work with coming out of a can and it makes everything so lovely to eat. Especially since it's associated with the holidays, it gets combined with my favourite spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves very often.

This past Sunday for brunch I made the pumpkin scones here on seven spoons. They were fantastic. I didn't change a thing about the recipe and neither should you. (I did however top them with half and half and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Why not?)



Today I decided to use up the rest of the pumpkin from that recipe (it freezes great, just thaw it overnight) and make a pumpkin cake. This cake is so easy peasy you won't believe it. It's from Elinor Klivan's The Essential Chocolate Chip Book and the only thing I did differently was increase the amount of spices used. (PS if you haven't heard of her yet, get everything she's written - ASAP.)



Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake:
1 1/2 cups AP flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
2 cups chocolate chips

Start off by preheating the oven to 325 degrees F. and greasing a 9x9 inch baking dish.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and soda, salt and the spices. I like to use a piece of wax paper so I don't have another bowl to wash.

Then in a mixing bowl combine the pumpkin, sugar and oil. Then mix in the eggs one at a time until everything is combined. Stir in the dry ingredients thoroughly and then the chocolate chips until they're just mixed through.

Pour into the baking dish and pop it in the oven for 40 minutes. Mine literally took just 40 minutes until a toothpick came out clean.

Frosting:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese with the salt and vanilla until everything is creamy. Then add the sugar and beat slowly until incorporated, and then at a higher speed to lighten the frosting.

When the cake is cool, you can either take it out of the pan or leave it in and ice it with the frosting. I like lots of swirls on my cakes. This is supposed to make 12 squares or probably more like 8.