Last year when I posted the recipe for carrot cake with apple filling, I got a e-mail from Deepa Raj, in which she had sent me the recipe for cream cheese frosting. She also mentioned that this was her favorite frosting and it goes very well with pumpkin cake. Since I was very curious about this combination, I asked her if she can send me the recipe. Somehow one or the other thing kept me occupied for a long time and this recipe got lost in huge number of e-mails that I get. After few days I baked this and still, I am not sure why I never posted it here. But when I was searching for a recipe for Halloween cake, I remembered this. I have no idea if Halloween and pumpkin dishes have any connection, but since Halloween is almost synonymous with those spooky pumpkin faces, I thought there must be some connection.
The cake calls for pumpkin puree, but since I had butternut squash with me, I used 2 cups of grated butternut squash. I hate the cinnamon flavor in sweet dishes, it is something I am not able to stand. So I added the Indian-sweet-friendly spice, ie, cardamom. The frosting had a unique cream cheese flavor to it. It becomes more rich than any other frostings I have tried so far.
Thanks Deepa for this delicious recipe.
Pumpkin cake/bars:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 and 2/3rd cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 can (15oz) pumpkin puree or 2 cups pumpkin puree – I used same amount of grated butternut squash
4 eggs
2 tea spn baking powder
1 tea spn baking soda
2 tea spn cinnamon powder (optional) – I used 1 tea spn cardamom powder
1 tea spn salt – I used 1/2 tea spn
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350F for about 10mins.
Beat the eggs with sugar, oil and pumpkin puree till they are well mixed.
Sieve together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Add this to the egg mixture a little at a time till everything is well mixed.
Pour the mixture in a greased baking dish and bake for about 25-30mins or till a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
When cake it cooled down to room temperature, take it out from the baking pan.
Cream cheese frosting:
6 oz cream cheese
6 tbl spn butter
3 cups confectioners sugar
Method:
Beat cheese, butter, sugar till well mixed. Apply on the cake.
Preparation time : 50 mins
hey shilpa,
ur cake looks yummylicious!
i share your feelings about cinnamon in sweets :-D.
shilpa..love the cake…have a couple of butter-nut squashes around…may give this a go 🙂
Cardamom instead of cinnamon is a chic tip. Will try that.
Beautiful color! Shilpa, I just noticed your glossary, great job! 🙂
me too love elaichi heh!heh!
cake looks beautiful 🙂
yummmm!!!! Been long since I made any cake.. will surely gv it a try… 🙂
join the ‘hate cinnamon in sweet dishes club’. both j and i gag with cinnamon in sweet buns or desserts. lovely cake.
hi shilpa i love cakes.ur cake looks so yummy .will surely give it a try
It luks delicious..wonderful photo 🙂
yummmmmm!!!!!!
Very very nice…yep, pumpkin and “winter squashes” (ripe with orange flesh) are used interchangeably. You aren’t the first Indian I’ve met who dislikes cinnamon in sweets. Me, I add cardamom to pumpkin sweets along with the other spices! 🙂 Pumpkin/squash sweets are indeed popular all autumn and winter…and Halloween is a very good time to make use of them! You made this lovely cake, and I made a burfi… go figure! 🙂
Shilpa: You just say you made this..that…where are the posts Pel??? come on…we are waiting…
Hi
i will definetly try this……….
Hi Shilpa, Here’s some of your recipes with no credit to you. Click on Bhanap above or the link below
http://www.lokvani.com/lokvani/article.php?article_id=4430
Shilpa: Thanks for letting me know Bhanap.
Hi Shilpa,
How will it taste without the frosting?
Shilpa: Sonia, you can skip the frosting, it still tastes very good.
Hi Shilpa..tried the pumpkin cake. It was delicious. The cinnamon actually gave it a wonderful flavour:)))))
Is this red pumpkin or green pumpkin?
Red