It's the first day of fall! An overcast but not chilly day here in CT. And to mark this changing of the seasons--the continued shortening of days, the turning of the leaves, the harvest, a time for thanks and family--we made Easy Pumpkin Cake from my new cookbook, The Classic Zucchini Cookbook by Nancy C. Ralston, Marynor Jordan, and Andrea Chesman (which I bought, along with Greens Glorious Greens! to experiment with our CSA take). As decadent as my pumpkin bread (a cup of canola oil AND 4 eggs???!!!), it has a lighter, less sticky consistency but not as much spice. And I like it without the suggested cream cheese frosting. The kids inhaled both the leftover batter and two (small) pieces of cake. We also cut out colored leaves and decorated them with colored scraps. And we read "The Autumn Story" in my treasured rare edition of The Complete Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem (a UK import not well known here in the States), with its beautiful and detailed illustrations of Primrose mouse exploring the area around her hedge at harvest-time.
Indeed, the last several days have been leading up to fall here. On Sunday, in a rare burst of energy, we uprooted the remnants of our dying squash plants and planted 4 new pink mums for the fall. There were three tiny squash left on the plant, which were in yesterday's ratatouille. We also enjoyed a small celebration of Chinese Harvest Festival, all tuckered out from a garden work; we ate dumplings and moon cakes, but didn't manage to stay up to watch the moon rise. Next year. Then, Saturday is (hopefully, it doesn't rain) our annual fall family festival, Applepalooza! We're having some friends over to eat apple treats, make crafts, play games (the ever popular "pin the worm on the apple"!). I'll be making our new favorite, Swedish apple pie, as well as a new applesauce cake recipe, caramel apples, and some kind of apple cider punch (mabye with chai tea, a la Starbucks). Last but not least, we'll probably go apple-picking and pumpkin-choosing in the next several weeks, as we lead up to the two huge fall holidays, Halloween and Thanksgiving! But more on those, and our fall trip to Texas, later. Until then, happy fall!
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Easy Pumpkin Cake
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs
1 3/4 cup pumpkin (cooked or from a 15 oz can)
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour a 9 x 13" pan..
Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a mediu-sized mixing bowl. Mix well.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and oil. Beat until light. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the pumpkin. Add the flour mixture and beat just until thoroughly blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly touched.
Cool completely on a rack before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
1-8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 to 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
In medium mixing bowwl, beat together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Add 2 cups of the sugar and beat until smooth. If the frosting is too thin, add the additional 1/2 cup sugar and beat until smooth. Sperad evenly over the cooled cake.
Nancy C. Ralston, Marynor Jordan, and Andrea Chesman, The Classic Zucchini Cookbook
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