Pumpkin Cake

Happy Birthday, Beth! 

I didn't get around to taking a picture of this, which is a little sad, consider how much I know you all love the food photos, but it was just gobbled up too quickly! Instead you can look at this really cool superhero cake that Krissa's friend made for her baby shower: 

(it's relevant, right? cake?) ...

(pretty cool, huh?)

(if you think THIS is cool, you should see baby Aiden's nursery!)

(you can catch a glimpse of the theme in my present to them over at my ~Words~ blog)

... anyways, back to THIS cake!

I adapted the recipe from allrecipes.com - it was the perfect amount of sweet and spice (not too much of either!)

Ingredients:

2 c. white sugar

3/4 c. vegetable oil

1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce

2 c. pumpkin puree

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 eggs

2 c. all-purpose flour

3 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9x13 pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices, and set aside.  In a separate bowl, beat together sugar, oil, and applesauce until smooth. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla, then beat in eggs, one at a time.  Gradually mix in the dry ingredients until combined.  (I just kept the Kitchenaid running on medium speed while I added each step).  

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting.  Delicious!