Cornelli Lace & Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

When I picked up my son from school today, we had a little conversation.

(He is autistic and only says a few words at a time.)

He declared, "Go Home!"

We had to go pick up his big sister at her school, so I said...

"Ellany first, home second."

He replied with, "Home first, Ellany second!"

I laughed a little, but again repeated, "Ellany first, home second."

Then he said, "Cake third!"

He didn't know that I had made a cake while he was at school.
But this exchange clearly shows two things...

He is an excellent negotiator.

We have a lot of cake at our house.

And here is my latest one! I used to call this pattern "squiggles".
Now I know it is called Cornelli Lace.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 2/3 c. cocoa powder
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter (softened)
• 1 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 c. buttermilk (you can make your own by adding 1/2 T. vinegar to 1/2 c. milk)
• 1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree, minus 1/4 cup reserved for frosting
• 2 t. vanilla

Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl, mix together and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar together.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add buttermilk, pumpkin and vanilla. Add the flour mixture a little at a time and mix well. Pour into two 8 inch cake pans, bottoms lined with wax paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter (softened)
• 6 c. powdered sugar
• 1/4 c. canned pumpkin
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 1/4 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 t. ground nutmeg
• orange food coloring

Beat together the cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar a little at a time. Add pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and food coloring. Mix well. This frosting is very soft, so you may want to refrigerate it before you frost your cake.

The flavors of the cake and frosting really complement each other well. Yum! And the pumpkin makes the cake nice and moist. I hope you try it!

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