Sweet Sweet Pumpkin!

So here I am, finally back from a long break of not updating this thing, which should be done more often... right Panda? (clears throat) ;)

Panda and I have been cooking quite often the past few months, but we haven’t been adventurous as much as we have in the past, with the unconventional recipes and extravagant dinner date night. We’ve been making pretty much our cheap favs, since saving money is our primary focus at the moment. yeah not cool! so there will be no pictures of fancy dinners or awesome nights to expensive restaurants. (single tear down cheek)

On the other hand, I did prepare an awesome cake for thanksgiving and I am proud to say that it was a big success with my family. My mom told me to cut her a tiny sliver, but changed her mind and went back for a bigger portioned second. What I had made was a “Spiced Pumpkin cake with citrus frosting”. Yummy!
I had decided to use up the small pumpkin I had bought at the Mount-Royal Kiosk a week prior to my sister inviting us to a potluck Thanksgiving with the fam. I did have a hard time deciding if I wanted to make a pie or cake... One thing was for sure, I was making dessert! Of course.
So here it is... this moist cake recipe I altered from a vegan recipe. I would have preferred making it vegan, but I had to make do with what I had in stock.

Spiced Pumpkin Cake with Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting

3/4 cup vegetable margarine softened, plus additional for greasing pan
2 1/4 cups flour plus additional for dusting pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups pureed pumpkin (prepared in advance and cooled)
3/4 cup 35% cream
3 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sugar
Replacer for 3 eggs

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin and vanilla in another bowl. Combine the vinegar and cream and let sit 7 minutes then add to the pumpkin.
Beat margarine and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, then add egg replacer and beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth.
Spoon batter into pan, smoothing top, then bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 40 minutes or so. I used a rectangular cake pan. I forgot which recipe I used for the icing. Although, it was a traditional cream cheese frosting and all i did was add orange juice and orange zest to it. After the cake is cooled, cut it in half horizontally and spread frosting onto the inside layer. Put top layer back and spread rest of frosting on the whole cake. I had a whole bag full of oranges, so I decide to garnish it with orange peel.

It wasn't my all time favourite cake, but it had the best texture and wasn't too sweet. I liked it :)
Recipe altered from here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganfeast/4217811982