Fall means all things pumpkin. Do you like pumpkin? We love it in our house (me particularly) and our youngest so is also a big fan. When he was younger he could eat a whole pumpkin pie at one sitting. He didn't like most sweets, but pumpkin and pecan pie sure made him happy.
He lives in Denver now and yesterday was his fiance's birthday. We are so excited that she is going to be joining our family. He called and said he wanted to bake her a cake but he didn't have a lot of extra money and did I have any ideas. Hello! How many do you want?
He said he didn't have a mixer, or milk, or eggs, or much sugar. I suggested a recipe I had seen on Pinterest for a pumpkin dump cake that only took a can of pumpkin, a yellow cake mix, pecans, and a stick of butter. That was the ticket! Easy. Not many ingredients. No mixer needed.
He said he had the pumpkin, pecans, and butter. All he needed was the yellow cake mix. That's doable when you are lacking ingredients, equipment, and money.
I sent him a text this morning and asked him how the cake turned out. He said it was delicious! I trust his judgment when it comes to pumpkin desserts. Since it is going to get cool tomorrow, I had to make vegetable soup and the pumpkin dump cake for dinner. It's called anticipation - and vegetable soup is always better the second day.
He was spot on about the cake. It's delicious. Our son in love ate several pieces and asked if he could "borrow" the rest of it to take home with him. hahaha I told him how easy it was to make and I made it gluten free by using a gluten free cake mix. Even better!
Here is what you need:
1 can pumpkin (I used a 14.5 ounce can, but after I baked the cake I realized it called for a 28 oz can - it worked fine)
1 yellow cake mix (gluten free works)
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 stick butter melted
My addition: 1/3 cup sugar, 2 Tsps ground cinnamon, mixed together
First, spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray. Spread the pumpkin evenly in the bottom of the pan. I thought it might be a little blah, so I sprinkled 1/2 of the cinnamon mixture over the pumpkin. I love cinnamon with pumpkin.
Next, sprinkle the entire dry cake mix over the pumpkin and evenly distribute.
Cover the cake mix with the pecans.
Melt the butter and pour over the pecans and cake mix.
Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar over the entire pan. This makes a nice streusel topping when baked. Yum.
Bake at 325 for 30 minutes or until the cake mix lightly browns. (If using gluten free cake mix, it will not get as brown as a regular cake mix) The pumpkin should be set, so wiggle the pan to make sure it is done. If the pumpkin is not set, it will wiggle like jello. You don't want that. Put the pan back in the oven until set.
I made fresh whipped cream to go with ours. I could have eaten the whole pan. I don't eat many desserts anymore because of the whole gluten issue. Our daughter, who is also gluten free, was so excited to have dessert and know that she could make this to enjoy at home. She's going to have to make it because her husband sure did like it!
Now that it's finally getting cool and because it's the season for all things pumpkin, you need to make this as soon as possible. Really. It is easy to make, has very few ingredients, and you won't be able to resist it. There's no sifting or mixing. What could be better than that to have a fabulous dessert? I say go for it! You won't regret it.
Everyday Donna
Things to Remember:
"Fall colors are funny. They're so bright and intense and beautiful. It's like nature is trying to fill
you up with color, to saturate you so you can stockpile it before winter turns everything muted
and dreary." Siobhan Vivian, Same Difference
