this year's birthday cake

So this year's birthday cake is adapted from this original recipe to be gluten free and have slightly less sugar, plus leaving the spices out makes it like a basic yellow cake but with pumpkin in it. It is extremely moist and indulgent and I've been making it for at least 3 years with nothing but accolades.

My version goes like this.

1 1/2 c sugar

1 cup light olive oil

1 regular can libby's pumpkin

Mix well.

4 eggs, mix really well.

2 c gluten free baking mix

Mix in slowly, scrape down, mix until a little fluffy.

Pour off into greased and floured pans or cupcake pans, bake at 350 until springs back from finger dent.

Voila! 

If you want the spices for a spice cake, you add in 2 t cinnamon, 1/4 t ginger, and 1/8 t cloves. I've played with a little less cinnamon and a little more ginger for a more gingerbread flavor, very nice.

And then you make cream cheese frosting.

1 8-oz bar of cream cheese, softened

1 stick of butter (1/2 c), softened

1 t vanilla

1 1/2 c powdered sugar

Mix really well.

I've discovered from literally running out of powdered sugar that only 1 cup of it will also work. Most people really don't know the difference.

Since the frosting has cream cheese in it, it should ideally be refrigerated if it's not all eaten up right away. Cream cheese can go a little sour (hard to tell with sugar in it) and make tummy aches, which most people will never think is the culprit unless that is all they've eaten that day. I've never gotten real sick from it being left out, but being immunocompromised for years made me more sensitive to that kind of stuff.

So that cake in the pic up there is the nibble cake that we get all week so that we're caked out when visitors come and they can enjoy fresh cake without us taking so much, too. I cut a layer in half and stacked it, basically, makes it look like there is more. I'll probably do a little bit of autumn on the visitor cakes, I've done colored leaves in the past that turned out pretty good.