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Weekend Recipe: Pumpkin Patch Cake

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Pumpkin Patch Cake
Photo: Courtesy of Cook's Country

There’s no better way to celebrate Halloween than to make a this Cook's Country cake recipe that's shaped like a pumpkin!

Bundt pans can be used to create cakes that look like anything from mountains to flowers. We wanted a Pumpkin Patch Cake recipe that looked like a convincing, life-sized pumpkin — but tasted like a cake. We used a bread knife to even out the bottoms of the Bundt cakes, ensuring a more even cake after assembly. And we colored our frosting with only a couple of drops each of yellow and red food coloring, adding more if necessary. We found that too much food coloring created an undesirable, dark orange color.

Pumpkin Patch Cake

For this cake, you stack two Bundt cakes, making sure that the flat sides are sandwiched together and the ridges are aligned. Orange buttercream frosting and a cupcake 'stem' are the finishing touches.

INGREDIENTS

2 recipes spice or chocolate cake batter (enough to make 4 regular cake layers or 2 Bundt cakes)
Green, red, and yellow food coloring
4 cups easy vanilla buttercream

INSTRUCTIONS

1. TO MAKE THE CAKES AND STEM: Prepare first recipe cake batter. Scoop 1/2 cup batter in standard-sized muffin tin; pour remaining batter into greased and floured 12-cup Bundt pan. Bake both on middle rack in 350-degree oven until toothpick inserted in center of each comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes for cupcake and 45 to 55 minutes for Bundt cake. Cool cupcake in pan 5 minutes, then turn out onto rack. Cool Bundt cake in pan 30 minutes, then turn out onto rack. Repeat with second recipe of cake batter. Let both cupcakes and both cakes cool completely.

2. TO ASSEMBLE AND FROST THE PUMPKIN: Place 1/2 cup frosting in bowl and stir in two drops green food coloring to make frosting for stem. Stir two drops each red and yellow food coloring into remaining frosting, adding more until desired orange color is achieved. Use bread knife to level off domed top of cupcakes and even out bottoms of Bundt cakes.

3. After placing one Bundt cake flat side up on a cake platter and covering the flat side with 1 cup orange frosting, place the second Bundt cake flat side down on top of the frosting, making sure the ridges on both cakes align. Then place one cupcake cut side up in the hole of the Bundt cake and spread 1 tablespoon orange frosting over the top of the cupcake. Place the second cupcake cut side down on top of the frosting. Using a cake spatula, cover the entire cake with orange frosting. Run the back of a small spoon up the sides of the orange frosting every few inches to create pumpkin "creases."

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