Thankful & a Recipe

I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

Ours was lovely.

We were home in Asheville for Thanksgiving for the first time since we moved to Texas back in 2004. 

Pictured above are: my Mom's beautifully set table...my favorite plate of the year (and this year with deviled eggs and brussell sprouts...so delicious, thanks to my sweet sister-in-law!)...gorgeous pumpkins...vintage (maybe even antique!) place settings...a phenomenal pumpkin cake, if I do say so myself...a crystal jar full of years of counted blessings...loved how the kids table was also part of the adult table...the whole group together...and in the middle, the ladies in the kitchen. Loved getting to cook with my Mom and sisters! 

What a blessing it was to be with all of my family and Brent's parents this Thanksgiving...we were just missing Brent's brother and his family...California seems desperately far away this time of year.

I'm slowly easing back into routine after weeks of colds and the flu followed by Thanksgiving...so thanks for being patient here on the blog! 

So how about a recipe?

In my opinion, there is still plenty of time to enjoy pumpkin deliciousness ...so here's a copy of the recipe I used to make the cake pictured below (and above!) It's not too pumpkin-y. Brent and my Dad don't care too much for anything pumpkin...but they both loved this cake. So I think it could definitely still work leading up to Christmas time. 

To break up the prep time, make the crunch topping and cakes one day and then leave the frosting and assembly for the next. Allow time to chill the cake to aid in easy slicing. And invite as many people as you can to share it, or you will be tempted to devour the entire thing yourself.

Layered Pumpkin Cake

Crunch Topping
3 cups walnuts, finely chopped
3 cups vanilla wafers (about 75 cookies)
3 cups brown sugar
3 sticks butter

1.  Melt butter.
2. In a food processor, pulse cookies to a fine crumb. Also pulse walnuts until finely chopped. Add in brown sugar and mix well. Add melted butter and blend together.
3. Divide mixture into 3 greased cake pans, pressing into bottom and spreading it evenly into the cake pans. Reserve about 2 cups of the mixture which will be baked to use on the sides of the cake. Set pans aside and begin cake.
4.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pumpkin Crunch Cake
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 sticks of softened butter
1 16 oz can solid pack pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs

1. In mixer, beat sugar and butter for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl frequently. Add in pumpkin and all the rest of the ingredients, except the eggs. Mix just until blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, just until blended.
2. Divide batter equally into 3 prepared cake pans, smooth it out and make it as even as possible in the pan.
3. Place remaining crunch mixture in another cake pan or pie dish and allow to bake for the same amount of time as the cakes. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  
4. Allow pans to cool about 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire racks and allow to completely cool.
8. When the extra crunch topping has cooled, use the food processor to make medium-sized crumbs...you want them to be consistent. Reserve until assembly.

Cream Cheese Frosting
3 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
16 oz  mascarpone
2 sticks softened butter, softened
1 lb  powdered sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla

1.Whip the cream cheese, mascarpone, and butter until smooth. Slowly add in the powdered sugar while mixer is on a low setting. Add vanilla and mix well.  Set aside until needed.

After your cake is completely cooled, place one cake layer on a cake pedestal, crunch topping facing up. Add frosting and spread a thick layer over cake. Repeat with remaining cake layers. Frost the top and sides of cake generously. Sprinkle the crunch topping evenly over the top of the cake and carefully on the sides. You can do this lightly (which is pretty) or more heavily, as I did above (which is extra yummy!)