Pumpkin Desserts

My friends were having a Fall Festival over the weekend so I thought pumpkin desserts were in order. I decided to make Brown Sugar and Spice Cookies, in the shape of pumpkins of course, and decorated with royal icing (my first time using this icing). I don't like sugar cookies. I'm not much of a plain vanilla kind of person, but I found a recipe that adds a little spice, and I knew I had found a new sugar cookie.

In addition I wanted to make a Pumpkin Carrot Cake in the shape of a pumpkin, with the addition of some Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting. The pumpkin cake was a little difficult to assemble, but if you cu a little of the bottom off, it sits right on top of the other cake. The cake is also enormous, so it makes a great dessert for a crowd. Fair warning, this is a very time intensive cake.

Brown Sugar and Spice Cookies
3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. allspice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 sticks butter
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

1) Preheat oven to 350 F
2) Combine butter and sugars and cream until fluffy, then add egg and vanilla
3) Combine dry ingredients, then add to butter mixture and combine
4) Roll out cookies to desired thickness and cut with cookie cutters (I used pumpkin shapes- thanks Mom for the new cookie cutters!)

5) Place cut cookies on baking sheet for 9-12 minutes
6) Let cool and frost. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Carrot Cake
Adapted from Woman's Day
Each ingredient list is for 1 cake (you will need to double to make two cakes)

3/4 cup canola oil
3 cups flour
1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice (or mixture of your preferred flavors)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree
1/4 cup whole milk
2 tsp. vanilla
2 medium carrots, grated (about 1 cup)
1 cup walnuts (optional)

1) Preheat oven to 350 F
2) Butter and flour bundt pan
3) Combine dry ingredients in bowl and set aside
4) Whisk eggs with oil, sugars, pumpkin, vanilla, and milk then mix in dry ingredients, then add carrots and walnuts if using

5) Pour batter into bundt pan and bake for 55-60 minutes until done

6) Let rest in pan for 10 minutes then remove from pan and let cool on rack
7) Prepare second cake
9) Let cool and assemble with frosting (see below)

Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting
4 8-oz. packages of cream cheese, at room temp.
2 sticks butter, at room temp.
4 tsp. vanilla
6 cups of confectioners sugar
1/2 cup bourbon
Orange and green food coloring
1 wafer cone (which I forgot and wasn't going back to the store so I used a cup filled with candy)

1) Whip all of the ingredients, except food coloring, together until fluffy
2) Cut each cake in half and spread 3/4 cup of frosting on each bottom and place top back on top

3) Transfer 1/2 cup of frosting to be colored green to create stem
4) Dye the remaining frosting orange
5) Take one of the cakes and flip over so that the top is not the bottom, frost the top with orange frosting then place second cake on top
6) Frost the combined cake with orange frosting and mold frosting in shape of pumpkin
7) Color ice cream cone with green frosting and place in hole of cake
8) Serve and enjoy!