Church Potluck Recipe: Pumpkin Harvest Cake

Here is a fun cake to make for the month of October and great for Church Potluck.

Pumpkin Harvest Cake

Ingredients:

Cake

2 boxes Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® carrot or spice cake mix
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix boxes


Frosting and Decorations

2 containers Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy vanilla frosting
Yellow and red food colors
Pull-apart green licorice twists
Betty Crocker® Fruit Roll-Ups® chewy fruit snack rolls (any flavor)
Edible glitter, if desired



Directions:

1. Heat oven to 325°F. Spray 2 1/2-quart ovenproof bowl with baking spray with flour. In large bowl, make 1 box of cake batter as directed on box. Pour batter into ovenproof bowl. Bake 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes. Run knife just around top edge of cake. Remove cake from bowl; place rounded side up on cooling rack. Repeat with remaining box of cake mix to make second cake. Cool cakes completely, about 1 hour.

2. In medium bowl, tint frosting with 9 drops yellow and 6 drops red food color to make orange frosting. Trim bottoms of both cakes to form flat surfaces. Place 1 cake, round side down, on plate. Spread 2/3 cup of the orange frosting over flat side of cake almost to edge. Place second cake, round side up, on frosted cake to make round shape. Frost entire cake with remaining orange frosting.

3. To make stem, cut twist of licorice crosswise into thirds. Gather pieces together and twist. Use toothpick to make hole in top of cake; insert licorice stem. Pull apart licorice to make vines. Cut leaves from fruit snack rolls. Garnish cake with vines and leaves. Sprinkle with glitter. Store loosely covered.



Hints:

• To make a nice shape of a pumpkin use a Bundt cake pan

• To fill the whole in the top of a Bundt cake so you can put on the stem, use a graham cracker and push gently just below cake level.

• To keep the licorice "stem" together, bind the pieces with a rubber band and remove shortly before serving.

• You can also use a green flat-bottom ice cream cone for a stem, placing it upside down after you cover it with the licorice. Gather the licorice pieces at the top of the ice cream cone and twist. You can also cover the ice cream cone with Betty Crocker® Fruit Roll-Ups® chewy fruit snack rolls and put ridges in it to make it look more like a pumpkin stem.

• I use cream cheese icing instead of vanilla. It goes very well with spice or carrot cake.