Pumpkin Dreams

My husband and I got in a car wreck about a month ago. Our doctor prescribed us an anti-inflammatory drug to keep the swelling down. It has helped, but I've noticed when I take it at night right before bed, I have the strangest dreams.

The other night, I dreamt of pumpkin all night long. Even when I woke up to go to the bathroom and went back to bed, the vivid dreams continued. They were filled with pumpkin pie, pumpkin tarts, pumpkin cake, pumpkin bread etc. Needless to say, I woke up craving pumpkin.

I found this recipe in Everyday Food several months ago. I was attracted to it because it had a thick purely white layer of buttery cream cheese frosting on top. I bookmarked it but never made it. Many months had passed but after the dreams I had, I no longer had an excuse, it had to be made.

Last fall I made pumpkin bread and a Cinderella pumpkin cake. Both very good, but in different ways. I also spoke about my favorite pumpkin bread- it's rich and spicy, and dense and very pumpkin-y. The cake recipe I made only has one cup of pumpkin in it, this 9x9 cake has an entire can, so the flavor is not masked, it really stands out. It was so darn good. This would also be awesome to make into a loaf without the frosting. I can't wait to make it again.

Pumpkin Spice Cake With Honey Frosting from Everyday Baking

For the Cake:

• 1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
• 2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. pumpkin-pie spice, (or 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 3/4 tsp. ginger, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, and 1/8 tsp. each allspice and cloves)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 (15 ounce) can solid-pack pumpkin puree*

For the Honey Frosting:

• 1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 bar (8 ounces) cream cheese
• 1/4 c. honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin-pie spice. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, butter, and pumpkin puree until combined. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture, and mix gently until smooth.

Turn batter into prepared pan, and smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake 10 minutes in pan, then turn out of pan, and cool completely, right side up, on a rack.

Make Honey Frosting: In a medium bowl, whisk 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cream cheese, and honey until smooth. Spread top of cooled cake with Honey Frosting. Cut cake into squares to serve.

NOTE: *Be sure to use canned pumpkin puree — not pumpkin pie filling or fresh pumpkin puree.

You can also use a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan: Increase baking time by 25 to 30 minutes (tent loaf with foil if it browns too quickly).

I didn't melt the butter for the cake because apparently I didn't read the entire recipe before I started, but it didn't seem to make any difference. It was still very good.