No one will ever guess that one of the main ingredients in this cake is a yellow cake mix. That’s because it is completely overshadowed by the earthy sweet taste of pumpkin, accented with warm cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice (all in one tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice). As you can see in the photo, the cream cheese-powdered sugar topping glistens when it’s baked.
After you mix the pumpkin batter and layer it in a baking dish, cover it with a cream cheese topping. You can swirl the cheese layer into the pumpkin batter as much as you like, just be careful that you don’t blend it in entirely. I like to make sure that some of the pumpkin batter gets pulled to the top when I’m cutting through the mixture with a knife.
This delectable dessert was created by my cooking assistant, Kelly Lustenberger. Kelly helps me with all my Zoom classes and she always makes cooking fun. Once a month we teach a class to seniors who are part of a group called Foster City Village. (Foster City is the city where I live in Northern California.) The goal of the Village is to keep seniors in their homes. Kelly came up with this cake as the finale to our Halloween party cooking class.
When you serve this cake warm from the oven, it is rich and gooey. At room temperature, it sets up to be more cake-like with swirls of cheesecake throughout.
Oh my goodness, I’m leaving you with such a dilemma.
Cream Cheese Swirled Pumpkin Cake
1 box yellow or butter cake mix
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
8 ounces cream cheese, cubed
1/4 pound (1 stick) butter, cubed
3 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup chopped pecans, optional
1. Preheat the oven to 350º. Coat a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick spray.
2. In a mixing bowl with electric mixer, beat the cake mix, milk, oil, eggs, pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice on low for 30 seconds. Increase the to medium and mix for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as necessary. Pour the cake batter in your prepared pan and spread evenly.
3. Put the cream cheese and butter into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds or until warm enough to stir. Whisk to blend. Slowly whisk in the powdered sugar until the mixture is smooth.
4. Drizzle the cream cheese mixture evenly over the cake batter. Sprinkle pecans on top. Using a knife, swirl the cream cheese mixture into the batter, making sure to pull some of the pumpkin batter onto the top.
5. Bake the cake for 45-50 minutes. The edges will be set and the center will be slightly loose.
6. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes 1 cake.
