Chocolate Pumpkin Cake…whoa, whoa, whoa….there’s pumpkin in there? Yep, pumpkin is the secret ingredient in this wonderfully moist cake. And it’s not completely disguised, at least to some.
I tested the cake on a few unsuspecting, group-think teenagers hanging around the kitchen. “Fantastic” was the verdict until I revealed the secret ingredient. A few of the more adventurous samplers gave it thumbs up and found the slight pumpkin and spice essence wonderfully intriguing. The eyes take in rich chocolate, the tongue detects a note of something else. My foods professor Dr. Jean Phillips at Virginia Tech always preached the importance of subtle mystery in cooking. She’d say you want folks to say “…mmmm…what’s that?”, not hit them over the head with a flavor.
Chocolate Pumpkin Cake would score an A+ according to Dr. Phillips’ teachings and guarantees a lively round of dinner table conversation. An added bonus, the cake doesn’t even require a mixer. Just stir up everything in a bowl. You can whip up the icing quite easily without a mixer, too, as long as the cream cheese and butter are well-softened.