Pumpkin Walnut Cake with Caramel Mascarpone Whipped Cream

"Everything has to come to an end, sometime." ~ L. Frank Baum

Lately I have been feeling the pressure of so many endings approaching. Time feels so short.

This deployment is rapidly coming to a close. Which is awesome! However, that also means that my time here in Central Texas as also coming to a close.

My family doesn't really want to talk about it. I can definitely understand that. But it's what I think about, almost constantly. Soon I won't be just around the corner from them. There won't be any Walking Dead Sundays. No tee ball games and practices with my nephew. No tennis lessons with my sister. No coffee hangouts with my niece. No nail painting with my Baby Sis. No Friday lunches with my mom. No pedicures with the girls.

Not only will my time with my family be ending, but also my time with my friends. No more book group with Kristen and Linda. No more baking with Monica. No more coffee Wednesdays with Emily.

Also ending, is our time baking from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle. This is our last month baking out of this book. It's so hard to believe that a year has gone by already. How does the time fly by so quickly??

As always with The Cake Slice Bakers, we are able to choose our last cake out of whatever book we are baking from that year. I had hopes to make the Apple Cheesecake Brulee for my final cake. However, time, finances, and laziness won over and I went for a simpler option. After all, I already had everything for the Pumpkin Walnut Cake in my toolbox. And I do love pumpkin. ;-)

This cake was a spicy pumpkin cake studded with rich walnuts. I thought the cake was exceptional. It had great flavor. It was moist without being heavy. The cake flour gave it that added lift.

For a touch of decadence on this unassuming snack cake, Tish paired it with a Caramel Cream. Homemade caramel whipped into a soft mascarpone cream. Sounds great right? Unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of the topping. I'm not sure if it was the mascarpone that gave it an odd flavor? Or maybe it's the fact that I don't like whipped cream, or caramel really. Or it could be that the caramel and pumpkin don't settle well on my taste buds. I prefer maple with my pumpkin.

The topping may not have suited my fancy, but the cake was worthy of concluding  my year with The Cake Book. Although, I pull it out more often than once a month. It's a wonderful book and would be an asset to any cookbook collection.

Make sure to jump over and peruse the final cakes for the other Cake Slice Bakers!

Let's bake!

Start with the caramel. Put some sugar, water, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Cook and stir constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Kick the heat up to high and let it cook, without stirring, until it turns a golden amber color. Though the recipes states about 4 minutes it took mine about 7.

Remove the mixture from the heat and carefully add some cream. This bubbles and splatters all over the place so seriously...be careful! Stir it up until it's nice and smooth.

Pour the caramel into a heatproof glass bowl. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 2 hours.

Now we can get the cake going. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda and some warm spices. Set this aside.

Now in your mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and both sugars until pale, about 2 minutes.

Add in the milk, oil, pumpkin, and vanilla. Whisk until fully combined.

In three additions, add the flour mixture to the batter, mixing until just blended.

Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and stir in the walnuts.

Scrape the batter into your prepared pan and evenly smooth out the top. Bake it for 20 to 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Let it cool for about 15 minutes then invert it onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Once the cake is nice and cool and you are almost ready to serve it, go ahead and make your whipped cream. Pull out your mixer bowl, clean now right??, and pour in some heavy cream, vanilla, and mascarpone cheese. Whisk it until it's well combined.

Now pour in your chilled caramel and whisk the whole mixture until soft peaks form.

To serve this cake, you can spread the whipped cream over the top then slice into squares and serve. OR you can slice the cake into squares and dollop the whipped cream on each square and serve.

Either way you get that cream on there is good with me.

Enjoy!!


Pumpkin Walnut Cake
Adapted from The Cake Book

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup safflower oil (or other neutral vegetable oil)
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1 recipe caramel mascarpone whipped cream**

Directions:

1. Position rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9 inch square baking pan with baking spray. 
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the whisk attachment, on medium speed, whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until pale, about 2 minutes.
4. Add the oil, pumpkin, milk, and vanilla. Beat until well blended.
5. At low speed, add the flour to the batter in 3 additions. Mix until just blended.
6. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and stir in the walnuts.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula until even.
8. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
9. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 15 minutes then invert onto the wire rack to cool completely.
10. Either spread the whipped cream onto the top of the cake or cut the cake into squares and serve with a dollop of whipped cream atop the cake.
11. Serve and enjoy!!

**Caramel Mascarpone Whipped Cream

Adapted from The Cake Book

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 Tablespoons water
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, divided
• 3/4 cup mascarpone cheese
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a small heavy saucepan, over medium heat, cook the sugar, water, and lemon juice, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves.
2. Increase the heat to high and cook without stirring until the mixture caramelizes and becomes a golden amber color, about 4 minutes.
3. Remove pan from heat and carefully add 1/2 cup of the heavy cream (be careful, mixture will bubble and possibly splatter). Stir until smooth.
4. Pour the hot caramel into a heatproof glass bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
5. Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.
6. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the whisk attachment, on medium speed, whisk together the remaining 3/4 cup cream with the mascarpone cheese and vanilla until well blended.
7. Add the chilled caramel and increase mixer to high speed and beat until soft peaks form.
8. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.
9. Serve and enjoy!!

Strawberry Icebox Cake

Don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE!

As some of you already know, the 20th of each month is dedicated to The Cake Slice Bakers.

Any detective can easily deduce that I'm just a bit late this month. Actually, I didn't make this month's cake.

The top voted cake this month was a White Chocolate Espresso Icebox Cake. Sounds amazing right??

I was super excited about this cake. In fact, I voted for it as well. I mean, it sounds like the perfect cake for me right?? Yes, I know...I only think it's perfect because it contains espresso. You know I love my coffee!

So I was totally pumped to make the cake but I hadn't gotten to the store yet. However, I had run across this strawberry icebox cake recipe and I did have the stuff for that one. So I whipped it up. Get it?? "whipped" it up??? Because icebox cakes contain whipped cream?? LOL! I totally crack myself up!

After I made the strawberry icebox cake I swiftly decided I was not going to make the white chocolate espresso icebox cake. Let me tell you why.

1. No one in my geographically close family (besides me) enjoys anything coffee related (I am definitely the black sheep here). So why make a huge cake that only I would eat?
2. I discovered upon trying the strawberry icebox cake that I don't like icebox cakes. Therefore, if I'm the only one who would eat the cake and I don't like it, why make it?

Why don't I like icebox cakes you ask? The whipped cream. I don't like whipped cream. Never have. I guess I never will.

I'm the type of person who tries something a million times hoping that the next time I try it I'll have changed my mind. People also think I'm weird because I try to force myself to like certain foods because I think I should. I won the war on chicken wings and I love them now (how could anyone NOT love a food that is drenched in Ranch dressing???). Right now, I'm working on forcing myself to like avocado. It's so good for you! Shouldn't I like it?? I'm trying...

But whipped cream? I guess not. I can only focus on one thing at a time and right now it's avocado. I was hoping that the whipped cream nestled between layers of graham crackers and strawberries would be subtle. But it's not. Not to me anyway.

However! If you ask my family, they will tell you that this cake was amazing! I went with a white chocolate drizzle on top of the cake. I even considered adding some amaretto to the white chocolate because I love white chocolate amaretto fondue with strawberries. But I erred on the side of kid friendly. You can use any type of chocolate for the drizzle. 

If nothing else, this cake was fun to make. It was easy. Pretty. And definitely a crowd pleaser. I'm an oddball so my opinion doesn't really count. 

Before Summer is over, you should make this cake, if you are into whipped cream that is. It would be great for a dinner party or family BBQ.

If you are interested in the white chocolate espresso icebox cake, head over to The Cake Slice Bakers page and check out some of my fellow groupies posts.

Let's "bake!"

Whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and whip until combined.

Spread a small spoonful of whipped cream at the bottom of a 9x13 inch dish. Arrange 6 graham crackers on the whipped cream.

Spread whipped cream over the graham crackers.

Then top with sliced strawberries.

Repeat 3 times to make a total of 4 layers.

Heat the remaining cream and pour it over the chocolate. Let sit then whisk until smooth.

Drizzle over the cake. Refrigerate the cake for 4 hours or up to overnight.

Garnish with extra strawberries. Slice, serve, and enjoy!!


Strawberry Icebox Cake
Adapted from The Kitchn

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Ingredients:

• 2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 3 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 24 sheets of graham crackers, 3-4 sleeves
• 2 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped (can substitute another chocolate if desired)

Directions:

1. In a large, metal mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, using the whisk attachment, whip 3 cups of the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. 
2. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and whip to combine.
3. Spread a small spoonful of whipped cream in the center of a 9x13 inch dish.
4. Arrange 6 graham crackers on top of the spread whipped cream.
5. Top the layer of graham crackers with whipped cream.
6. Top the whipped cream with slices of strawberries.
7. Repeat the graham cracker, whipped cream, strawberry layers 3 more times for a total of 4 layers.
8. Place the chocolate in a small mixing bowl. Heat the remaining 1/4 cup of cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it just comes to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit for 30 seconds. Whisk until smooth. Drizzle over the cake.
9. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
10. Garnish with extra strawberries. Slice, serve, and enjoy!