Pumpkin Cake with Pecan Glaze

Good Morning!  Well, weather has been a little chilly here in Florida... a crisp 70 degrees brrr..... lol....  Last night I made this AMAZING pumpkin cake and to make it even better, it was the easiest cake I've ever made!  You use a regular box cake mix and add a few special touches to it and voila!  It came out super moist and not overly sweet.  It's a winner for the family.

Pumpkin Cake with Pecan Glaze

For the Cake:
1 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree
1 tbsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 Box Yellow Cake Mix

For the Glaze:
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup chopped pecans
3 tblsp of Milk
1/2 tsp Vanilla

For this recipe, you will be using all the normal ingredients you would use in making your box cake, with the addition of the canned pumpkin and spices. 

Empty the contents of the boxed cake mix and it's ingredients along with pumpkin puree into a large bowl.  Using a hand-mixer or stand mixer beat until well incorporated. The batter will be very thick, but will come together nicely.

Pour batter into a greased 7 x 11 X 2 pan.  Bake at 375 degrees for 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not over bake.
Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan, then flip onto a platter.

Make the glaze while you're waiting.

Combine powdered sugar, vanilla, milk,  and  pumpkin pie spice.  Whisk until combined.  Glaze should be thick but pourable. Add more sugar or milk if needed. Add chopped pecans.  Pour over the cake while still warm. Reserve some to pour over each slice when served.

Serve warm or room temperature. 
 

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

Mark and the kids are chocolate milk obsessed but these days, chocolate syrup can cost up to $4.00 or more.  So I found a recipe by Baby Good Buys and made it today.  Let me tell you......................... this is DELISH!  I find that it's better than the store bought version, it's half the price to make and it doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup.  You're family is gonna LOVE you.  This can also be drizzled on cakes, ice cream, anything you would normally drizzle syrup on.

Homemade Chocolate Syrup Recipe

Makes about 16 ounces (2 cups)
Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Dash salt

Directions:

• Use a big saucepan – at least 2 quarts. This will expand when boiling, and overflows will make a big mess on your stovetop!
• Combine the cocoa powder, water, sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Mix with a whisk until smooth.
• Stir constantly with a whisk or a wooden spoon until it boils.
• Allow it to boil for 3-5 minutes.
• Remove from heat.
• Allow to cool.
• Add vanilla.
• Syrup will be very thin/watery. Allow to cool completely and it will thicken to about the same consistency as store bought syrup.

Store the syrup in a mason jar or any other container. It will keep for several weeks in the fridge.

Note: I added a tablespoon per cup of milk to make chocolate milk. As with the brand-name chocolate syrup, you can experiment with the proportions to get the taste you’re looking for.

Made these wall letters for my great nephew Isaac. These are wooden letters decorated with printed scrap paper using mod podge technique.  I painted each letter with a coordinating color, then I traced each letter on the plain side of the scrap paper, cut them out carefully, then with mod podge, I used a sponge brush and brushed 2 coats of mod podge letting each coat dry in between.