Chocolate Pumpkin Harvest Cake

Ingredients:

For the Cake 

• 1 cup buttermilk

• 1 cup water

• 2/3 cup oil (vegetable or Canola)

• 2 cups sugar

• 2 eggs

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 cups flour (sift)

• 3/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa- sift (dark cocoa is best)

Pumpkin Cream Filling 

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature

• 1/3 cup canned pumpkin puree

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

For the Ganache Icing (we decided to double the ganache - you can half it if you like) 

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

• 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (I used two-4-oz. Ghirardelli semi-sweet baking-quality chocolate bars)

Directions:

Cake 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line the bottoms of two 9" round cake cake pans with parchment paper. Be sure to grease entire pan. Once the parchment paper is lined on the bottom of the pans, be sure grease the paper too. Cooking spray works well. 

In a large mixing bowl, mix buttermilk, water, oil, sugar and eggs until well blended. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl (baking soda, salt, flour and cocoa).  

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.  

Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans.  

Bake at 350 F on the middle rack for approximately 30-35 minutes. Check with toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. When done, remove and allow to cool for 10 minutes, then remove cakes and place on cooling racks.

Pumpkin Cream Filling

Using a mixer, beat all ingredients together well until thickened. 

Assemble the Cake 

Place one of the 9-inch cakes on a cake platter, dome side down. Spread all of the pumpkin cream filling evenly on cake. Place the other 9-inch cake on top of the cream layer dome side up. Your cake should resemble a giant whoopie pie. 

Ganache Icing (prepare last, just before icing the cake): 

Chop the chocolate into small pieces (almond size) and set aside. 

In a sauce pan on medium to medium-high heat, bring the whipping cream to a boil, stirring constantly. Once the cream boils, remove from heat. Add the chocolate to the hot cream and stir until all the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Set aside and let cool for about 3 minutes.  

Once cooled, pour the ganache icing over the cake and smooth the top using the back of a large spoon. The icing should drip/fall over the sides of the cake. It's OK if it's messy! This is a homemade cake. The imperfections are part of what make this so wonderfully delicious! 

Chill the cake in the refrigerator until ready to serve. ENJOY!