Halloween Pumpkin Cake

Oil or melted butter, for greasing
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
Generous ¾ cup light brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups coarsely grated pumpkin flesh

Topping:
3 tablespoons apricot jelly, warmed
A few drops of orange and black food colorings
1 lb. 12 oz. / 800 g ready-to-roll fondant
Black, green and yellow writing icing

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and line a 9 inch round, deep cake pan.

Sift the flour, baking powder and pumpkin pie spice into a bowl and add the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Beat well until smooth, then stir in the pumpkin.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and spread the top level. Bake in the preheated oven for 40-50 minutes, or until well risen, firm and golden brown. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Brush the cake with the warmed apricot jelly. Knead orange food coloring into about three quarters of the fondant and roll out to cover the top and side of the cake. Trim the edges neatly, reserving the trimmings.

Form the trimmings into small pumpkin shapes, then use the black writing icing to pipe faces and the green writing icing to pipe stalks onto them. Knead black food coloring into the remaining fondant, then roll it out and cut into bat shapes. Pipe eyes onto the bats using yellow writing icing, then place the pumpkins and bats onto the cake to decorate. Serves 10.

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.
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