Happy Birthday Sweetheart

Laura always has certain fondness for cake and a few years back I made a Pumpkin Spice Cake with a buttery Amarula cream cheese frosting that became her new favorite!

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This is one of those recipes that you need three bowls… one for the dry, one for the wet ingredients and one for the frosting.

Wet ingredients bowl:
1/2 cup Amarula Liquor
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup heavy cream
4 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 can 15 ounce solid pumpkin
4 teaspoons pumpkin spice blend

( my blend is 6 parts, cinnamon; 2 parts each of nutmeg, allspice and cloves; 1 part each of mace, cardamon and ginger)

Dry ingredients bowl:
2 – 2 1/4 cups bread flour ( start with 2 then check)
2 cups fine sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

Basic process:
gradually blend the dry into the larger bowl with the wet ingredients
Baking:
350 degrees for around an hour
Frosting:
3 ounces cream cheese, 1 tablespoon butter, 2 cups powdered sugar. (Or as needed to be firm bu pourable)
ADD enough Amarula Liquor to make the frosting thick but pourable ( around 1/4 cup)

top off with sliced Almonds

RESULTS:
I made this for my wife’s 62nd birthday and all 130 pounds of her had three huge servings… And it’s gone!when she thought she’d just have a ‘taste.’