Delightfully delicious
Arkansas cake a rich, mouthwatering treat
If you’re crazy for an ultra-moist, rich-tasting cake with a mouthwatering frosting, the Arkansas pumpkin cake is the perfect dessert or a delicious gift from your kitchen. I absolutely love this cake, and I think you will too! The recipe was sent to me by Mary Koeplin of Glendale, Arizona, whose husband, John, was making the cake for her birthday that day. Little did Mary know that her email actually came on my birthday, and it turned out to be a wonderful gift for me, too!
“Dear Jan, I’m having this cake for my birthday and I think you would love it. I got the recipe in 1973 from my cousin Vivian Hanson who lives in Marietta, Georgia. She gave it to me when I was first married 40 years ago. It’s a very unusual cake in that it stays moist forever! ... We’ve only made it as a bundt cake and it always turns out well.”
I’ve made Mary’s Arkansas pumpkin cake in a large Bundt pan and in a 9x13 inch baking dish. I’ve also made the recipe and divided it into two smaller, 8x8 cake pans for my neighbors. The icing is fabulous with this over-the-top moist dessert, and it’s just as delicious refrigerated as it is at room temperature. Thank you, Mary!
Arkansas pumpkin cake
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1⁄2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups cake flour (like Softasilk or Swans Down) (*see note)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugar, and vegetable oil. Blend well.
Add cake flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix.
Add pumpkin and mix well. Pour into well greased and floured Bundt pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour or until toothpick comes up clean.
Frosting
8 oz. cream cheese
1⁄4 cup (4 tablespoons) softened butter 2 cups or more powdered sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
1⁄2 cup chopped pecans
Mix together cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and pecans.
While cake is still warm, spread frosting over top. Refrigerate cake. Extra frosting can be frozen.
Note about cake flour
Cake flour is a finely ground, low protein flour (about 8% vs. all-purpose flour which has 10%-12% protein) made from soft winter wheat that is very light in texture. Because less gluten forms when you mix it into a batter, it produces a cake with high volume and a fine, soft, even crumb.