Paula's Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese goodness

No matter what others may say about her, I L-O-V-E Paula Deen. Why? Because she makes it ok to eat an entire day's worth of fat in one serving of her casseroles. She makes you feel good just by watching her show. I just want to sit there in her kitchen and help her lick the spoon when she's making desserts. She may not be the most sophisticated, but that woman has got it going on.

Therefore, I have made Paula's recipe for pumpkin bars exactly to see if it was really as good as all the reviews said. Result? I-want-to-eat-these-three-times-a-day good. I know pumpkin is a fall flavor, but I really love it and wanted to mix it in with all the spring-inspired cooking I've been doing lately at home.

Instead of bars, I made cupcakes as they would be more visually appealing. So good. Turned out just as moist as any other "bar" or "bread" could be.

Enjoy!
(ps, I love you Paula!)


Makes 10 cupcakes. I halved the cupcake recipe on Paula's page, but made the full recipe for the frosting...to keep for other I-need-sweets moments. :)
INGREDIENTS:

Wet Ingredients for cake:
2 eggs
1/2 plus 1/3 sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
8 oz pumpkin puree

Dry Ingredients for cake:
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Cream cheese frosting:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (or 1 stick) butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

For the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350, and grease cupcake pan

2. Mix together all wet ingredients and beat until smoooooth!

3. Whisk together dry ingredients.

4. Add dry ingredients into the wet and mix, mix, mix until smooth.

5. Fill cupcake pans 2/3 full.

6. Bake 20 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:
1. Beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy

2. Add in powdered sugar one cup at a time. Mix on medium until smooth

3. Add in vanilla and then mix until smooth and fluffy. Then, mix some more until it's extra smooth and fluffy.

4. Eat a spoonful just for fun, and then add to cupcakes.