Easy Holiday Baking with Iced Pumpkin Spice Cake and Other Tasty Recipes from PAM

I love Christmas baking and I do a lot of it, but with my busy day I need recipes that are quick, delicious and foolproof. Thankfully, PAM, a staple in Canadian kitchens for more than 50 years now, has some tasty new recipes available at PAM Canada that fit the bill perfectly.

I decided to try out the Iced Pumpkin Spice Cake. The fabulous thing about baking with pumpkin is that it creates a very moist and dense dessert that’s sure to satisfy the most discriminating sweet tooth. But it can make meals that stick to the pan, so I was eager to whip up this cake with a little help from PAM!

Iced Pumpkin Spice Cake
A yummy alternative to traditional pumpkin pie this holiday season!

Serves: 12 / Prep Time: 15 minutes / Bake Time: 45 minutes / Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• PAM® Baking Spray
• 3 cups (750 mL) all purpose flour
• 4 tsp (20 mL) pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks/250g) butter, softened
• 3 cups (500 mL) firmly packed brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 can (2 cups/450 g) solid-pack pumpkin
• 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) golden raisins
• 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) water
• 1 cup (250 mL) chopped pecans or walnuts
• whipped cream, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray 13×9-inch baking pan with PAM® Baking Spray. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice and baking powder in medium bowl; set aside.
2. Mix together butter and sugar in large bowl on medium-high speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs; mix until blended. Turn mixer to low; add pumpkin. Gradually blend in flour mixture. Stir in raisins by hand.
3. Bake 40-45 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
4. Blend confectioners’ sugar and water; drizzle over cake. Sprinkle nuts evenly over top. Cut into 12 servings. Just before serving, dollop with whipped cream, if desired.

The only real change I made to the recipe was to eliminate the raisins. While I love raisins in some baked goods, I’m not a fan of them in others and pumpkin is so good on its own that I decided to leave them out. I also made my own version of pumpkin pie spice by mixing two teaspoons of cinnamon, one teaspoon of nutmeg, half a teaspoon of ginger and half a teaspoon of cloves.

When the cake came out of the pan, it was every bit as rich and delicious as I had hoped. Drizzling on the icing glaze was lots of fun and both the boys came over to help me. After sprinkling on the walnuts, our cake was ready to eat!

Of course, because I had used PAM cooking spray on my favourite glass cake pan, every piece of the cake came out of the pan with no problem at all. And since PAM is made with canola oil, which contains only 7% saturated fat, I can feel good about giving it to my family.

If you want to make some sensational sweets for your loved ones this Christmas, PAM also has some tips to help you impress your friends and family with your skills:

• Save time, eliminate the mess and the two-step process of greasing and flouring by using PAM® Baking to spray your cookie sheets, cake and muffin pans. The flour is already in it!
• Ever used a cookie cutter only to have the dough stick to it? When you spray your cookie cutters with PAM® Baking, you’re just left with perfectly shaped cookies every time!
• If your recipe calls for grated cheese, spray your grater with PAM® Baking so it slides across the grater with ease. And it will be easier clean up too.
• Use PAM® Baking to make your favourite vanilla cupcakes. After they’ve been baked, scoop out the centre and fill it with Snack Pack® Vanilla Pudding for a delicious treat.
• Chopped nuts add great flavour and crunch to cookies but if you’re chopping nuts in the food processor, be sure to spray it with PAM® Baking beforehand to make cleaning up a breeze.
• To decorate cupcakes with different coloured frosting, take a batch of vanilla frosting and separate it into smaller bowls, then add food colouring to get the colours you want. Add sprinkles in corresponding colours for an even more colourful pop!

So why not whip up this tasty cake or some of the other great recipes from PAM this holiday season? Stop by Mom vs. the Boys and Mommy Moment to check out two other tasty recipes from PAM and don’t forget to visit the PAM Canada website to get all kinds of tips on turning out baking that looks so good your guests may just think you ordered it from the bakery!

PAM helped make this delicious cake so easy to bake and serve and I am so excited to save some to eat during Christmas festivities. Check out the site and choose a favourite recipe for yourself, because with PAM, holiday baking can be easy and delicious!