The Great Pumpkin (Disaster) Cake

I love the holidays... I mean what's not to love? Fabulous friends, tons of parties, mounds of food and convincing yourself that the holiday calories don't count. I love wandering around Michaels, Joann's... Target... William Sonoma (you know I have a shopping addiction) and buying things that I know will make me cook and bake just like the Food Network stars and the awesome bloggers I read about... which brings me to my latest kitchen adventure. The Great Pumpkin Cake *insert suspenseful music*

Every year the hubster and I attend a friend's Thanksgiving potluck and every year, I search high and low for that perfect recipe. One that will ensure that I leave with an empty platter/bowl confirming that "YES! You brought something so delicious that we ate it right up!" Three years ago, the mashed potatos with corn combo (I swear at the time it sounded like a good idea) was not a huge hit... Last year's veggie meatballs went over pretty well. This year... this was going to be the year I take on dessert *GASP*... you know it had better be good.

I decided that after 3 cake decorating classes under my belt I was a true baker (Top Chef: Just Desserts look out) and I was going to take on a multi-layer cake. I found a recipe for the structure of the cake off bakerella.com (Just to avoid torting the cake, I used multiple cake pans) and a pumpkin cake and cream cheese frosting recipe on allrecipes.com. I gathered everything I needed... whirled the mixer for a power check. "How long do you think this will take," asked the Hubster with curiosity. My response: 5 hours.

And yes, that's how long it took me. I started at 11 p.m. (after a night of bowling and kicking the hubster's butt with a score of 94 boo yah!) and I finished at 4 a.m. Why you ask? No, it wasn't the adreline high from bowling. If you know me, you know caffeine and I are frenemies. I drank soda and sleep just wasn't happening. The hubster says it's psychological and to that I say "pshhhh.." Back to the cake.

It started off well... see:

Then around 3 a.m. it started sliding south... literally:

At 3:30 a.m. I decided to peel my cake apart and try again (do not attempt at home).

Finally around 4 a.m., as I finally came up from the well of frosting and powered sugar to look around my kitchen that was splattered with various baking essentials, I threw in the towel... but not before I thought adding graham craker crumbs would be a nice touch:

I took The Great Pumpkin Cake to the putluck and prayed you could see the layers... YES! YES YOU COULD!

It was a success! Gosh it was really yummy!

And even though I took 1/2 of it home, my co-workers were than happy to step in and finish the job.

Happy Thanksgiving!