Oh, Pumpple Cake!

I am obsessed with the Food Network.  I spend most of my evening television time watching food shows and being hungry.  One evening I was watching a program, which highlighted a bakery on the east coast called The Flying Monkey.  They made a cake creation called The Pumpple Cake.  Watching this show, I decided that this is a cake I could make.

A Pumpple Cake is a wonderful creation.  It is a pumpkin pie baked inside a chocolate cake and an apple pie baked inside a vanilla cake.  The two layers are then stacked together and frosted with buttercream frosting.  This cake is 1800 calories per slice and ridiculously good.

So, the first step was to make the pies and par bake them.  No problem there.  I cranked out the pies in no time and had them in the fridge before I went to be, Wednesday night.

Step two is to mix the cake up and put the pie into the cake.  This is where things got tricky.  I made the pies in disposable pie pans.  So, I cut slits in the sides of the pie pans and pealed them off the pies.  I then settled the pumpkin pie into the chocolate cake batter.  The remainder of my cake batter was then poured over the top of the pumpkin pie to cover it for baking.  Lesson #1 - Use 2 cake mixes or a double batch of from scratch cake batter.  I would have liked a bit more cake around the pie.

Baking took way longer than expected.  It was more than double the expected time, per cake.  But, the smell of the pumpkin pie in the chocolate cake was unbelievable.

It was then on to cake number two.  I repeated the same assembly steps for the apple cake that would be baked inside the vanilla cake.  The smell was wonderful.  But, it really took a long time to bake fully.

After a several bottles of wine and wonderful conversation with my sister-in-laws, the layers of cake were fully baked and it was time for bed, Friday night.

Saturday morning, I got up and made the buttercream frosting.  After the frosting was completed, I began the assembly process.

For some extra color, I put some sprinkles on the cake.  Lesson #2 - No sprinkles, next time.  The cake is nice and moist.  But, the crunchy sprinkles are slightly off-putting.

The cake was delicious.  I will definitely have to make it again, for a special occasion or by request.  It was fun to put together.   But, the layers are very heavy and have a hard time standing up once they have been cut into.  Lesson #3 - Refrigerate each layer and the final product until serving to ensure the cake stays pretty.  Letting it get to room temperature weakens the structure.

I will say that the cake tasted wonderful.  1800 calories well invested.  This cake ended up being a behemoth.  But, it is now on the list of my all time favorite baking projects.

So, what should the next baking project be???