One Layer Is Enough
Baking a cake is way less intimidating (and feels more adult) when you keep it simple. A perfect autumn pumpkin cake recipe included!
Life changed when I realized I didn’t have to decorate a layer cake every time the craving hit. Suddenly, cake was no longer an occasion but an everyday possibility, especially with light coconut whipped cream dolloped on top. From there, maybe I’d dress it up with shavings of any chocolate bar that I had on hand(I recommend always having Raaka’s coconut milk or Lagusta’s Luscious’s maple white chocolate around), or a quick compote of berries found at the farmers’ market, or maybe an under-the-whip slick of jam usually reserved for morning peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Or one could forgo the whip entirely and simply dust with powdered sugar.
The possibilities of the one-layer cake, despite its diminutive size, are endless and always elegant. This is cake for a dinner, not a child’s birthday party, but it still hits those nostalgic notes.
Here’s a recipe for one of my personal favorites — and a great way to reform this flavor profile for any haters — which is a pumpkin cake with lightly sweetened coconut whipped cream and, for color and fun, some cinnamon sugar. This spicy cake (because I like my pumpkin spice heavy on the clove) and…
