Wonderful Cake for Thanksgiving

We all like our pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving but you will have to try this wonderful Marbled Pumpkin  Praline Cake.  It is delicious and I wanted to show you the picture because their presentation is so attractive.  They used sugared pecans, kumquats, and bay leaves.  I have seen fresh bay leaves at Indian spice shops or a Mediterranean deli may also carry them.  Closer to the holidays some stores start to carry kumquats. But just the spiced whipped cream icing makes a lovely cake.
Here's the recipe, I hope you will try it.

Pumpkin batter

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
3/4 cup buttermilk

Cream Cheese Batter

2 (3oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Pecan-Praline Filling

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup half and half
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup chopped toasted pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla

Spiced Whipped Cream

2 cups heavy cream (I used 3 to make sure I had enough)
6 tablespoons of powdered sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Prepare Pumpkin Batter:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 3 (9 inch) cake pans.  Line bottoms with parchment paper, and grease and flour paper.  Combine 2 cups flour and next 6 ingredients in a small bowl.  Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar and next 3 ingredients at medium speed with a heavy duty electric mixer until blended.  Add pumpkin, beating until blended.  Add buttermilk beating until blended.  Gradually add flour mixture beating at low speed just until blended after each addition.  Pour batter into prepared pans.

Prepare Cream Cheese Batter:
Beat cream cheese and next 4 ingredients at medium speed with a heavy electric mixer until creamy.  Add eggs, beating until blended.  Drop cream Cheese batter by heaping tablespoons onto pumpkin batter in pans, and gently swirl with a knife.

Bake at 350or 25 minutes or until wooden pick comes out clean.  Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes, remove cakes from pans to wire racks and cool completely (about 40 minutes.)

Meanwhile, prepare Pecan-Praline filling:
Bring 1/2 cup brown sugar and next 2 ingredients to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly.  Boil, whisking constantly, 1 minute or until sugar is dissolved.  Whisk together half and half and cornstarch in a small bowl until smooth; gradually add to brown sugar mixture, whisking constantly.  Return to a boil, and boil, whisking constantly, 1 minute or until thickened.  Stir in pecans and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Cool mixture 20 minutes.

Spread filling between cooled cake layers.

Prepared Spiced Whipped Cream:
Beat heavy cream at medium speed with electric mixer for 1 minute.  Add powdered sugar and next 2 ingredients, beating until soft peaks form.  Spread frosting on top and sides of cake.

(note) If you are making this for the holidays and you make cake the cake put in the filling and cover it with a cake dome until the next day.  Then ice the cake on the day you are serving it and keep it in a cool place.  Also, when frosting the cake, apply a thin layer (a crumb coat) over the top and sides first before applying the rest.  The thin layer seals in any crumbs and makes the rest of the frosting easier to apply.

This is a wonderful cake and I think you will love it.  It's worth all the work.  This is a cake from a fellow Okie from Bartlesville who won second place in a Southern Living cake contest.