Pumpkin "Cheese" Cake

Prep time: 20 minutes
Bake time: 40 to 50 minutes (cake can be made a day ahead and refrigerated)
Serves: 12 to 15

During the week before Thanksgiving I usually make pumpkin bread. This year, I reinvented this Autumn coffee go-with. I made a pumpkin cake that retains an old-fashioned, "bready" element and added a cream cheese filling. Some of the white flour has been substituted with whole wheat flour. And, although I eliminated the oil, this dessert is still moist and scrumptious. I hope everyone makes this "no fuss" cake for Thanksgiving - and don't forget the coffee!

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
One 15-ounce can pumpkin
1 cup nonfat, plain yogurt
4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (4 ounces) Dulce de Leche*
5-Minute Sweetened Whipped Cream (previously published on this blog on July 18, 2010)

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease and flour an 11-inch round spring form pan and set aside.

In a 4-cup mixing bowl, combine the flours, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and allspice; set aside.

Meanwhile, in a 2-cup mixing bowl, using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar and egg; set aside.

In a 3 or 4-quart mixing bowl, mix together the pumpkin, yogurt, eggs, sugar and vanilla on low speed. Gradually add the combined dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and beat at low speed until the batter is uniform, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Pour half of the pumpkin batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with a spatula. Spoon the cream cheese mixture evenly over batter in pan followed by remaining pumpkin batter. Make sure the top pumpkin batter layer covers the cream cheese mixture evenly.

Place pan with batter on a rack positioned in center of oven and bake 40 to 50 minutes. After 40 minutes, check doneness of cake by inserting a pointed knife in its center. If knife has sticky batter around it, bake cake for an additional 5 minutes. Check doneness once more. Knife inserted should come out clean. If not, bake another 5 minutes.

Cool cake completely in spring form pan on counter. If making a day ahead, cover pan with aluminum foil and refrigerate.

Remove cake from refrigerator 2 hours before serving.

At serving time, remove sides of spring form pan and set cake on a platter (do not remove cake from pan bottom).

Serve each piece with a drizzle of dulce de leche and the whipped cream.

*Dulce de leche is a caramel sauce from Argentina and can be found in Latin American supermarkets. It is usually packaged and sold in a 15-ounce glass or plastic jar.

Text and Photographs © Nancy Real 2010