Pumpkins!!! Pumpkin Cake w/ Cinnamon Butter Cream Frosting

November is finally here and I am so excited about cooler weather and my favorite holiday is coming up, Thanksgiving!! Now, you might be a bit sick of pumpkin spice everything at this point but I just couldn’t resist sharing this delicious cake with you. I’m a bit traditional when it comes to pumpkin as an ingredient. I love pumpkin pie and pumpkin cake. Not so much a fan of pumpkin drinks, pumpkin candy, pumpkin chocolate and the list goes on and on and on. My local grocery only offers canned pumpkin during the winter months so I enjoy stocking up so I have it year round. If you aren’t a fan of canned pumpkin and prefer using fresh, I highly recommend getting your pumpkins the first week of November. Chances are, every school or church who had a Fall Festival/Halloween function will have a ton of pumpkins they are willing to sell cheap or give away to anyone who will take them off their hands.

With that said, let’s dig into this recipe a bit. The recipe itself is very easy and pretty cut and dry so I want to walk you through the assembly.

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October(fest): Homemade Sausage

The first Oktoberfest was held in October of 1810 as a celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (later King Ludwig I) to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen.  Horse races presided over by the royal family marked an end to the celebrations, and it was later decided to annually hold the races, and thus Oktoberfest was born.  Although the horse races are no longer a part of the festivities, Oktoberfest in Munich has grown into the largest festival in the world.  Over in America, we seem to know it as a celebration where you eat hearty German food and wash it down with a lot of beer.  Despite the fact that Oktoberfest this year was the 19th of September through the 4th of October, who says you can’t still celebrate the rest of the month with some homemade sausage?

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Cinnamon Buns: A Swedish Tradition

 

Today (October 4) is National Cinnamon Bun Day in Sweden! This day was created back in 1999 as a way for Sweden’s ‘Home Baking Council’ to celebrate their fortieth birthday. Autumn in Sweden is very similar to autumn here in the US. It is the harvest high season and home baking is something occurring in many homes across the country. There is just nothing like a fresh, hot, gooey cinnamon bun on a crisp autumn morning. I will admit that this sweet treat is one of my all time favorites!  I have fond memories of hot cinnamon buns, fresh from the oven, coated in cream cheese icing being served every Christmas morning. This Christmas tradition is still carried out at my parents home and now my own home each year. Because this is one of my favorite desserts, I have created several variations over the years. This newest creation I believe will be one of your favorites as well.

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