I heart Fall

I love Fall.

Come to think of it,  I don't know anyone who doesn't love Fall.

  

Do you?  Know anyone who really doesn't care for Fall?  

It's my favorite season.  For me Fall will always be the start of a new year.  I worked at a school for 15 years and September was always the beginning of a new year for me, not January. 

It is also the start of the holiday season.  Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  All three tied for my favorite holidays.

I hate the way the retail stores just skip over Thanksgiving and move right on to Christmas. I want to savor all of the Fall holidays and not be rushed into the stress I often feel at Christmas time

I love apple cider and pumpkins.  Cooler weather, although we won't start having that until November at the earliest.

I love all things pumpkin.  Pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pancakes.  Pumpkin everything.

I love pumpkin baked goods but I'm not much of a baker myself.  Baking to me seems like an exact science and that is not my strong suit.  Every time I bake something it comes out differently, even though I follow the directions to a tee every time.  More often than not the things I bake taste great but they don't look great.  That bothers my perfectionist side.

But I found this recipe on Pinterest (of course) and I knew I had to try it.

It's two ingredient pumpkin cake with apple cider glaze.  

Two.  Ingredients.  I mean, anyone can do that, right?

So last night Joe and I went to the store to pick up the ingredients.  All two of them.  Heh.  Well, plus the ingredients for the glaze that goes on top, which consisted of three things.  So really it was five ingredient pumpkin cake.  Still simple enough for me to try.

Here are the two ingredients for the cake.  A box of yellow cake mix and a can of pumpkin.  That's it.  How easy is that?

I can't get these pictures centered.  Drove me crazy.

Dump them both in a bowl

      

Mix them up.  The batter is pretty thick.

Pour it in a pan and bake for 28 minutes.

Mix up your apple cider glaze.  Apple cider, powdered sugar and pumpkin pie spice.

Once cake is cooled slightly (about 10 minutes or so), flip it upside down onto a serving platter and drizzle glaze over cake, letting it fall down the sides.

(O.K. I will be perfectly honest and admit I didn't take this "after" picture.  Mine didn't turn out that pretty.  Thus the reason I don't bake).

But it tasted awesome.  Seriously.  If you like pumpkin and apples, this cake is dee-lish.  And super easy.

Two-Ingredient Pumpkin Cake with Apple Cider Glaze
For the Cake:
1 Yellow Cake Mix
1 15 ounce can of pumpkin pureeFor the Glaze:1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons apple cider
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Empty the contents of the boxed cake mix and pumpkin puree into a large bowl.  Using a hand-mixer or stand mixer beat until well incorporated.  The batter will be very thick, but will come together nicely.

Pour batter into a greased  7 x 11 X 2 pan.  This is the small, rectangular-sized pan from your Pyrex set.  You know, the set you had to have when you got married and rarely ever used all the pieces.  Finally, you have a use for it.

Bake at 350 degrees for 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Do not overbake.

Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan, then flip onto a platter.

Make the glaze while you're waiting.

Combine powdered sugar, apple cider and pumpkin pie spice.  Glaze should be thick but pourable.  Add more sugar or cider if needed.  Pour over the cake while still warm.  Reserve some to pour over each slice when served.

Serve warm or room temperature.

 While we were at the store Joe picked up this beer.  I don't usually mind the taste of beer but this was gross.  Seriously.  Don't buy it.  At least the bottle was cool.  I will be saving that.

What's you favorite part of Fall?