Pumpkin Cake with Dulce de Leche Icing

Ok, I admit we are a little beyond pumpkin season. I also know I'm not the only one who stocked up on pumpkin this year. If you are one of those people who was worried about the pumpkin shortage and possibly have a little extra taking up space in your cupboards, this is the perfect recipe for you. This cake is super easy to make. It's one of those great things to bring to a potluck or anywhere else you want to feed a lot of people. The original recipe was called Pumpkin Bars. A friend told me that it came out more like cake in the recommended 9x13 inch pan, so I put it in a 10x15 hoping for bars. The results... still cake, but a might moist and flavorful one. Also, I realized that I was not going to have enough icing to cover a larger cake and decided to add Dulce de Leche to the icing. What a happy little accident, it really added to the overall flavor.

Pumpkin Cake with Dulce de Leche Icing
adapted from Paula Deen on The Food Network (thanks Wendi)
Ingredients
Bars
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
15-ounce can pumpkin
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Icing
8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp Dulce de Leche
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 15 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese, butter and Dulce de Leche in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin cake.