The Best Pumpkin Cake You Will Ever Eat

We are a bit pumpkin obsessed in our house!  I love pumpkin (along with all of the other fall flavors), and this year John really jumped on the pumpkin bandwagon!  Yay!  We have been enjoying pumpkin donuts, pumpkin bread, pumpkin coffee, and pumpkin muffins.  I am trying to get in as much pumpkin flavor in my baking before fall comes to an end!

I always see recipes for poke cakes - where you bake a cake and poke holes in it.  Then you pour either sweetened condensed milk or pudding over the top.  I knew I had to make one of those poke cakes with delicious pumpkin flavor!

This cake is my very favorite alternative to pumpkin pie!

Here's What You Need to Make the Pumpkin Cake:

Yes, the actual cake part of this recipe is only 3 ingredients!!!

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 (15oz) can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling just plain canned pumpkin)
• 1 generous tsp pumpkin pie spice (if you don't have this in your spice cabinet, you can make your own by combining cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice) 
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• whipped topping (I made my own whipped cream using 1 pint whipping cream and 1/2 cup powdered sugar...but you can sub cool whip or whatever you like)
• cake garnish - I used chocolate shavings, heath bits, and caramel sauce (just the kind you buy next to the ice cream)

Now Let's Make the Pumpkin Cake:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease (I used PAM) a cake pan  (I used my Le Creuset Classic Baker, which is 12x9 but you can just use a standard 13x9 as well)
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the cake mix and the pumpkin pie spice - this will incorporate the two ingredients and break up any cake mix lumps
3. Stir in the can of pumpkin
4. Spoon into your prepared pan
5. Bake for 30 minutes (adjust the length of baking depending on the size of your pan)
6. Allow cake to cool completely in pan
7. Once cool, use the back of a wooden spoon to poke holes in your cake - all over the top of the cake...don't worry about it looking pretty, you are covering it up
8. Pour your can of sweetened condensed milk over the top of your cake, making sure to fill the holes - use the back of a spoon to spread the milk around evenly
9. Allow the condensed milk to soak into the cake by chilling for one hour or more in the fridge
10. After an hour, frost your cake with the whipped topping - I combined 1 pint of whipping cream with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar in my kitchen aid mixer and beat on medium high speed for about five minutes
11. Put cake back into fridge until you are ready to serve
12. Before serving, garnish with whatever other topping you want...I used chocolate shavings, heath bits, and caramel sauce
13. Store any leftover cake in the fridge (but honestly, there won't be leftovers)

I sprinkled the chocolate shavings all over the top of the cake.

Then, I garnished my piece to look like this!!!  Seriously don't you wish you could jump through the screen and eat this! 

If you make nothing else from my blog, go make this!  It is so easy!  And so delicious!  It's the perfect fall dessert!  Happy Friday and Happy Eating! 

The Le Creuset Baker that I use: