Pumpkin Cake

I just had to make Pumpkin Cake, now that fall is officially here. This is one of my many recipes I acquired from the many nights I spent at Relief Society Homemaking in the Provo 4th ward. I was a young mother and loved going to Homemaking once a month. I learned so much, but mostly how to cook and bake for my family. I loved being able to take my children to the nursery and enjoy learning and visiting with the other ladies. That was over 20 yrs. ago and I am still very close to some of those ladies that I call Sisters.
I must say what I always say when I use my KitchenAid, "I love my mixer!" I can mix up 3 loaves of whole wheat bread in my 6 qt. bowl, no sweat (or kneading by hand).
I love baking my Pumpkin Cake in a bundt pan, but I am sure it would make two loaves if I were to use bread pans. I just like the way it looks on my cake platter. It makes the house smell so good, mmmmmm!

Pumpkin Cake

3 C. unsifted flour
2 C. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1 (16 oz.) can pumpkin
3/4 C. vegetable oil
1/3 C. apple or orange juice (not concentrated)
4 lg. eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 C. coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 C. dark seedless raisins
confectioner's sugar

Preheat oven 350F. grease and flour a 10" bundt pan
In a lg. bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a small bowl beat pumpkin, oil, juice, eggs, and vanilla. Stir pumpkin mixture into flour mixture until well combined. Fold in nuts and raisins. Turn into prepared pan and bake 55-60 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Turn out of pan. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar or drip thin frosting over cake.

My son doesn't like raisins in cake so, I chose not to use raisins. I like this cake because it isn't really sweet with a lot of frosting, it's more like a bread.
I love fall, it has such a nostalgic feel to it, flooding my mind with so many wonderful memories of when the children were little: huge piles of leaves to hide in, discovering they have outgrown their coats, Halloween and costumes, Thanksgiving and then Pumpkinland in Vineyard, Utah. That is the best place and our children looked forward to going there every year. They have a corn maze, massive pumpkin patch, a little zoo at the end of the maze and then a Spook Ally! After all of that excitement they would each pick out a pumpkin to take home and carve. Of course, before leaving we would have to check out the giant pumpkin that was on display.