Your Next Thanksgiving Dessert has Arrived!

Sigh...my favorite month of the year has come to a close, and I'm back to my usual ho-hum self. Well, slightly ho-hum because I do still have all my Halloween decorations up to fill me with dark and spooky glee (cue evil laughter). I'd like to become the anti-Hobby Lobby and keep them up for months on end, really. I'm willing to bet Hobby Lobby doesn't even wait until November 1 to start decking the halls in store anymore. It's like there's not a single holiday in between Halloween and Christmas. You know, except Dia de los Muertos, Veteran's Day, and that pesky little thing called Thanksgiving that no one ever celebrates. But speaking of Turkey Day and reasons to be thankful--we're two days in to November, and you know what that means? PUMPKIN EVERYTHING! Well, some of us basic white girls have been adding our drug of choice, pumpkin spice, to anything we can get our hands on since September (Hi, I'm Kate, and I have a pumpkin spice problem). But now that it's November, it's a socially acceptable addiction. I defy you to find someone who doesn't partake in some form of pumpkin goodness this month. In fact, I'm here to shake things up with a non-pie-related dessert that's perfect for the Thanksgiving dessert table: pumpkin angel food cake with cinnamon chip glaze.

Also, it is kind to your turkey and stuffing rations by being low cal!

Look, I'm pretty sure even men will eventually start donning yoga pants on Thanksgiving as a means to allow optimum eating and comfort levels. I wanted to try a pumpkin angel food cake on for size (see what I did there) because angel food cake is so nice and light. After eating ham, sweet potatoes, and enough stuffing for two turkeys, I sometimes completely skip dessert on Thanksgiving because pies are so heavy. Also, I absolutely hate pumpkin pie. I know, I'm a walking contradiction, but even though it is full of pumpkin, it just has a gross texture to me. But since D and I are riding out Thanksgiving solo, I'm thinking of focusing more on dessert and less on the bird. I make fantastic life choices. In all seriousness, this makes 12 slices of cake at only 230 calories a slice--even just looking at a dish of Thanksgiving eats is even more calories than that.

Another blog, another time I forgot to picture the vanilla extract.

This recipe is also insanely simple. Mix it and forget about it simple. The hardest part is getting your angel food cake out of your bundt pan because you don't have anymore kitchen space for an actual angel food cake pan. If you do have an angel food cake pan, you're in even better shape than I am. Gather up:

• 1 box of angel food cake plus the water it calls for on the back of the box
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup of canned pumpkin

Start by preheating your oven to 350 and placing a rack on the lowest level of your oven. If you have a bundt pan, fold a paper towel into quarters and spray it with cooking spray. Rub the inside of the pan with this a few times until things are slightly greasy, but no so greasy that the angel food cake won't be able to "climb" the sides of the pan while baking. In a stand mixer, mix the water, angel food cake mix, pumpkin spice, and vanilla extract for about 90 seconds. Once mixed, slowly fold in the cup of pumpkin with a rubber spatula by hand.

10 of 10 could, would, and did taste test batter.

Pour into your angel food cake or bundt pan. Place into the oven on the lowest rack and bake for 35-45 minutes. A toothpick should come out clean, and your cake should have a gorgeous tan. Seriously:

Not even of my best of days have I ever been able to achieve this color.

Once your cake is finished baking, place on a rack while still in the pan to cool for an hour. Come back in with a long angled spatula or long butter knife and gently loosen the cake from the sides and the middle of your pan. Place a plate on top of your pan and invert your pan so the plate is back on the bottom where it should be. Gently tap until you feel the cake release from the pan. I had to come in three or four times with my angled spatula until the cake was completely loose. Place this in the freezer for at least 30 minutes so the cake is not only cooled, but chilled, for your glaze.

Queen of Sprinkles!

I had every intention of making my glaze an actual ganache, but I didn't have time to let it set long enough before risking forgetting about it completely while we tended to trick-or-treaters since I made this on Halloween night. I knew I was going to need cake to cope with my post-Halloween sadness. To make the glaze or the ganache you need:

• 1/2 cup of cinnamon baking chips
• 4-6 TBS of heavy cream
• Optional but potentially necessary due to the season: Wilton leaf and acorn sprinkle mix

If you want a thin glaze, use all 6 tablespoons of heavy cream. If you want a thicker ganache, use 4 or 5 tablespoons of heavy cream. Bring your heavy cream to a boil over medium-high heat in a small sauce pan. Simultaneously, melt your cinnamon chips in a bowl in the microwave. Nuke for 30 seconds at a time on 50% power. Once the chips are melted and the cream is boiling, slowly pour in a third of the heavy cream into the bowl with the melted chips. Stir away; things will get a little thick and weird, and then it's time to add in another third of the heavy cream. Stir again until things get smooth, then stir in the last of the cream. Remove your cake from the freezer at this point. If you're going for a ganache, let it rest and thicken up for a few minutes before you pour it on the cake. If you want a glaze, pour it on top of the cake while it is still thin in consistency.

Thin, but soooo full of flavory goodnees.

I seriously can't get over these sprinkles. Sprinkles for every season!

 I own a massive amount of decorative sprinkles, from skulls for Halloween, shamrocks for St. Patty's, peppermint chips for Christmas, bubble pearls for New Year's, and practically every color of the rainbow. This is potentially why I don't have room for an angel food cake pan. Worth it. Especially with the addition of these fall sprinkles. Thanks, Amazon!

And thank you, cinnamon glaze.

I have a new favorite dessert as I am completely addicted to this cake. It is so light and airy, but it packs a nice, smooth pumpkin flavor without it being overwhelmingly pumpkin-spicy. And the cinnamon chip glaze...Dear Lord. This is practically a transcendental dessert experience if there ever was one, and minus the frantic hoping and bargaining with the baking gods that my cake would come out of the pan, probably the easiest thing I've baked in over a month. This perfects the problem I have with pumpkin pie. The texture here is perfect, and the flavors all balance out so well. If anything could take on the Thanksgiving dessert table and win, it is definitely this cake. Don't believe me? You're just going to have to bake it yourself to find out. Because I am soooo not sharing any of mine. Except with my husband since I am trying recipe by recipe to turn him into a pumpkin addict, too. 'Til next time, my fellow eaters!

I wish we still had this much cake left.