Pumpkin Cake

Heres the first cake out of my 6 Safari Theme Cake series,posting this first since it was the best seller of the night, there was only one slice of the cake left at the end.The cake is a pumpkin cake with pecans iced with a pumpkin buttercream frosting and a fondant animal accent.

Preparation time	60 minutes
Serves	12 slices, 2 6 inch layer cakes
Serving Size	1 slice
Calories Per Serving	Approximately 261 per serving
Difficulty	Difficult

Ingredients:
1 cups flour
1 large egg(room temperature)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup pecans roughly chopped

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice(or 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon,1/8 teaspoon nutmeg,1/8 teaspoon ginger powder)

For the Icing
3 cups vanilla buttercream
1/4 cup pumpkin puree

Procedure:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.Grease 2 6 inch cake pans

2.Sift flour,baking powder,pumpkin pie spice,baking soda and salt in a bowl.

3.Whisk sugar,brown sugar and butter until creamy.Add the egg and vanilla essence and beat until combine.

4.Add the pumpkin puree and fold in.

5.Add the oil and flour and gently fold in until mixed.Add the nuts and fold.

6.Transfer batter into the cake pans equally and bake for 30-35 minutes,or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.Remove pans from the oven and Let cool for 10 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack to let them cool.
7.For the icing simply whisk the pumpkin puree,pumpkin pie flavor into the buttercream.Add pumpkin puree little by little,or you can reduce the milk you add in the buttercream and add pumpkin puree until you reach the consistency you desire for icing the cake.
8.Place 1 teaspoon of icing on the cake circle and then place one layer of cake on the cake circle on it.Place about a cup of icing on top and spread evenly with spatula.Place the second layer on top(make sure the bottom smooth side is facing up so you have an even surface(If you have a cake that has risen and is not flat enough to ice it level it and then place it crumb side down).Place 1 1/2 more cups of icing on top and start spreading on the top pushing it to the sides and then ice the sides as well.Pipe your favorite design, I used a ruffle tip for the orange and a round tip on the brown icing which was basic vanilla buttercream colored brown.

Tips:
Folding the batter is important because we want our cake to be moist and airy.