Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cake

What better way to celebrate Autumn than by baking this delicious treat! My mom always makes some Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cake on Thanksgiving and seriously, it’s so yummy it doesn’t stay on the table very long because everyone has eaten a slice. 😀 So I figured I’d share the recipe with you guys. Enjoy!

*If you don’t have a food processor, use the canned pumpkin option.

Prep: 45 minutes Bake: 60 minutes Cool: 30 minutes Oven: 350 degrees F.

Nonstick spray for baking

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 ¼ cups granulated sugar

¾ cup packed brown sugar

1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

6 oz. bittersweet or semisweet baking chocolate, chopped into chunks (1 ½ cups)

1 1 ½-lb. pie pumpkin, shredded* or one 15-oz. can pumpkin

¾ cup butter, melted

6 eggs, slightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. With the nonstick spray for baking, generously coat a 10-inch square tube pan without removable bottom or a 10-inch flute tube pan. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl set aside ½ cup of the flour. In a large bowl combine remaining flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. To the reserved ½ cup flour, stir in chocolate chunks; toss to coat.
3. In another bowl combine pumpkin, melted butter and eggs. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stir until combined. Add chocolate mixture. Stir until combined. Pour batter into tube pan.
4. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Gently remove cake from pan; cool 30 minutes.

Makes 12 to 16 servings.

Once you make our yummy treat snuggle up with a fun book!

Here’s a sneak peek at First Frost:

Bianca got out of her car and ran inside the house. She called for her mother as she searched for her upstairs in all of the rooms. Nothing. She quickly ran downstairs and was ready to go down to the basement when a strange turquoise light caught her eye. She looked out the kitchen window; she couldn’t believe what she saw. Her mother was throwing what Bianca could only describe as balls of turquoise fireballs at a woman wearing a black hood. Bianca couldn’t see the woman’s face, but she could see her pale hands and slender fingers.
Bianca tried to make sense of it all. She kept expecting to see a special effects crew to come out from behind the trees and tell her that it was all part of an elaborate prank. But no such thing happened. All she knew was that a strange turquoise flame was coming out of her mother’s hands.
She knew that her mother sometimes read old dusty books on witchcraft, but she didn’t know she had actual powers. She thought about all the little quirks her mother had. Things that Bianca thought were essentially Rose. Her mother talked to plants and trees. She would sometimes stare off into space as though she were looking at something in another world. Something only she could see. She read tarot cards to random people and would tell them things about his or her life as though she were reading an open book. Bianca always thought she just made really lucky guesses. She chose not to believe in this other world and everything it stood for. Magic represented a life out of the norm, and Bianca desperately wanted to be normal. Just like everyone else.
Bianca pulled herself out of her thoughts. As she looked at the blue and green flashes in the backyard, she quickly realized that this was something she couldn’t escape. Normal was no longer a part of her world. Normal was no longer an option for her.
Bianca didn’t know what to do. She was frozen in place. She was afraid to distract her mother for even a second. She ducked behind the screen door; at least this way she could still hear what they were saying to each other.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t come?” the witch shouted. “Oh, I knew you’d be back,” Rose replied.
Bianca slowly lifted her gaze and peeked above the screen. She saw her mother standing behind the shed on the left side of their backyard. The witch was still too far away for her to get a good look at her, but Bianca could tell that she was on the far right corner of their yard.
“Where’s the book?” the witch demanded.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Rose replied with a smirk.
“Don’t be coy with me. You know very well what I’m talking about.”
“Sorry. I can’t help you.” Rose’s breathing was becoming more labored and she was drenched in sweat…obvious signs of exhaustion, but Bianca could tell by the look on her mother’s face that she wouldn’t give up.
“The wards in the museum are impressive. I couldn’t get past them. But maybe…she’ll know where the book is,” the witch said as she looked in Bianca’s direction and threw a sickly olive-colored fireball at the screen door.
Bianca shrieked and jumped out of the way. The screen door fell off its hinges and landed on the kitchen floor with a loud thud.
“Bianca!” Rose screamed.
© Liz DeJesus 2015

Kindle

Nook