Fried Pumpkin Layer Cake with Cream Cheese and Orange Frosting

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen, 2007

Show: Paula's PartyEpisode: Deep Fried Thanksgiving

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (29)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(29)

Cook Time:
30 min
Level:
Easy
Yield:
8 to 10 servings

Times:

Prep: 10 min
Inactive Prep: 5 min
Cook: 30 min
Total:: 45 min

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Ingredients

Pumpkin Cake:

1 (17 to 18-ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 cup pumpkin puree (fresh or canned)
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Cream Cheese and Orange Frosting:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick butter, room temperature
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons orange juice
1 orange, zested
3 drops yellow food coloring
1 drop red food coloring

Fry Batter:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

For frying:

Oil, for frying
1 recipe Pumpkin Cake
1 recipe Cream Cheese and Orange Frosting
1 recipe Frying Batter

For the Pumpkin Cake:

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 (9-inch) round cake pans.

In a large mixing bowl combine and beat with a hand held electric mixer all the ingredients until the batter is smooth. Divide the batter between the 2 prepared cake pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in their pans for 5 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

For the Cream Cheese and Orange Frosting:

Cream the cream cheese and butter together with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in the confectioners' sugar until smooth and then beat in the orange juice, zest and food coloring.

For the Fry Batter:

Whisk together all the ingredients in a large shallow bowl.

For frying:

Heat the oil in a very large Dutch oven, must be at least 11-inches wide.

Dip 1 of the cake layers in the batter and gently place it in the hot oil. Fry until golden brown and crisp, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper towel lined platter to drain. Repeat with the 2nd cake layer. Let the fried cakes cool slightly and then frost the top of 1 layer. Place the 2nd layer on top of it and frost. Don't frost the sides, it will be pretty to see the layers of frosting and crispy fried cake.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Fried Pumpkin Layer Cake with Cream Cheese and Orange Frosting
Laurie Fort Wayne, IN 01-22-2010
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"Yummy"
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I wanted to do something different for thanksgiving. This is easy and delicious!!! I didn't fry it. I used a 9x13 glass pan... for approx. 25 to 30 min. I did add more pumpkin spice to the batter... but that is a taste preference. The frosting I used a teaspoon of pure orange extract. I didn't have the the orange or juice to use or zest. That turned out very tasty tooo!!!!!!!!! It was a great hit. A nice change over pumpkin pie. Thank you Paula!!!!!!!Read more
recipe Fried Pumpkin Layer Cake with Cream Cheese and Orange Frosting
paulette brooklyn, NY 11-25-2009
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" just finished making the cake!"
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Its the day before thanksgiving and i decided to make this cake.. I literally just finished making it and i wanted to pass on... a few tips based on what i've found.... I was a little hesitant on making it for fear of the frying part... as I...#1 have close to zero experience with frying anything.. and #2 have zero experience frying a cake...however, my curiosity won the battle and this is what i found. I found that it is a good idea to (other than getting the widest pan you can fry in)... make sure there is enough oil in the pan to coat the ENTIRE cake.. so that you don't have to flip it... that was the trickiest part... i started with about an inch of oil..and when i put the cake in... only half of it was being fried, and i HAD to then flip it ...that was when the first layer split in half...but i thought... ok.. this one will go on the bottom.. and the frosting will help the wound... ;) .. the second layer ..i managed to keep together.....and then continued with the frosting after letting it cool and absorb excess oil with lots of paper towels..... and it looks good! Another thing i've noticed was that you definitely don't need all the sugar in the frosting.. I had to add another 5oz. of cream cheese to make it a little less sweet...(because at first? i couldn't even taste the cream cheese.. I just tasted the powdered sugar).. so after i added the extra cream cheese it was much better. This may have been because i decided not to do the orange flavoring/coloring... as i am not a fan... (which potentially could have masked the over powering sugar taste..but i'll never know...) so instead, i substituted with 1 tbspn of vanilla extract.. As far as the taste of the cake as a whole? I had a little morsel so far.. and it was super delicious... but i will post tomorrow what the final outcome is when my taste buds are done partying! :DRead more
recipe Fried Pumpkin Layer Cake with Cream Cheese and Orange Frosting
gloria cibolo, TX 11-17-2009
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"Eat and Be Happy..."
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Exactly what everyone is saying..."eat in moderation and enjoy the scrumptious foods Paula makes, and bakes, with her heart."... She's happy, wonderderful, loving, and very HEALTHY!!!! "Stop and smell the cake..." Read more
recipe Fried Pumpkin Layer Cake with Cream Cheese and Orange Frosting
EDUARDO AURORA, IL 11-10-2009
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wOOF
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I made it just like a regular cake..did not deep fry it..very tasty and great for the Harvest/thanks season...
recipe Fried Pumpkin Layer Cake with Cream Cheese and Orange Frosting
Melissa Falls Church, VA 11-03-2009
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Delicious!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I've made this cake 3 or 4 times now and every time it gets great reviews. I do make a few changes. Most importantly, I do... NOT deep fry the cake. The cake is delicious as is and doesn't need to be deep fried. For the frosting, I don't like citrus in (most) desserts, so I left out the orange zest. I DID use the OJ in the frosting, though I suppose you could also use milk. Finally, I don't use food coloring in the frosting because I like the look of the cake with white frosting. Every time, the cake comes out moist and flavorful and is the perfect match for the cream cheese frosting. Thanks!Read more
recipe Fried Pumpkin Layer Cake with Cream Cheese and Orange Frosting
jeannie east meadow, NY 10-24-2009
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yummy
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

my husband says eat right stay fit die anyway . alittle cake never killed anybody Paula you rock girl friend i never made... anything bad from your reciepes love them all Read more