Pumpkin Cake with Caramel Sauce

I know that the season for pumpkin has passed, but please, is there really ever a bad time for pumpkin baked goods? I didn't think so. I loved this recipe because the cake itself literally takes five minutes to throw together and have in the oven, but then you make the caramel sauce right before serving it and you feel like you are serving up a very fancy dessert. The caramel sauce is a bit thinner, and tastes more like a "brown sugar sauce," that soaks into your cake, but I liked it a lot because it gave the cake a very old fashioned taste, very moist and full of flavor. If I was more of a forward thinking person, I would have had whipped cream, or vanilla bean ice cream to serve it with, but even by itself, it was delicious!

Pumpkin Cake with Caramel Sauce

Found in Taste of Home, Baking Book

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 can (15 oz) solid pack pumpkin
1 cup vegetable oil

Caramel Sauce:
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
Dash salt
1 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. In another bowl, beat the eggs, pumpkin and oil until smooth; add to the dry ingredients. Mix until well blended, about 1 minute.

2. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

3. For sauce, combine the brown sugar, flour and salt into saucepan. Stir in water and butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil and stir for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Cut cake into squares and serve with warm sauce.