Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

Preheat the oven to 350 and butter a 9-by-2-inch round cake pan. Line pan with parchment, and butter the parchment. Coat pan with flour, and tap out any extra. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, salt, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, and beat until combined. Beat pumpkin puree and milk until combined. Add the flour mixture; beat on low speed until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool. Let cake rest 20 minutes. Pull the cake out of the pan using the parchment paper on the side and spread the frosting over the top of the cake.

Puree:

Preheat the oven to 400. Cut the top (stem) and bottom of the pumpkin off and cut the pumpkin in half lengthwise. Place the cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake about an hour. Cool then add to food processor, blender or mash by hand to puree. If freezing, place in airtight container and remove from the freezer the day before, placing it in the refrigerator. The pumpkin puree will keep for up to 6 months in the freezer.

Frosting:

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat until nut-brown in color, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and pour butter into a bowl, leaving any burned bits behind. Add the sugar, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon milk; stir until smooth. If the icing is too thick, add the remaining tablespoon milk, a little at a time, until consistency is spreadable. Let cool for 5 minutes. I wanted mine to be slightly runny to drizzle so I added a tiny bit more of milk but Martha didn’t want that.