Chocolate Chip Cake Pumpkins

My mom was in town for her birthday this year, and the kids were excited to make her cake.  Since we've been making so many pumpkin-y things this fall, we decided to make pumpkin cakes for her.

I saw this general principle on Pinterest; basically, you make two Bundt cakes and invert one on top to create a complete pumpkin.  With only 6 people, however, we didn't need two full cakes, so we decided to use my Wilton mini-Bundt pan to create smaller cakes.

Of my two Bundt recipes, only one really works with icing, so we decided to make a chocolate chip cake.  Besides, how can you ever go wrong with chocolate??

You can change out this cake by changing the flavor of a few ingredients.  Since many of them are mixes, this cake comes together quickly and easily.  It also always comes out of the pan intact - definitely a plus when you're using a fancy pan!

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Mix all ingredients by hand, one at a time, in order:

1 chocolate or yellow boxed cake mix
1 small box of chocolate pudding
1/2 - 1 c. oil
4 eggs
8 oz. sour cream
1 c. chocolate chips

Pour into a greased Bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees for an hour (I baked mine for slightly less since I used a smaller pan).

Cool completely and remove from pan.  Isn't it amazing how the flutes really look pumpkin-ish?

Top one cake with orange icing and invert the other on top.  Ice completely with orange icing.

My Big Helper cut a piece of brown paper to fit the bottom of my cake stand, and then she unwrapped several Kit Kat bars and separated the sticks.  She slid one into the hole on the top of each pumpkin, and then we smeared just a bit of green icing nearby.  I was surprised at how realistic it all looked!

The kids were most excited to cut into these cakes, and everyone fought over the stem.  Perhaps you should keep a few extra nearby when it's time to serve!

If you need an alternative for pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving - or an extra dessert - try this one!  It makes a great fall display.