Oval Office Recipe: Pumpkin Cake

The White House Pumpkin Cake is a historic, spiced Bundt-style cake that has appeared on the holiday menu since President Jimmy Carter's administration and has been requested at the White House during many autumns. 

First Lady Rosalynn Carter hired Chef Roland Mesnier in 1979, and he created the autumn pumpkin cake recipe during the Carter administration, becoming known as a legendary White House Executive Pastry Chef. The White House finally released this guarded recipe in 2011.

First Lady Michelle Obama used pumpkins that were grown in her White House garden.

Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon nutmeg ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1¼ cups dark brown sugar
4 eggs
¾ cup vegetable oil
7 ounces of pumpkin puree (either homemade or from a can)
¼ cup whole milk, lightly warmed

Preheat the oven to 340° Fahrenheit.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, baking soda, nutmeg, and ground cloves into a large bowl. Put this aside. Whisk together brown sugar and eggs with a mixer. Beat in the vegetable oil and then the pumpkin puree. Add the dry ingredients mixture, alternating with the whole milk, in three parts. Mix well, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl between each addition. Grease and flour the Bundt pan. Bake for about one hour. Let the cake cool in the pan, then turn it out onto a cooling rack.

Frosting
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 ounces butter, softened
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
Pinch of salt
½ cup fresh-squeezed orange juice, strained

Place the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a bowl and mix until smooth. If you are using a standing mixer, use the paddle attachment for the best results. Add the softened butter to the bowl. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a plastic spatula, and then add the orange zest, vanilla bean or extract, heavy cream, a pinch of salt, and orange juice. Set the frosting aside until you are ready to pour it over the cake.

For the finishing touch, pour the orange cream cheese icing over the cooled Bundt cake. Makes one cake from a 2-quart Bundt pan.