Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Spice Cake

There are good things and bad things about celebrating birthdays at work. The good--the abundance of treats and goodies. The bad--the abundance of treats and goodies. Wait, did I just repeat myself? Luckily, I'm not in a huge department so we don't typically celebrate birthdays more than once or twice a month.

Since it's cooling down and the temps are feeling a bit more like fall, I felt like breaking out one of my favorite things--pumpkin! The birthday girl requested chocolate, so what's better than pumpkin and chocolate together?

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Spice Cake

adapted from Duncan Hines

1 package Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Spice Cake Mix

2 large eggs

1 cup water

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 tub Whipped Cream Cheese frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour Bundt pan. Combine cake mix, eggs, water and pumpkin in large bowl, beating for two minutes with an electric mixer. Stir in chocolate chips and then add to pan. Bake 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool for at least 30 minutes and invert onto serving plate (I used my cake stand). Cool completely before frosting.

For this cake, I wanted to achieve the above look of the frosting pooling off the cake. I actually heated about 1/4 cup of the frosting in the microwave for 30 seconds and tempered another 1/4 cup into the heated mixture to thin out the frosting. Once it comes to the right consistency, spoon one tablespoon over the top of the cake and let run down the sides. Continue this process with the remainder of the frosting in the container. The first layer or two may be thinner than desired, but with the addition of each layer, it will become thicker and reflect the above consistency.

Before frosting cools completely, top with additional chocolate chips and enjoy!