The Groom's Cake

There are few wedding traditions as important as the groom's cake, seriously.  You may ask, "Why?"  Well, I see it this way.  Most grooms I know, don't really care much about the wedding details.  They don't care what color the flowers are, or what the bridesmaids wear.  I have found that most grooms do have a favorite cake or dessert.  The groom's cake gives us a chance to make him a cake that is just for him, just the way he likes it :) ...for the most part ;D

Earlier this year, our oldest daughter go married.  For her groom I made this AWESOME chocolate cake...

Yes, there are a Han & Leah, Playmobile and My Little Pony bride and groom on this cake ;D

This cake is a dense chocolate cake with a whipped ganache filling and frosting and then COVERED [as you can see] with thick AMAZING glossy ganache :) 

 It is the BEST chocolate cake ever.

You can read more about it and get the recipe HERE.

For our second daughters wedding, this coming Saturday, her groom does NOT like cake :/ 

....but he does LOVE cheesecake and pumpkin pie.

So why not combine his two loves into a little bit of heaven?

Pumpkin Cheesecake!!!

My mom has been making this recipe for years, and we LOVE it!

The pecan, brown sugar, butter topping is AHH-MAZING!

I used a different cooking method,

 so I had to try one out for good measure.

There will be a 10", 8" and a 6" cheesecake, stacked like a traditional wedding cake.

(minus the bride and groom toys on top)

Here is the recipe for your gluttonous Thanksgiving pleasure ;)

Pumpkin Cheesecake       Sue Ford (my AMAZING mom)

Crust:

1-1/2 C graham crackers, crushed

6 T butter, melted

1/4 C sugar

Mix and press into bottom and up the sides of a 10" spring form pan.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Filling:

Cream:

3-  8 oz. cream cheese

3/4 C brown sugar

3/4 C sugar

Then add:

5 large eggs, one at a time

2 C canned pumpkin

1/2 C whipping cream

1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

1/2 t ground cloves

Spoon onto crust.  Bake at 325F 1-1/2 hours or until set (won't jiggle, about 1 hour longer in Utah, seriously).  Then top with topping and bake 15 minutes more.

Here are my modifications for the 10" groom's cake layer.  I cooked it in a bain-marie/water bath (follow Martha's directions HERE or watch a video HERE).  I cooked the 10 " cake for 2-1/4 hours at 325, then added the topping and cooked for 15 more minutes. (the jiggle was still slightly there) Then I turned off the oven and let it cool in the oven for several hours.  Bring the foil up over the top to cover and refrigerate overnight. [To read more about why a bain-marie is important click HERE]

Topping:

3/4 C Brown sugar

6 T chilled butter

1/2 C pecans (chopped or whole) I brake them up by hand so they are not to big, nor too small :)