I've noticed some beautiful cakes for Thanksgiving that are pumpkin with cinnamon icing - either buttercream or cream cheese. Does anyone have recipes that you would share? Thanks!

Make your regular cream cheese or BC icing. I make mine spice flavored, not necessarily just cinnamon, so if you wanted just cinnamon just add the cinnamon, taste and if you think it needs a little more, add a little more until your get the cinnamony goodness that you desire .

I add 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. ground cloves, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg, and 1 tsp. of brown sugar.

All of my spices are freshly ground in a coffee bean grinder, so they have a little stronger flavor than spices that are already ground. Make sure that you add the minimum, and then add some more if you think that it needs a little more. The older the spices are, the more they have lost their flavor.

HTH

Thanks for your reply! Could you tell me how many cups of icing you would use for the above combo of spices? Also, do you prefer to use buttercream or cream cheese? Thanks!

I dont measure anything...It took me forever to get those amounts.

This is the bc icing recipe that I use usually (its IndyDebi's recipe mostly), I vary it alot sometimes, and I have gotten to the point where I know when it 'looks right.'

1 cup Butter Flavored Cricso
1 stick of sweet cream butter
1/3 to 1/2 cup milk, depending on consistency needed
3 Tbsp powdered Dream Whip (*)
2-3 Tbsp vanilla or other flavoring
2 lbs powdered sugar sifted

(*) A powdered whipped topping mix made by Kraft Foods, usually found in the cake/sugar aisle in the grocery.

Add Crisco and butter and cream together, add your dream whip and your vanilla and mix until incorporated. Add your spice mixture, mix well, making sure there are no clumps on the bottom. Add your PS and your milk alternately until its all in the bowl. Mix for like 10 minutes on high after you get everything in until the icing is really super creamy.

Taste, and adjust your spices then. A word of caution, cloves, and ginger can be REALLY strong. If you decide to add more of either spice, make sure that you add a tiny amount until you get the flavor that you want. Cinnamon and nutmeg are a little more forgiving.