As I write this review this recipe has a misleading average rating of 3-stars – two reviews, both in 2005. Well, it’s now five years later and I’m hoping to change that. I used vegetable oil rather than the melted Crisco and, to make sure this appealed to everyone, I omitted the raisins. I strictly followed the remaining instructions and ingredients for the batter except for one thing - don’t beat the batter at med-high speed unless you want splattered batter all over the place! And beating it five minutes isn’t necessary. Just mix it at a reasonable speed until blended. This cake is simply roll your eyes, curl your toes delicious! I didn’t use the frosting recipe only because I was using a pan where I wanted to show the definition of its design, so I made a glaze of 1/3 c. each of butter and brown sugar, about 1 T. of corn syrup for shine and a dribble of half-and-half. I let that come to a boil, boiled for two minutes, then stirred in a capful of vanilla. I brushed it all over the warm cake. I know this cake would be good just as written, just subbing butter for the Crisco called for in the frosting. But this glaze I used may just have stepped this up to another level of “D” good. (A little rum or rum extract would have been good in that glaze too – or maple syrup) Whether it’s with the frosting called for or my ad libbed glaze, you won’t regret making this cake. This recipe has been needlessly ignored for too long.

Wow! I am so glad I made this cake! I baked this in a bundt pan, but wasn't sure there would be enough batter since the recipe suggested using one 10-inch cake pan. However, it was most certainly a full-size cake. It was great just a couple of hours after I made it, but the texture changed and made it even better after several hours longer. For this reason, I will bake this several hours ahead of time in the future. I have to admit that I used a variation of Naples' glaze instead of the icing in the recipe (maybe this had an effect on the resulting texture change?), but it would be terrific with a cream cheese frosting as well. I used cream instead of half&half in the glaze (Naples' recipe) and used quite a bit more than a dribble. But after I brushed it on the cake, it really soaked in and definitely added something special. PS. I omitted the raisins and didn't miss a thing.

I've been on a pumpkin kick lately--bread, muffins, pie and now this cake. Gotta get my fix after the shortage last year! ;-) This cake is very simple to put together and I like that it doesn't make a huge one. I didn't have enough crisco so I subbed 1 cup of canola oil. I also borrowed Naples34102 glaze recipe (which is simple and perfect and would be fabulous on so many things--thank you!) instead of the frosting. Watch the baking time--mine was plenty done after only 45 minutes. I used my Pampered Chef 10" square stoneware baking pan. Will definitely make again!

Very tasty and moist. It kept very well for a week in the refrigerator. I used fresh pumpkin, substituted half brown sugar and skipped the raisins.

This cake is very very good.It is moist and light with a wonderful spicy flavor.Yummy! Good any time of year.

didn't like it

This is pretty close to my favourite recipe that I misplaced (it lacks 2 cups of bran cereal). Also, I always replace vegetable shortening with oil or butter - as trans fats are nasty, nasty things.

Amazing!!! Used 1/2 white sugar and 1/2 brown sugar, and I had no cloves. Everything else was exactly the same.