These Sweet Little Pumpkin Cakes Are the Ultimate Fall Dessert

For everyone who can't get enough pumpkin desserts, who loves a cute, mini cake, and who adore everything autumn, these individual treats are for you. They're sure to become a fall favorite and are perfect addition to a Thanksgiving dessert table. Plus, they're incredibly easy to put together.

This recipe is based on Martha Stewart's Spicy Pumpkin Bundt Cake. In addition to the ingredients for that recipe you will also need:

• 12-cavity mini pumpkin cake pan
• Non-stick cooking spray
• 1/2 recipe Easy White Icing
• 6 chocolate Italian wafer cookies, such as Loacker
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, melted

Start by preparing the batter for Spicy Pumpkin Bundt Cake. Instead of the 14-cup Bundt cake pan the recipe calls for, use a 12-cup mini pumpkin cake pan. The recipe will fill the mini pumpkin cake pan three times, yielding 36 cakes which will make 18 mini pumpkins.

Spray each cavity of the mini pumpkin pan with non-stick cooking spray and fill each just over half way. Baking time will be much less (about 20 minutes total) as the cakes are much smaller. Once baked, cool cakes in pan for 10 minutes then remove cakes from pans and let cool completely on a wire rack. (Wash cake pan and repeat two more times for a total of 36 mini cakes).

To Decorate

Using a serrated knife, trim the bottoms of each cake to remove any doming that may have occurred during baking and to create a flat surface.

Next, place a small dollop of icing onto the cut side of the cake, and then sandwich a second cake on top, lining up the pumpkin patterns so the top and bottom pieces match. Cut the Italian wafer cookies into 1/2-inch pieces to create the "stem." Use icing to affix cookies to top of each pumpkin.

Decorate pumpkins as desired. I drizzled some with melted chocolate, dusted others with powdered sugar, and also piped a design with white icing.

Allow chocolate to harden and icing to set, then transfer finished mini pumpkins to a platter for serving.