Pumpkin Pie Crunch Cake — THE Dessert you have been looking for! (Part 1 of the “Busy Mom Approved” recipe series)

***THANKSGIVING DESSERT RECIPE ALERT***

Okay friends, I am going to blast a few recipes out over the next week. There will be very little commentary – not because they are not commentary worthy, but because this momma is full-up with life. These are TOO GOOD to them let slip away into my vault of recipes that never make there way to the light of the blog!

You know these recipes must good, or else there is NO way I would stop and share. Maybe they will help bring a little “slow-down” to your days – so ready or not, here they come!

I bet you are right there with me in the “little time to spare” category, so make a post-it reminder for yourself to follow along with my “Busy Mom Approved” series. These recipes have been a MAJOR hit in our home (both in ease of preparation and in taste) and I don’t want to miss the opportunity to pass them along to you.

I came across this dessert while having lunch in the city with David. I normally don’t add a dessert to my lunch but David ordered for me. So, I suppose he is to thank for this! With the first bite, I knew. This recipe would be mine. After a short conversation about how delicious this pumpkin dessert was, the kind owner of the restaurant generously (and somewhat hesitantly) shared the recipe.

I made a few little tweaks; the 2 biggest being the addition of an oat streusel topping and using my homemade cake mix in place of the box mix. I also used 1 cup of packed brown sugar & ½ cup of powdered sugar in place of the granulated sugar ((I ran out of regular sugar!!! Major problem.)).

The pumpkin custard was simple to make – and subtly seasoned with fresh grated ginger and vanilla.

Pour the custard into a 9″ x 13″ baking dish and top with 3 c of the pre-made homemade cake mix. *I poked the cake mix into the custard, using a “poke-cake” method.