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For many years, we had always hosted the neighborhood Halloween Party. On the night of Halloween, everyone showed up in costume to chow down on big vats of homemade chili, corn muffins, and slaw or large trays of baked ziti, Caesar salad and garlic balls along with some sort of festive cocktail. It really depended upon my mood and how many were expected to show up.

One year, a friend of mine brought over a huge tray with a pumpkin-like cake on it. I couldn't figure out what it was. There was a layer of pumpkin-like mousse atop some sort of crust over a sprinkling of pecans. I took one bite and I was addicted.

I can't really call it a cake, even though it is made with a cake mix. It is kind of like a pie, but not really. Her mom called it "Pumpkin Delight," and I have to say that it is delightful. For years, I followed the recipe and would never have thought to change it. But now with me being conscious about what I put in the food that I make, and thus what ultimately goes into my kids' bodies, I decided to test this recipe using more whole ingredients.

I swapped out many of the original ingredients. Instead of evaporated milk (which has a host of preservatives), I used organic, heavy whipping cream; rather than white sugar I used coconut sugar; and instead of margarine, I used whole organic butter. I also went online and looked at the ingredients in a typical, boxed cake mix and I made my own "yellow cake mix" using pantry staples. It took a few batches before getting the result that I wanted. The end result was just as good, if not better than the original.

It's not the "prettiest" of desserts, but I have taken it to many parties. And although I couldn't take credit for it in the past, this new adapted version feels more like my own.

Pumpkin Cake

One 9-by-13-inch tray feeds a very big crowd

For the pumpkin layer:

15 ounces pumpkin puree

14 ounces organic heavy whipping cream

1 cup coconut sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

3 large organic eggs

For the cake layer:

2 1/4 whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 cups coconut sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

For assembly:

1 cup chopped pecans

10 ounces unsalted organic butter

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Line the bottom of the pan with wax paper. Set aside.

For the cake layer: Melt butter in a heavy duty sauce pan over medium heat. Remove from heat and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the whole wheat pastry flour, coconut sugar, baking powder and kosher salt. Set aside.

For the pumpkin layer: In a large bowl, whisk together the ingredients and pour into prepared baking pan.

Assembly: Sprinkle homemade "cake mix" over the pumpkin layer. Sprinkle pecans over cake mix layer. Pour butter, evenly over entire top of cake.

Bake for 1 hour. Cool for 30 minutes. Invert pan and carefully flip over onto a serving platter. Remove wax paper. Dot with homemade whipping cream.

(Susan Salzman writes The Urban Baker blog to explore her dedication to good food in the hope of adding beauty to the lives of her family and friends. One for the Table is Amy Ephron's online magazine that specializes in food, politics and love. www.oneforthetable.com.)