-Fall time brings colorful trees, boots, sweater weather and, of course, Pumpkin Spice Lattes (although I’m more of a Salted Caramel Mocha girl myself). So, in honor of National Pumpkin Day (Monday, Oct. 26), I decided a pumpkin spice cake should be on the week’s menu.

But do I ever do anything normal? Nope — but I once again blame that on Pinterest.

No, instead of just making a boring old pumpkin cake baked in a rectangular pan, I thought, “Hey, why not just make an actual pumpkin?” So I did, and here’s how you can do it too.

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake

Start to finish: 3 hours

Servings: 22-30 pieces

Here’s what you need:

For the cake:

5 cups sugar

2 cups canola oil

6 eggs

6 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cloves

2 cans (15 ounces) solid-packed pumpkin

For the icing:

6 tablespoons butter, softened

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

½ teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons heavy cream

Orange food coloring

2 cups powdered sugar

For the stem:

1 ice cream cone

Green frosting or chocolate

Here’s the fun part:

Preheat an oven to 350 F and grease a 10-inch bundt pan with nonstick baking spray.

Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, mix 2 ½ cups sugar and 1 cup oil until well combined.

Add 3 eggs, one at a time, into the sugar and oil mixture and mix well after each.

In separate bowl, combine 3 cups the flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves until well combined.

Add the flour mixture and one can of pumpkin into the egg mixture, alternating between flour and pumpkin and starting and finishing with the flour mixture.

Mix on high for a minute, or until smooth and well combined.

Carefully pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan, spreading it out with a rubber spatula so the top is even.

Bake 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked into the center.

Cool in the pan on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes before flipping out onto the rack.

Repeat steps 2-9 to make the other half of the cake.

In a small bowl, combine the softened butter and cream cheese with a fork until smooth.

Add the vanilla, heavy cream and food coloring to the butter mixture and mix well.

Slowly mix in the powdered sugar until it reaches your desired consistency. Set aside.

Using a butter knife, spread the green frosting or melted chocolate onto the outside of the ice cream cone and set aside to harden.

Once both cakes have cooled, level them so that they are approximately the same height, snacking on the cut off pieces as you’d like.

Using a spoon, place half the icing onto the level portion of one of the cake halves, spreading it out so that it covers the cut surface but doesn’t run off the sides.

Flip the other cake over so that its cut side is facing down, and place it directly on top of the bottom cake.

Carefully drizzle the remaining icing onto the top of the cake, guiding some down the sides and middle so it drops into the crevices of the cake.

Place the covered ice cream cone upside down in the center of the cake to create the pumpkin stem.

Here are some tips:

• Add a dash or two of pumpkin spice seasoning to your cake batter to give it a bit extra taste of fall
• Pipe a face onto the side of the cake using black cookie icing for a jack-o-lantern effect
• Add a leaf next to the stem of the pumpkin using green or brown cookie icing to make it look even more realistic

It’s not too easy, but it’s not too hard. But is it too spooky? Happy Halloween fellow foodies.

Junior Laken Wagner has been spending time in the kitchen since she was five years old, where both baking and cooking have always filled her extra time. She enjoys baking more than anything else and can frequently be found decorating cakes or trying out new recipes.