The inspiration from this cake came from Tartine's pumpkin tea cake. I wanted to make a lighter, cake-ier cake, closer to a dessert you'd eat at a dinner party than to a quickbread you'd eat for breakfast. The frosting recipe is based on my idol Dorie Greenspan's Tangy Cream Cheese Frosting.
These are the richest brownies I have ever eaten. They do not need any frosting; actually, it would just be gilding the lily. They are pretty good with walnuts though.