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.
Sure, we could have gone with six, but at what cost? Lose the sour cream, or the zesty salsa, or the melted shredded cheese or....No. Seven layers. Get a little in each bite.