Pumpkin Spice Cake With Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

Submitted by kittycatmom

"Layers of cake cushioned with Pumpkin Cream-Cheese Frosting create a lasting impression even before you take the first bite. One taste of this moist cake and creamy icing, and the traditional pumpkin pie may have to make room on the for a new holiday favorite."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 5mins
• Ingredients: 19

ingredients

• 3⁄4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1⁄2 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄2 teaspoon fresh-ground nutmeg

• Pumpkin Cream-Cheese Frosting

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1⁄4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1⁄4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1⁄2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

directions

1. Prepare cake pans: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat three 8-inch cake pans with softened butter. Cut three 8-inch circles out of parchment paper and fit them into the bottom of the cake pans. Lightly coat the paper circles with butter and set aside.
2. Make the batter: Cream butter until smooth in a large bowl with an electric mixer set on medium speed. Add the sugars and mix until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, until the mixture is smooth and light. Set aside. Combine the pumpkin purée, buttermilk, and vanilla in a medium bowl and set aside. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and nutmeg in a large bowl and set aside. In thirds, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to the butter mixture, blending well after each addition until smooth.
3. Bake the cake: Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of each cake comes out clean -- 35 to 40 minutes. Cool the cakes in the pan on wire racks for 30 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and return to the wire racks until completely cool. Assemble the cake: Place one layer on a cake plate and top with one-third recipe of Pumpkin Cream-Cheese Frosting. Repeat with the second and third layers. Serve or store refrigerated for up to four days.

4. Directions for Frosting:

5. Blend the cream cheese, pumpkin purée, butter, orange juice, zest, and vanilla in a large bowl using an electric mixer set at medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and creamy -- about 5 more minutes.

Reviews

[madriley61]

Love this recipe! The only problem I had was the frosting being too runny, but that could have been because I used fresh cooked pumpkin instead of canned. Next time I'll probably not use the juice, I thought the frosting tasted more like orange than pumpkin

 

[Debbie Smith]

This was excellent! I made this as a special Thanksgiving treat as an American living in England. I made it as cupcakes instead of one big cake, and it worked out really well! I took loads of them to a ladies' meeting I had on Thanksgiving night and they raved about it, asking for the recipe. It's amazing and will definitely be turning up in our house each Halloween/Thanksgiving. It's loads better than Pumpkin Pie anyday!

 

[Motivated Mama]

This was a HUGE hit at my daughter's fourth birthday party! I had no left overs :( I used whole wheat flour, added a bit more pumpkin to the frosting (the rest of the can) and baked it in a bunt pan (took about 60 minutes) so I ended up with way too much frosting but I'm freezing it to top off a pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving! I sprinkled chocolate chips on the top and they were so good I may add them in the batter next time. I baked the cake two days in advance, frosted it one and I think the taste improved while waiting! I have baked pumpkin cakes before, but this is, by far, the best! Thanks for posting.

 

[jamiekelleygarcia]

The cake is one of the best from scratch recipes I've tried. The frosting is good but my orange was really ripe and strong and it overpowered the frosting. Next time I would add the zest, taste, then add more if I needed. I put little brach's pumpkins on top to decorate and the kids loved them!

 

[Kittencalrecipezazz]

Kitty we loved this cake, I had fresh frozen pumpkin in my freezer calling out to use and I'm delighted to have chosen this great cake recipe, the only change I made was I used 2 teaspoons maple extract in place of the vanilla, the frosting took this cake to yet another level, thanks for this great pumpkin cake recipe!