Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake
Celebrate PSL season with this pumpkin spice latte cake! Soft & fluffy pumpkin cake layers topped with espresso & pumpkin spice frosting.
Servings: 12 slices
Equipment
- 2 8-inch cake pans
- Bowls
- Whisk
- Rubber Spatula
- Parchment Paper
- Hand Mixer
- Measuring Spoons
Ingredients
Pumpkin Spice Cake
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ tablespoons Pumpkin pie spice
- ½ cup neutral oil
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup buttermilk room temperature
- 1 cup Light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
Pumpkin Spice Latte Frosting
- 2 sticks unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons espresso powder
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350 and grease and line two 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, canned pumpkin, buttermilk, vanilla extract, eggs, and oil.½ cup neutral oil, 2 large eggs, ½ cup buttermilk, 1 cup Light brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar, 1 cup pumpkin puree, 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
- Add the pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, baking powder and flour. Stir until just combined.2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoon Baking powder, 1 teaspoon Baking soda, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 ½ tablespoons Pumpkin pie spice
- Pour evenly into the prepared baking pans.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before removing from the cake pans and cooling completely on a wire cooling rack.
Frosting
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and confectioners' sugar together on low speed until well combined.2 sticks unsalted butter, 3 cups confectioners' sugar
- Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 2 minutes until it becomes very thick. I recommend stopping the mixer and scraping the sides of the bowl so everything is getting mixed evenly.
- Stop the mixer and add the salt, vanilla, pumpkin spice, and espresso into the bowl. Beat on medium-high speed for another 2 minutes.1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, 2 teaspoons espresso powder, 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
- Turn the mixer to your lowest speed and pour in the heavy cream. Beat until it becomes very creamy and spreadable.¼ cup heavy cream
- Assemble your cake and enjoy!
Notes
My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. I have provided a conversion to US cups but please note that I haven’t tested the recipe with this method. Just click on ‘US Customary’ above the ingredients to see the cup measurements.
I make sure that all of my ingredients are at room temperature before I start the recipe, so pull out all of the ingredients before you start baking.
Butter: I use European-style butter in my recipes. This will make your frosting much creamier and richer.
Pumpkin: you want to use 100% pure pumpkin puree in a can, and not pumpkin pie filling.
Salt: If you don’t have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt.
Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, replace it with an equal amount of sour cream or full fat yogurt. You can also make your buttermilk, for every cup of buttermilk add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to 1 cup of milk and let sit for 5 minutes.
Vegetable Oil: Use an unflavoured oil like canola oil if you don’t have vegetable oil.
Storage: Keep tightly wrapped in the fridge for up to 5 days. Let it come to room temperature before eating.
Espresso Powder: make sure you're using fine espresso powder and not coffee granules, that'll be too gritty in the frosting.
Making Ahead: You can make the cake layers ahead of time. Bake them and then once completely cooled, wrap in plastic wrap tightly. Store in the fridge for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. If frozen, allow to defrost and come to room temperature before frosting the cake. 