There’s something about pumpkin and maple that immediately puts me in the holiday spirit. This pumpkin cake is topped with a spiced maple buttercream to marry all the flavors of the colder months and give you all the comfort you need!

Makes a two layer 9-inch cake, serves around 8-10 people

Ingredients:

  For the cake:

1 Cup (200g) Granulated Sugar

1 ¾ Cup (225g) Cake Flour

1 ½ Tsp (2g) Baking Powder

½ Tsp (1g) Baking Soda

½ Tsp (2g) Salt

2 Tsp (7g) Ground Cinnamon

1 ½ Tsp (5g) Ground Ginger

¾ Tsp (2g) Ground Nutmeg

¼ Tsp Ground Cloves 

4 Tbs (57g) Softened Unsalted Butter

¼ Cup (60mL) Vegetable Oil

2 Large Eggs, Room Temperature 

2 Tsp (8g) Vanilla Extract

2/3 Cup (162g) Pumpkin Puree 

1 Cup (240mL) Buttermilk, Room Temperature 

  For the Buttercream

1 ¼ Cups (283g) Softened Unsalted Butter

¼ Tsp (1g) Salt

2 Tsp (8g) Vanilla Extract

½ Tsp (1g) Ground Cinnamon

¼ Tsp Ground Nutmeg 

¼ Cup Maple Syrup

2 ½ Cups (325g) Confectioner’s Sugar

Directions:

1.     Preheat your oven to 350 Degrees F (180C) and grease two 9-inch round cake pans with cooking spray, line with parchment, and spray again. 

2.     In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves with a whisk until well mixed. 

3.     Add the butter and beat until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then add the oil, eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla and mix until combined. 

4.     Add the buttermilk and mix on a low speed until the batter just comes together, don’t overmix. Evenly pour the batter into the cake pans and bake for 20-25 minutes, until they spring back when lightly touched or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 

5.     Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.  

6.     For the frosting, beat the butter on high speed for a few minutes until very light, then add the vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup, and salt and beat again until combined. 

7.     Add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time, mixing in each addition before adding the next. Stop adding sugar when the frosting is your desired level of sweetness. 

8.     To assemble the cake, lay one of the layers of cake down on a plate or turntable if you have one, spread ½ cup of frosting evenly on it, place the other layer of cake on top of it, with the flat bottom side facing upwards for a neater look, then evenly spread the rest of the frosting all over the top and sides. 

-       You can make some extra frosting if you want to decorate the cake and make it look more festive!

-       Store covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.