Pumpkin Layer Cake
Ingredients:
- 2 ¾ cups flour
- 2 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cans (12 oz) canned pumpkin puree
- 1 cup buttermilk
Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 8oz bricks of cream cheese, softened
- 8 cups icing (powdered) sugar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- Blue, orange, and brown food color gels to tint cream cheese buttercream icing
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Spray two 9-inch round pans with baking spray and place a circle of parchment paper into the bottom of each pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices, then set aside.
In a large bowl, with a handheld mixer or a standing mixer, whip butter on high until it’s light and fluffy. Add in brown sugar and white sugar, mixing at medium high for at least two minutes, scrapping from sides as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, and mix thoroughly after adding each one. Add the pumpkin puree and vanilla and beat for two minutes on medium high. Batter looks curdled but comes together at next step.
With mixer on low speed, add in the whisked dry ingredients and beat until combined. Add buttermilk and mix until well combined, ensuring there are no lumps. Batter will be thick but pourable.
Pour evenly between two pans and bake for 35-40 minutes, depending on oven. Ensure that either a toothpick or fork comes out clean when inserted in center of cakes. Cool the cake for five minutes before removing and continue cooling on rack or flat surface.
Cream Cheese Buttercream
In a large bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Turn handheld mixer or standing mixer to low, and add icing sugar one cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each cup. Then add the vanilla and mix on low for a minute.
Once the pumpkin cake layers are cooled completely, fill and frost with cream cheese buttercream. Divide the leftover icing into four small bowls and color each with food gels, leaving one uncolored. Then pipe your white, blue, orange, and brown pumpkins onto top of the cake.
If you’d like, you can sprinkle toasted graham cracker crumbs on top and on sides of the cake or you can prepare a muffin size pan, fill 2/3 with pumpkin cake mix and bake (half the time). Once it’s cooled completely, crumble and decorate top and sides. Enjoy!