Welcome fall with this coffeehouse-inspired cake! Pumpkin Spice Latte Layer Cake combines rich pumpkin cake with coffee buttercream and a decadent drizzle of caramel for the ultimate autumnal treat.
Yep, you read that right. I went there. I took every white girl's all-time favorite fall drink and turned it into a cake! This Pumpkin Spice Latte Layer Cake features dense spiced pumpkin cake, covered in coffee buttercream, and slathered in caramel. The caramel component is not quite true-to-Starbucks, but it was so pretty that I just couldn't resist! Also, I've been wanting to make a drip cake forever, and this particular cake was just too perfect for the occasion. As a result...PSL! In cake form! Let's make it!
So, I have a confession to make. While I do love basically anything with pumpkin in it {from cookies to pie to soup to hot chocolate}, I do not love PSLs. I KNOW. I know. I've tried! I feel like I really used to like them. And then last year I had one and it just tasted... well, not good. So I'm not sure if it was just the particular store I got my pumpkin spice latte at or what, but that hasn't really made me want to spend another $4.50 just to see if it was a fluke. Sigh. BUT, coffee and pumpkin are two of my favorite things, so this pumpkin spice latte layer cake was really just another of my evil genius ideas waiting to come to fruition.
I also have another confession. I know what you're thinking, like, dang Valentina, is this confession time or something? But I promise you'll find it funny. So as y'all know, I've been in PA school for like... about 4 months now. And every month, we have a class party to celebrate everyone's birthday in that month. Every time we've had one, because it's PA school and we are all literally always studying, I've just whipped up a bundt cake or a pan of brownies and called it a day.
But okay, let's be honest. While all my classmates know I'm a food blogger and most of them see my stuff on Facebook, I felt like a fraud because the stuff they got was always last-minute, half-rushed, kind-of-half-assed stuff. SO I figured this pumpkin spice latte layer cake was a great way to kill two birds with one stone! Make a fancy cake for the blog, AND prove to my classmates that I'm not a faker and I really do know how to make nice cakes, thank-you-very-much. 😉
{click HERE for my homemade caramel recipe!}
pumpkin spice latte layer cake
Ingredients
- *for the cake*
- 1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoon pumpkin spice mix
- 1¼ cups white sugar
- ¾ cups brown sugar
- ½ cup {1 stick} unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon espresso powder
- ½ cups whole milk
- pinch of salt
- *for the frosting*
- 1 cup {2 sticks} unsalted butter softened
- 4 oz. cream cheese
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoon milk
- 1 tablespoon espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of salt
- *for topping*
- homemade caramel {find link to recipe above}
- sprinkles
Instructions
- First, make the cakes. Heat the oven to 350F, and grease & flour 3 8-inch cake pans {or 4 6-inch pans}.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Mix in the oil. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating until each addition, and finally stir in the vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree and milk until smooth.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, espresso powder, and pumpkin spice.
- Add half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, and mix until combined. Add in the pumpkin mixture and mix again, then add in the remaining dry ingredients.
- Divide the cake batter evenly among the prepared cake pans, and bake for 30-35 minutes for 8-inch pans, or 40-45 minutes for 6-inch pans.
- Let cakes cool slightly, then remove from pans and let cool completely before frosting.
- While the cakes cool off, make the frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy.
- Add in the vanilla, salt, and espresso powder.
- Add in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until smooth and well-incorporated. Finally, add in the milk.
- When ready to assemble, place a small dollop of frosting on a cake board or the cake stand you will be working on. Place one of the cakes on it, and top with some frosting. Place the second cake on top, put more frosting, and top with the final cake. For a smooth, pretty top, place the last cake upside down so that the part that sat on the bottom of the cake pan will be the top of the cake.
- Finish frosting as desired, saving a little bit of frosting for decorating the top. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before decorating. The caramel will have to be a little warm to pour easily and you don't want the frosting sliding off!
- Finally, top the cake with the caramel, pipe some decorations with the frosting you set aside earlier, and top the whole thing with sprinkles and a dash of cinnamon. Enjoy!
Ashley says
I'm making this for my birthday this weekend! But, I'm going to cheat and use a box mix for the cake. . .the icing is the best part anyway! Do you have a favorite box mix, or any hacks to make them better?
valentina says
Totally agree that the icing is the best part! I actually made this cake again as a bundt cake (without the frosting) and I will tell you alllll the coffee flavor comes from the frosting 😉 For box mixes, I usually go with Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines. Some hacks to make them even better are: use milk instead of water, use melted butter instead of oil, add a pinch of salt (those mixes are always way too sweet!), and if you want a richer/sturdier cake, you can even add an extra egg! 🙂 Happy baking!!
Tom says
Hello Valentina,
Making the Pumpkin Spice Latte Layer Cake this weekend. One suggestion is to give the size of the can of pumpkin purée. The grocery store I shop at carries two sizes. I went with the small size and it worked out perfectly. The color of the frosting in the picture is white or beige. The color of the frosting came out more tan or cafe au lait. Not a problem, it tastes delicious. I used King Authur espresso powder which is very strong. Again the flavor is delicious and I'm not complaining just giving some feedback. I doubled the icing recipe, sliced each of the cakes in half to come up with 6 layers of cake and icing. As Ashley mentioned, the icing is the best part! I'm sure the cake is going to be well received. Thank you for the recipe. You decorated the cake beautifully with the dripping caramel and the beautiful garnish on top. My wife is a PA. I know how hard the PA programs are. After Watching my wife go through the PA program, and seeing how difficult it was gave me a new respect for the medical profession.
valentina says
Hi Tom! Thank you so much for the feedback and the kind words! I did add the can size to the recipe as suggested. That's awesome that your wife is a PA! It's a profession that is gaining some serious traction but it's surprising to see how many people still don't know what a PA is. Thanks for stopping by and I hope y'all enjoy the cake!
Jessica Haney says
Hi, I just came across your recipe and Im so excited to try it out. I was curious about the density of the cake and how well it holds up stacked? I typically only do two layers with pumpkin cakes but was really hoping to do three. Thanks!
valentina says
Hi Jessica! This cake is fairly dense so I don't think you should have any issues with stacking it 3-high. I would make sure you let the cake chill at least overnight before stacking so it is nice and solid, less likely to crumble in that case!! Let me know how it turns out!