Pumpkin Spice Cake with Salted Caramel Drizzle
If there is one thing I want to be known for amongst my family friends, it’s cake-making, and i feel like 2019 has been my year to get serious about slaying layer cakes. I’m talking turn out some layer cakes that you want to take a picture of & put on your Insta. Good because it has given me moments of immense pride, and bad in the sense that it’s definitely resulted in an increased amount of cake calories consumed. & now I seek out opportunities to make a good cake. So when a friends birthday came around, and time set aside to celebrate her coincided with my own budding sweet tooth - she was totally getting a cake for her birthday. & for my Halloween born friend, a Pumpkin Spice Cake with Salted Caramel Drizzle seemed like the perfect Fall bake.
This cake was real good for two reasons. No. 1 - cream cheese frosting. I mean truly - is there a better frosting? It’s the frosting that is spoon licking, make sure you scrape every last bit of it out of the bowl good. I purposely dial down the sugar in my cream cheese frosting to keep it tangy & cream cheese-y instead of super sweet. But frosting isn’t a freakin’ science. You want more sugar in your frosting - add it! But having an element in that isn’t loaded with sugar things balanced in this cake, because ya - it’s a sweet cake. The cake is moist from the pumpkin and in this case - pumpkin and cream cheese is a dreamy littler dessert. The cake is moist from the pumpkin & yes - pretty sweet. So a frosting that cuts the sweetness is a really nice combo.
Home made caramel - need I say more. That’s secret No. 2 behind this very successful cake. I always see them making caramel on the Great British Baking Show - just putting straight granulated sugar in a saucepan and letting it go. & a lot of seeing them squirm when it goes from perfect to burnt in a matter of seconds. I guess watching them do it has given me a concept that caramel is a finicky bitch, and maybe more trouble than it’s worth. But no - it’s so simple, and really fun to make. & a pretty fun science experiment to see take place in front of your eyes. Sugar & water over medium heat will go from pure white to an amber color in a few minutes, and when you remove it from the heat is when the real excitement starts. Adding in butter and cream to the while, again, not over heat, makes the mixture go totally nuts. It bubbles up, gets whisked together, and becomes silky smooth & perfect caramel.
You get salty, sweet, sticky, and creamy all in one cake, and a little crunch from nuts right on top (which also help to break up the sweetness). & I made the cake for a friend, but lord knows I had to save a little for myself to satisfy my never ending sweet tooth. I mean who gifts a cake without taste testing it? Someone with more willpower than me, and & I’m glad I did because it’s damn good. Like dig in & try not to eat half the cake in an entire sitting because I definitely had two slices & had zero regrets. I mean my friends spouse said that he’s going to dress up as this cake next year, and never did I ever think one of my bakes would inspire a Halloween costume.
But I think the thing I’ll remember most from taking the time to make this bake, more than someone telling me they’re going to dress up as it, was the joy it brought to a sweet friend, and the sweet text she sent me letting her know that her day was shit & that this was a happy surprise. Getting a message like that was really the highlight, because knowing that a simple act of kindness can unexpectedly be a real pick me up for a dear friend is a warm & fuzzy feeling. & I wanted her to feel so loved via a birthday cake delivery. Little does she know, I needed a sec to calm down and inevitably take a few minutes for myself to re-connect to my life in a positive way, and diving into maker her a Fall cake was my self-case. So baking this cake was a pick me up for me, too, and again a reminder that homemade bakes can be a treat that successfully show love for the nearest and dearest in a really sweet way.
For the cake
2 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. canola oil
1 tbsp + 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 c. almond milk
1 - 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
For the frosting
16-ounces cream cheese
3 tbsp butter, softended and cut into cubes
1 c. powdered sugar
dash of vanilla
For the salted caramel
1 c. sugar
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp butter
3/4 c. heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat the oven to 350. Trace your cake pans on parchment paper, and cut out 3 circles of parchment to place in the bottom of your cake pans. Grease & flour 3 9-inch cakes pans, and place the parchment paper disks on the bottom of each pan.
Mix together the oil & sugar in a large bowl. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and salt, whisking for several minutes so the mixtures is super smooth. Whisk in half of the flour, the baking powder, & baking soda, whisking until well incorporated. Whisk in the almond milk, and then the reminder of the flour, continuing to whisk until it’s a perfectly smooth mixture. Last step is to whisk in the pumpkin, making sure there are no clumps in the batter.
Separate the batter evenly among the 3 cake pans. Bake the cakes for 20-25 minutes. After they’ve baked, let them sit to cool in the pan for about 10-15 minutes, and then remove the cakes from the hot pan. Let them cool on a rack for another 3 hours.
To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese and the butter until it’s light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and sugar, and beat on medium speed for another 2-3 minutes. Assemble the cake by placing the base layer on a cake board, spread a thin layer of cream cheese frosting on top, and top with the second layer. Repeat the process & top with the third cake. Use the rest of the frosting to dirty ice the cake. Place a large dollop the frosting on the frosting, spreading across the top and then pushing it down the side of the cake. Use a bench scraper or cake scraper to pull the frosting around the sides of the cake - spin the cake and old the scraper at an angle along the side of cake to get a thin layer around all edges of the cake. You should end up with a thicker layer on top of the cake, and a thin layer on the sides - thin enough that the cakes a semi-exposed. Place the cake in the fridge for at least 45 minutes to an hour.
Place the sugar and 2 tbsp water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Don’t stir the sugar. Instead, swirl the pan as the sugar heats up, and the whole thing will liquify. Watch the pan carefully, and as soon as the sugar turn a dark amber color, immediately remove the pan from the heat. Add in the butter and the cream, and sugar will immediately start bubbling. Whisk immediately, and all the ingredients will combine perfectly. Let the caramel cool for about 15 minutes.
Remove the cake from the fridge, and just drizzle the caramel over the top, letting it drip down the sides. Place the cake back in fridge for another 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle nuts over the top for texture, and garnish with a couple sprigs of rosemary or other fresh herbs.