Pumpkin Spice-Latte Cake with Maple Buttercream

The rich flavor of pumpkin spice latte beverage in a cake makes it a  pumpkin spice-latte cake. Combine with a maple buttercream frosting this cake is a perfect fall dessert you’ve been craving for. Oil-based cake batter makes for a light and airy cake infused with warm spices, coffee, and maple syrup.  Rich decadent and perfect for a celebration or festive dessert. Topped with fondant pumpkins this cake is ready to be placed as the centerpiece for your next festive family dinner. 

Ultimate Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake, Maple Buttercream Frosting, Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Spice Cake.

Three years ago I had a customer request me to make a pumpkin spice-latte cake. At first, I was confused about what’s a pumpkin spice-latte cake. I’ve made pumpkin spice cake for years but what’s a pumpkin spice latte cake? Of course, my American husband told me all about the famous Starbucks Pumpkin Spice-latte. It was an interesting new flavor for me. 

So I took my favorite pumpkin cake which already had pumpkin spice and pumpkin puree in it and I added a dash of coffee powder to it. Voila!! Pumpkin Spice-Latte cake. The customer was so thrilled. She said it was the best pumpkin-spice cake she ever had.

Three Pumpkin Layer Cakes

I shared a few pumpkin fall-inspired recipes with you the last year and quite a few this year. Including three layer cakes. 

The pumpkin spice latte with maple syrup is to die for. The pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese is full of wonderful spices and just melts in your mouth with the cream cheese. The pumpkin cream cake is a variation on the vanilla cream cake which is not just popular on the blog but also among family and friends. It actually has fresh cream in it. So, the flavor is luxurious and its frosted with more whipped cream buttercream. Need I say more. 

Pumpkin Spice cake, Pumpkin spice latte cake, Pumpkin Cream cake, Pumpkin cakes.

About this cake

This week I made both cakes my Pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting and this pumpkin spice-latte cake with my maple buttercream frosting. I took it with me to a family gathering and the verdict is that they liked both. I’d love to know from you which of these two are your favorites. 

Now, I must admit that my spice-latte cake has a touch of coffee so it’s not overly coffee flavored. I wanted to make sure the maple flavor does not get lost with the coffee. The truth is that both these cakes are very different in flavors as well as in texture and process.

My pumpkin spice cake is butter-based and uses all white sugar. It has no coffee of course but a tad more of the pumpkin spice. I frost it with a no-butter cream cheese frosting or sometimes with Swiss Meringue buttercream.  My pumpkin spice latte is oil-based with half white and half brown sugar. The coffee flavor is subtle but it’s there.  Today, I have frosted it with maple buttercream frosting but I have tried it with coffee as well as caramel buttercream. I don’t know if it’s just me but I love the combination of pumpkin spice with caramel. If you haven’t tired you absolutely must. 

Ultimate Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake, Maple Buttercream Frosting, Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Spice Cake.

Ultimate Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake, Maple Buttercream Frosting, Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Spice Cake.

Pumpkin Spice-Latte Cake with Maple Buttercream (Save/Pin) 

Useful Tips and Tools 

• If you bake often, it would be a good idea to invest in a cake mixer. Because often we try to mix by hand and then we are too tired to give it enough creaming or mixing. So, if you are making this cake go head and remove that K-Mix or Kitchen Aid from your kitchen cabinet.You don’t have to buy an expensive stand mixer, a simple hand mixer works great too.
• Having said that, a simple Bowl, whisk and Spatula with a little extra effort will do the trick too. 
• Personally, I believe in weighing ingredients by weight, which makes my kitchen scaleone of the most valuable items when baking.
• The same goes for mymeasuring cups and measuring spoons. It’s always a good idea to have these handy and use them when baking rather than trying to guess measurements.
• I think one set of baking pans is a must for anyone a home baker. Personally, I like to bake three layers rather than torte my cakes and it bakes faster too. For most of my layer cake recipes on this blog I use 3 x 6-inch round pans or 2 x 8-inch round pans. 
• Once baked always invert your cakes on a cooling rack. This encourages air circulation and prevents the steam from pooling at the bottom of the pan.
• Every oven works differently. So the baking times are just guidelines. In the case of cakes, a skewer inserted in the center is a great indication. If the cake bakes too quick or too slow compared to the time given it might be a good idea to check if your oven needs calibration. An oven thermometer is a great little gadget to help keep the oven temperature in check. All you need to do then is adjust the temperature accordingly

Ultimate Pumpkin Spice latte Cake, Maple Buttercream Frosting, Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Spice Cake.

Ingredients 

For the cake 

• 320 grams All-Purpose Flour  (2 1/2 cups)
• 150 grams White Sugar (3/4 cup)
• 160 grams Brown Sugar (3/4 cup)
• 190 ml  Cooking Oil (3/4 cup)
• 120 ml Pumpkin Puree (1/2 cup
• 3 large Eggs
• 120 ml Buttermilk  (1/2 cup) 
• 1 tsp Pumpkin Spice
• 1/2 tsp instant coffee powder
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp Vanilla 

For the Simple Syrup 

• 50 grams sugar
• 1 cup water

For the Maple Buttercream

• 342 grams Unsalted Butter (1 1/2 cups)
• 600 grams Powdered Sugar (5 cups)
• 80 ml Maple Syrup (1/3 cup)
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp Maple extract 
• 2 drops Maple edible gel-food color (optional – I do not use it) 

Decorations (optional) 

• 100 grams orange fondant
• 50 grams green fondant 
• and 50 grams brown fondant 

Method 

Prepare cake 

• Preheat the oven to 170 C/ 340 F 
• Grease and line 3 x 6-inch round cake pans or 2 x 8-inch round cake pans 
• Combine flour with baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin spice, Coffee powder, and salt – set aside.
• Whip the eggs with both sugars until light and foamy.
• Add oil and whip a minute more.
• Then add the pumpkin puree, buttermilk, and vanilla.
• Lastly, add the flour mixture – combine well. 
• Divide equally between the prepared baking pans
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes clean. 
• Cool on a wire rack completely before you decorate. 

Prepare Maple Buttercream

• Cream butter until smooth
• Add the salt, vanilla and maple syrup
• Gradually add the powdered sugar while continuing to mix. 
• Once all the powdered sugar has been added continue to whip the buttercream until light and fluffy
• It will become whiter but also light and airy like whipped cream. 
• If you want a maple color, you will need to add a food gel color. Because maple syrup does not have any color. 

Prepare simple syrup

• Boil the sugar and water for two more minutes after all the sugar has dissolved 
• Set aside to cool completely. 

Assemble 

• Once cooled, cut the domes off the cake layers 
• Brush each layer with the cooled simple syrup
• Place a cake layer on the cake board or cake stand.
• Top with a big dollop of maple buttercream – spread evenly. 
• Then top the second cake layer on top followed by buttercream and the last layer. 
• Place the cake in the fridge if necessary so the layers hold together. 
• Spread the remaining buttercream around and top of the cake. 
• Create a rustic buttercream look by simply swirling the buttercream as shown in the video. 

Ultimate Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake, Maple Buttercream Frosting, Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Spice Cake.

Decorate

• I’ve used fondant pumpkin on this cake. I’ve shown you how to make these in this video here.
• Alternatively, you can pipe remaining maple buttercream on the top with a drizzle of maple syrup 
• Enjoy!

Ultimate Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake, Maple Buttercream Frosting, Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Spice Cake.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake with Maple Buttercream Frosting

The rich flavor of pumpkin spice latte beverage in a cake makes it a  pumpkin spice-latte cake. Combine with a maple buttercream frosting this cake is a perfect fall dessert you've been craving for. Oil-based cake batter makes for a light and airy cake infused with warm spices, coffee, and maple syrup.  Rich decadent and perfect for a celebration or festive dessert. Topped with fondant pumpkins this cake is ready to be placed as the centerpiece for your next festive family dinner. 

5 from 21 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Layer cake, Maple, Pumpkin, Pumpkin Puree, Pumpkin Spice, Pumpkin Spice Latte

Adjust Servings Here: 18 Servings

Calories: 503kcal

Author: Veena Azmanov

Prep Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Cook Time: 35 mins

Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins

Ingredients

For the cake

• 320 grams All-Purpose Flour 
• 150 grams White Sugar
• 160 grams Brown Sugar
• 3 Eggs
• 190 ml  Cooking Oil
• 120 ml Pumpkin Puree
• 120 ml Buttermilk 
• 1 tsp  Pumpkin Spice
• 1/2 tsp Coffee Powder instant
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 1/2 tsp  Baking soda
• 1/4 tsp  salt
• 2 tsp Vanilla

For the Simple Syrup

• 50 grams sugar
• 250 ml water

For the Maple Buttercream

• 342 grams Unsalted Butter
• 600 grams Powdered Sugar
• 80 ml Maple Syrup
• 2 tsp  Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp  Maple extract
• 2 drops gel-food color optional

Decorations (optional)

• 100 grams Orange fondant
• 50 grams green fondant
• 50 grams brown fondant

Metric - US customary

Instructions

Prepare cake

• Preheat the oven to 170 C/ 340 F
• Grease and line 3 x 6-inch round cake pans or 2 x 8-inch round cake pans
• Combine flour with baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin spice, and salt - set aside.
• Whip the eggs with both sugars until light and foamy.
• Add oil and whip a minute more.
• Then add the pumpkin puree, buttermilk, and vanilla.
• Lastly, add the flour mixture - combine well.
• Divide equally between the prepared baking pans
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes clean.
• Cool on a wire rack completely before you decorate.

Prepare Maple Buttercream

• Cream butter until smooth
• Add the salt, vanilla and maple syrup
• Gradually add the powdered sugar while continuing to mix.
• Once all the powdered sugar has been added continue to whip the buttercream until light and fluffy
• It will become whiter but also light and airy like whipped cream.
• If you want a maple color, you will need to add a food gel color. Because maple syrup does not have any color.

Prepare simple syrup

• Boil the sugar and water for two more minutes after all the sugar has dissolved
• Set aside to cool completely.

Assemble

• Once cooled, cut the domes off the cake layers
• Brush each layer with the cooled simple syrup
• Place a cake layer on the cake board or cake stand.
• Top with a big dollop of maple buttercream - spread evenly.
• Top the second cake layer on top followed by buttercream and the last layer.
• Place the cake in the fridge if necessary so the layers hold together.
• Spread the remaining buttercream around and top of the cake.
• Create a rustic buttercream look by simply swirling the buttercream as shown in the video. 

Decorate

• I've used fondant pumpkin on this cake. I've shown you how to make these in this video here.
• Alternatively, you can pipe remaining maple buttercream on the top with a drizzle of maple syrup
• Enjoy!

Detailed Video on YouTube - Subscribe for more videos

Nutrition Information

Calories: 503kcal | Carbohydrates: 70g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 84mg | Potassium: 124mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 52g | Vitamin A: 30.5% | Vitamin C: 0.4% | Calcium: 5.5% | Iron: 6.1%

Tried this recipe?Mention @veenaazmanov or tag #veenaazmanov!

Pumpkin Recipes

Celebrate this fall season with pumpkin-inspired recipes from simple and easy pumpkin cupcakes and donuts to exotic pumpkin creme brûlée and pumpkin souffle. You find it all here whether you are looking for a family meal or entertaining with guests.

Easy pumpkin inspired recipes, Collection of pumpkin desserts, pumpkin soups.