Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake with Maple Buttercream

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The rich flavor of pumpkin spice latte beverage in a cake makes it a pumpkin spice-latte cake. Combined with a maple buttercream frosting this cake is a perfect fall dessert. Oil-based cake batter makes for a light and airy cake infused with pumpkin spice mix, coffee, and maple syrup. 

A few 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 took my favorite pumpkin cake which had my pumpkin spice mix and pumpkin puree and added some wonderful rich coffee for that latte flavor. The customer was so pleased and said it was the best pumpkin-spice latte cake she ever had. Since then it has become of our family favorites every year.

About this cake

This pumpkin spice latte cake is an oil-based cake with both white and brown sugar. The oil keeps the cake moist, yet light and airy. The brown sugar adds a hint of caramel flavor from the molasses which enhances the flavor of both the coffee as well as the pumpkin spice mix. The buttermilk gives a nice soft and tender crumb too. Topped with fondant pumpkins this cake is ready to be placed as the centerpiece for your next celebratory family dinner.

 Today, I have frosted it with maple buttercream frosting but this would go well with a few other options as well. My personal favorite is of course my no-butter cream cheese frosting. If you like coffeed you can enhance the flavor by using a coffee buttercream. Alternatively, you can also try eggnog buttercream, Swiss or Italian meringue. The options for frosting are endless, see all my over 30 buttercream frosting recipes

The timeline for the cake is pretty straight forward too.

• Prepare cake batter - 10 minutes
• Bake cake - 25 minutes
• Chill cake - 4 hours at least (preferably overnight)
• Prepare frosting - 15 minutes
• Crumb coat cake - 15 minutes
• Chill cake - 15 minutes
• Second coat - 15 minutes
• Chill cake - 15 minutes
• Final smoothing - 15 minutes
• Finishing touches
• If you plan to make the pumpkins - add an additional 15 minutes.

Ingredients and substitutes

• All-purpose flour - Plain all-purpose flour works great for this recipe. You do not need any cake or self-rising flour. If you have only self-raising flour on hand use it but reduce the baking powder by half.
• Sugar - I have used both white and brown sugars. These add flavor and texture to the cake. The color and hint of molasses from the brown sugar enhance the flavor of the pumpkin spice.
• Pumpkin Spice is a blend of warm spices. Pumpkin spice is readily available from most supermarkets these days, but you can make your own with spices you probably already have in your kitchen. You can find my recipe for pumpkin spice mix here.
• Vanilla extract - A good quality vanilla extract goes a long way in enhancing the flavor of your baked goods.
• Maple syrup - This is an expensive ingredient but one that will add so much flavor to your buttercream. I prefer a good quality maple syrup. You may choose to use ¼ tsp maple extract to enhance the flavor of maple as well.
• Coffee Powder - I used instant coffee powder, but you can use regular coffee powder or instant espresso powder.

Video and step by step instructions (save/pin)

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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
• Dry ingredients - Combine flour with baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin spice, and salt - set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment - whip the eggs with both sugars until light and foamy - ribbon stage
• Gradually add the oil while continuously whipping
• Then add the pumpkin puree, buttermilk, and vanilla extract

• Lastly, add the flour mixture - combine well but do not overmix
• Divide equally between the prepared baking pans
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes clean.
• Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then invert on a cooling rack and cool completely. At least a few hours.

Maple buttercream

• In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream butter until smooth
• Add the salt, vanilla extract, and maple syrup
• Gradually add the powdered sugar one cup at a time
• Once all the powdered sugar has been added continue to whip the buttercream until light and fluffy - about 2 to 3 minutes.
• It will become whiter but also light and airy like whipped cream.
• If you want a maple color, you will need to add an Ivory food gel color because maple syrup does not add any color to buttercream or cakes.

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, use a bread knife and 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 with a straight-edge spatula
• Top the second cake layer on top followed by more buttercream and the last layer.
• Place the cake in the fridge for 15 minutes this will prevent the layers from moving while you frost the outside of the cake.
• 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. 

• I've used fondant pumpkin on this cake. I've shown you how to make these in the video above.
• Alternatively, you can put the remaining maple buttercream in a piping bag with a star piping tip and pipe some borders or swirls.
• This cake will stay at room temperature for a day, and in the fridge for 4 to 5 days

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Frequently asked questions

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