Caramel Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Moist pumpkin cake layers with a fluffy cream cheese frosting and an easy caramel sauce for the ultimate fall cake recipe!
Ingredients
Servings: 10-12
For the Pumpkin Cake Layers:
- BUBBL’R Passion Fruit Mingl’r, for serving
- 1 ¼ cup Canned Pumpkin Puree
- 1 cup Buttermilk
- ½ cup Olive Oil
- 2 large Eggs
- ¾ cup Granulated Cane Sugar
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- ½ cup Apple Cider
- 1 tbsp. Vanilla Extract
- 2 ½ cups All Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp. Pumpkin Spice
- 2 ¼ tsp. Baking Powder
- 1 tsp. Baking Soda
- ½ tsp. Fine Sea Salt
For the Easy Caramel:
- 1 ½ cups Brown Sugar
- ¾ cup Unsalted or Salted Butter
- 6 tbsp. Whole Milk
- (Optional) 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 oz Cream Cheese
- ¾ cup Softened Unsalted Butter
- 1 ½ tsp. Vanilla Extract
- ¼ tsp. Fine Sea Salt
- 4 – 4 ½ cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 tbsp. Milk
Instructions
For the Pumpkin Cake Layers:
- Preheat oven 350F. Grease 3 6” cake pans or 2 9” cake pans with butter, then line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, baking soda, and fine sea salt). Mix well and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the olive oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Beat on HIGH speed for 1 minute.
- Reduce speed to Medium-High, adding the eggs in one-at-a-time to fully incorporate.
- Add the canned pumpkin puree, buttermilk, apple cider, and vanilla. Beat 1-2 minutes.
- Add the flour mixture and mix on LOW speed, just until combined. Don’t over mix the batter!
- Evenly distribute the batter between the prepared cake pans.
- Bake 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
For the Easy Caramel:
- Combine all ingredients into a saucepan over medium high heat. Whisk until sugar is dissolved.
- Bring the mixture to a boil without stirring, about 3-4 minutes.
- Remove from heat and pour into a bowl to completely cool. Do not stir as it cools.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt. Beat until smooth.
- Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and beat on medium speed until incorporated. Add the milk and 2 more cups of powdered sugar. Beat on medium-high speed for 5-6 minutes, until light and fluffy. If needed, add the remaining ½ cup powdered sugar if too thin or add a little milk if too thick.
To Assemble the Cake:
- Between each cake layer, pipe a large circle of frosting along the edge of the cake layer, then a large circle in the center. In the remaining space between the frosting, fill with the cooled caramel. Repeat with the second cake layer.
- Frost the cake as normal with remaining frosting.
- Enjoy with BUBBL’R Passion Fruit Mingl’r for a complimentary refreshment!
Notes: If you plan on decorating as seen in pictures, make 1 ½ servings of the cream cheese frosting. Remove 1 cup to add orange food coloring for the pumpkins, and remove ¼ cup to add brown food coloring for the stems.
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