These past few months have been crazy. Between the demands of the holiday season coming up and working on a never-ending list of house projects, I am feeling perpetually frazzled these days. Despite the chaos, I thought a little recipe creating sesh would be perfect for me because baking does something good to my soul. I was right. I put on some Springsteen and decided to try my hand at creating the perfect pumpkin layer cake. Five rounds of bakes and a handful of albums later, I am so thrilled with how this Pumpkin Layer Cake turned out.

I tried baking this recipe with all purpose flour vs. cake flour, with buttermilk vs. whole milk, with just white sugar vs. a combination of white and brown sugars. In the end, the winners were cake flour, buttermilk, and the white and brown sugar combo. It’s deliciously moist because of the buttermilk, totally fluffy from the cake flour, and the combination of sweetness and spice is divine. Just look at this crumb: 

The pumpkin flavor of this cake comes from canned, pureed pumpkin and a medley of beautiful spices: cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ground ginger. It’s so classic to pair this pumpkin layer cake with cream cheese buttercream, and in my opinion the flavor combo never gets old. I bet it would taste amazing with my spiced chai vanilla buttercream too if you want to get really autumnal (imagine a pumpkin spiced chai latte but in cake form!). 

The cream cheese buttercream recipe you’ll find below is sturdy and pipe-able without being overly sweet, which is why it’s my forever go-to. I colored some of it with Americolor Orange and Wedgewood and used Wilton Tips 8B and 4B to pipe those cute little pumpkins on top. Probably the easiest way to create buttercream pumpkins, ever. I piped them into a crescent moon shape because it gives me all the feels, but you do you. 

I decided to repurpose some of the pumpkin cake scraps into toasted cake crumbs that I pressed onto the sides of the cake and sprinkled around the piped pumpkins on top. It adds a great texture and I always feel good about finding a way to use leftover cake! I just crumbled the cake scraps into a pan and toasted them on the stovetop for about 10 minutes, stirring them frequently until they began to crisp. You can toast cake crumbs in the oven as well, but it takes almost an hour at a low temp, and I was impatient (hence the stovetop). Just be sure to let them cool completely before you use them on your cake and you’re good to go!

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Perfect Pumpkin Layer Cake

A Fall classic. Layers of moist, fluffy Pumpkin cake with just the right amount of spice, filled and frosted with tasty cream cheese buttercream.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

Pumpkin Layer Cake

• 2 3/4 Cups (290g) cake flour, sifted before measuring
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 Cup (140g) packed brown sugar
• 1 Cup (205g) white granulated sugar
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 Cups (12 oz) canned pumpkin puree
• 1 Cup (240ml) full fat buttermilk DIY recipe in notes below

Cream Cheese Buttercream

• 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 16 Oz cream cheese, room temperature brick-style, not the spreadable kind
• 8 Cup (960g) powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

Make The Pumpkin Layer Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prepare three 6-inch or two 9-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with cooking spray and placing a wax or parchment paper circle into the bottom of each one. Measure the cake flour by spooning into your measuring cup and leveling it. Place it into a medium sized bowl and add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ground ginger. Whisk together and set aside.
• In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), cream the butter on high for two minutes until it's light and fluffy. Add in white and brown sugars and continue to mix on high for another two minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add pumpkin puree and vanilla and mix for one minute on medium-high, scraping down the bowl and paddle once more. 
• With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the buttermilk in a steady stream and mix until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps. Batter will be slightly thick, but pourable.
• Pour batter evenly between the cake pans (fill them no more than ⅔ full) and bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pan for ten minutes before removing and continuing to cool on a wire rack or flat surface.

Make The Cream Cheese Buttercream

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and cream cheese on high until light, fluffy, and uniform (no lumps), about five minutes. Turn the mixer to low and add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add the vanilla and salt, mixing on low for another 30 seconds.

Assembly

• Once the Pumpkin Cake layers have cooled completely, fill and frost the layers with Cream Cheese Buttercream. To create the design pictured, divide the leftover buttercream into four separate bowls. Use food color gel of your choice to create orange buttercream in the first bowl, light blue buttercream in the second, and brown buttercream in the third, keeping the last bowl uncolored. Fit three piping bags with Wilton Tips 8B (for the larger pumpkins) and 4B (for the smaller ones), then fill them with the orange, blue, and white buttercreams. Pipe pumpkins in a crescent moon design on top of the cake, then pipe a dot of brown buttercream on top of each one to look like stems. Finish the cake by pressing toasted cake crumbs** onto the sides and sprinkling them over the top (recipe in the notes below).

Notes

Make Ahead Tips: 

1. The cake layers can be made ahead and stored, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to two days. Alternatively, you can store the wrapped cake layers in the freezer for up to 2 months before thawing and frosting.
2. The Cream Cheese Buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-whip in your stand mixer to bring back to smooth buttercream consistency. 

*DIY Buttermilk Recipe: Add 1 Tbsp white vinegar into a mason jar or measuring cup. Add one cup (240ml) whole milk and let sit for at least 15 minutes before using in a recipe. 

**Toasted Cake Crumbs Recipe:  crumble cake scraps into a frying pan and toast on the stovetop on medium for about 10 minutes, until the cake crumbs begin to crisp. Let them cool completely before using them in your cake decorating.

This pumpkin layer cake recipe is a true crowd pleaser, perfect for any Fall gathering! I hope you love it as much as I do. Let me know what you think in the comments below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram if you post a pic! I love to see what you create.

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It’s officially feeling like Fall around here. Leaves are changing the prettiest colors, the weather’s getting colder, and I just spent the entire weekend wearing cozy sweaters and baking with autumnal flavors! One of my absolute favorite things to bake in the Fall are pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. They’re a seasonal classic, downright delicious, and they make the whole house smell incredible while they’re baking. I’ve been known to bake them and hoard them all to myself, but they also make great party cupcakes (that is, if you’re willing to share!). For all the more festive occasions, this All Hallows sprinkle mix by SprinklePop is perfect!

The All Hallows sprinkle mix features the classic Halloween color palette. There are plenty of orange, black, and white jimmies mixed with metallic silver dragees and rods, plus wafer paper pumpkins and bats to make it extra spooky (but oh so pretty!). These sprinkles are the perfect festive touch for Halloween party cupcakes, cookies, and more:

Let’s talk about the flavors going on underneath all the pretty sprinkles. As far as the cupcakes go, the use of pureed pumpkin (be careful not to use pumpkin pie filling!) makes them so moist and melt-in-your-mouth good. The crumb is fluffy and rich without being too dense from all the added moisture, making them a little dangerous because it’s easy to eat more than one! I’ve spiced the batter with cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg just to up the cozy factor and really take the flavor of the pumpkin to the next level. And I know I said it before, but these cupcakes will make your kitchen smell like heaven!

Cream cheese buttercream is the perfect pairing for pumpkin cupcakes, and while cream cheese frostings tend to be on the soft side, the recipe I use is perfect for piping! It’s decadent and flavorful without being overly sweet, and holds its shape long enough to pipe some pretty designs. I’ve used Wilton Tip 6B to pipe large open stars over the surface of the cupcakes before sprinkling with the All Hallows sprinkle mix.

Since I couldn’t decide whether I wanted a white or orange buttercream backdrop for these sprinkles, I went ahead and tinted some of the cream cheese buttercream with orange food color gel. I actually ended up liking both looks, so I paired them together for all these photos! I’m sure that the All Hallows sprinkle mix would look amazing on any spooky buttercream color palette or piping design. Whatever your Halloween event, these cupcakes will be a sure hit looks-wise and flavor-wise!

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Pumpkin Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Buttercream

Moist and flavorful spiced pumpkin cupcakes topped with decadent cream cheese buttercream that’s the perfect consistency for pretty piping.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 19 minutes

Total Time 39 minutes

Servings 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

Pumpkin Cupcakes

• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour, measured correctly*
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs, room temperature

Cream Cheese Buttercream

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

Make The Pumpkin Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prepare a muffin pan by lining with cupcake tins. *Measure the flour by spooning into your measuring cup and leveling it, then whisk it together with the rest of the dry ingredients and set aside. 
• Cream the butter on high for 1 minute. Add the white and brown sugars and cream on high for another 2 minutes. Add the pumpkin and vanilla and beat for 3 full minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle once in between. Turn the mixer to low and add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. With the mixer still on low, add the dry ingredients until combined. The batter will be thick. 
• Spoon the batter into prepared cupcake tins ⅔ of the way full, then bake for 19 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for five minutes before removing and continuing to cool on a wire rack or flat surface. 

Make The Cream Cheese Buttercream

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and cream cheese on high until light, fluffy, and uniform (no lumps), about five minutes. Turn the mixer to low and add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add the vanilla and salt, mixing on low for another 30 seconds. 

Assembly

• After the cupcakes are fully cooled, prepare a piping bag by fitting with Wilton Tip 6B (or other favorite piping tip) and filling the bag with cream cheese buttercream. I’ve chosen to pipe a few open stars over the surface of each cupcake. Finish by sprinkling with the All Hallows sprinkle mix. 

Notes

Make Ahead Tips: The cupcakes can be made ahead and stored at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap, for up to two days.

The cream cheese buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-whip with your mixer to bring it back to the right consistency.

This cupcake recipe is a Fall staple in my book, and I hope it makes its way into yours. Whether you decorate them for Halloween, make them for another occasion, or hoard them all to yourself (like I do!), they’re guaranteed to please. Happy Fall, y’all!

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