Pumpkin Layer Cake

...with an orange, cinnamon dairy-free buttercream.

Do I have your attention yet? Maybe this will help:

There we GO! FOLKS. Hey! HI! Howdy!

​I am SO excited that it’s FINALLY October, so I can tell you all about this pumpkin cake I made a few weeks back. There’s a long, emotional backstory to why I made it when I did, but I will save you the details and instead discuss my love for all things pumpkin. 

Here’s the deal. I’m not a huge PSL girl (aside from this one product I found at the store), but when the fall air starts tingling, my tastebuds immediately seek out any pumpkin baked goodie. We usually make chocolate chip pumpkin muffins, but this time around, I wanted to make a CAKE. My new-found love for cake baking sparked my interest in making a fall-spiced, autumn-inspired pumpkin cake with a zesty orange, cinnamon buttercream frosting — all dairy-free of course. 

I stumbled across Sally’s Baking Addiction about a year ago, and every recipe I try from her, she absolutely NAILS the flavor, texture, and technique. So, of course I adapted her pumpkin cake recipe to be dairy free and then added my own buttercream recipe (here) to take it up a notch.

I appreciate pumpkin goodies that actually taste like pumpkin and are properly spiced accordingly. If you tell me something is pumpkin, I'm going to expect that your claim is TRUE and will surpass my expectations...so that said! ON WITH THE GAMES! 

Fam, this is something you will be making throughout the fall season, so get those pantries stocked up with all the pumpkin you got because we are going places with this baby. Also, the cute lil pumpkin guys on top of the cake? Yes. I know you were wondering. No, I didn't make them — I don't have the proper marshmallow techniques HOWEVER, someone at Williams-Sonoma does, and I was able to pick these bad boys up up a few weeks back. Hurry! There's a sale happening and you can get a discount!

​Onward.

Ingredients

Recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction | Makes a 3-tiered 6" cake 

Cake:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 15oz. can pumpkin puree
• 1 and 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Orange Cinnamon Buttercream:

• ​2 1/2 sticks Earth Balance vegan butter — my personal favorite for baking
• 5-6 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• Zest of one orange
• Salt to taste

Instructions

Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F — grease and line three 6" round cake pans OR two 8" round pans. 
2. In a medium bowl, combine your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk or sift to remove any clumps!
3. In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugar and pumpkin puree. While mixing, add in the vegetable oil slowly. Add vanilla.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredient bowl and mix until smooth!
5. Divide the batter among the three pans, and place in the oven for about 30 minutes or so — you will want to poke the middle with a toothpick to make sure it's done all the way through (if the toothpick comes out clean it's done; make sure to check all the pans!).
6. Once ready, pull out cake layers to cool individually. You will want them to be completely cool so you can begin frosting!

Frosting:

1. In an electronic mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip softened butter until creamy
   and slowly add in powdered sugar. Depending on your desired sweetness you may need more or less. 
2. Let the mixer run for a few minutes until mixture becomes white! 
3. Add vanilla, cinnamon and orange zest (or any other flavors you want to infuse).
4. Salt to taste for balance (trust me).
5. Store in airtight container in fridge and remove about 20 minutes before you're ready to frost.

Assembly — Feel free to frost to your heart's content, but here are some helpful tips:

• Use an ice cream scoop to evenly measure out how much frosting you use between layers. You want to make sure there is an even distribution of frosting between each layer!
• It's much easier to decorate the outside of a cake when it's cold; so if you can stick it in the fridge for a bit before frosting, you will probably be happier with your results.
• Crumb coat! LIGHTLY frost the outside of your cake to trap the crumbs that might ruin the final decoration portion. Sometimes leaving it like this is the goal, especially if you're going on the naked cake route.
• Use steaming hot water to dip your frosting tool in to get a smooth look to the outside of your cake! 
• When adding decorations like marshmallows, use a small toothpick to insert them into the cake to allow for maximum support.