Do yourself a favour and get your hands on a slice of this pumpkin cake 🎃✨

It’s a moist, soft three-layered pumpkin cake, filled and frosted with layers of caramel sauce and salted caramel buttercream. With a gorgeous drip of salted caramel sauce on top and finally decorated with cute piped buttercream pumpkins. 

It has the perfect balance of sweetness and saltiness that you need! A festive pumpkin cake surely worth falling in love with! 🤭🍂

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INGREDIENTS YOU'LL NEED!

Here are the key ingredients required to make this delicious cake. Scroll down to the recipe card for a complete list of ingredients with their exact quantities.

FOR SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE

• Granulated sugar
• Unsalted butter softened to room temperature 
• Double cream/heavy cream, warm

Check out our complete blog post to make salted caramel sauce at home for extra tips and tricks here.

FOR PUMPKIN CAKE

• Plain Flour/all-purpose flour
• Eggs: at room temperature.
• Pumpkin puree: The star ingredient! Adds moisture and makes the cake rich and soft. I used canned 100% pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. I highly recommend using Libby’s 100% pumpkin puree as it’s not too wet. If you don’t have it on hand you can make pumpkin puree at home easily. I have a complete blog post on how to make homemade pumpkin puree here.‍ Don’t forget to drain excess water if it’s too watery. To remove the extra water, use a cheesecloth. Fold it first then scoop the puree into the cheesecloth, wrap it around the puree and wring out the excess water over the kitchen sink or blot the pumpkin puree with disposable paper towels then measure it for the recipe.
• Baking powder & baking soda
• Buttermilk: It makes cupcakes soft and fluffy. I used store-bought buttermilk. If you can’t find it then make your own buttermilk at home. Take 3/4 cup milk (at room temperature) and add 3 tsp lemon juice, set aside for 10 minutes before adding to the batter.
• Pumpkin spice mix: I used homemade pumpkin spice mix (see FAQ on how to make the spice mix). You can substitute it with store-bought.
• Ground Cinnamon

FOR CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

• unsalted butter: Softened 
• Icing sugar/ powdered sugar: Sifted
• Salted caramel sauce

TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE

• Caramel sauce
• Caramel buttercream 
• 2-3 drops of orange gel food colour to make cute decorative pumpkins on top
• 1 drop of green gel food colour

EQUIPMENT REQUIRED

• Heavy bottom Saucepan
• 7” round cake pans (3)
• Offset Spatula
• Wooden spoon or whisk
• Handheld Electric mixer or Stand mixer
• Mixing bowls
• Piping bags
• Wilton open star piping tip 8B

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HOW TO MAKE THIS CAKE STEP BY STEP!

STEP 1: SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE

• Start by heating the double cream in the microwave and set aside.
• Add the sugar into a light-coloured heavy-bottomed saucepan. Spread it evenly and let it melt over medium-low heat and wait for the sugar to melt (no stirring at this point, just swirl the pan).
• Once the sugar starts to melt and clump together, stir it continuously, using a wooden spoon or whisk until it has completely melted or it will burn. Sugar makes clumps as it melts so no need to worry as it will gradually melt. Gently break up clumps. If there is still any clump of sugar, keep stirring until all the clumps melt. Gently swirl until golden amber colour is achieved. Please be careful, caramel can go from deep amber-coloured to a burnt one in seconds, so keep an eye on it! Don’t let it get too dark as it will make the caramel bitter.
• Immediately remove the pan from the heat and add in softened butter while constantly whisking. Mix until it is thoroughly combined. Whisk carefully as the mixture will bubble up and can splutter. Add warm cream in two batches and stir until smooth. Add in salt. 
• Put it back on low heat for 30-60 seconds. keep stirring until the caramel is smooth.
• Pass this mixture through a strainer to remove any lumps of sugar. In this way, you can get silky and smooth caramel. Let it cool.

STEP 2: PUMPKIN CAKE

• Preheat the fan oven to 155C/311F (for a conventional oven, 175C/347F). Line three 7-inch round cake pan with baking paper.
• Sift plain flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon and pumpkin spice mix into a large bowl. Whisk together and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar on medium speed until well combined (about 2-3 minutes), scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add in the vegetable oil and vanilla extract, and beat them to combine. Add in the reduced pumpkin puree and beat again to combine.
• Add in dry ingredients and buttermilk. Alternate these 2 ingredients, starting with dry ingredients and ending with dry ingredients, and beat on low after each addition until it is combined (avoid over-mixing).
• Divide the batter equally into 3 lined cake pans, and tap the pans on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
• Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. 
• Remove from the oven and let it rest in the pans for 10-15 minutes. Then flip over onto a wire rack to cool completely before assembling. You can make cakes a day before and cover them in plastic wrap, pop them in the fridge since it's very easy to assemble the cakes if they are cool enough.

STEP 3: CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

• Cream the softened butter on medium speed (with a hand mixer or stand mixer) until smooth and light in colour (about 4-5 minutes).
• Add the icing sugar (sifted) in three batches, mix with a spatula then beat after each addition, gradually add room temperature salted caramel sauce, and beat until it is well combined, light and fluffy, scraping the bowl down several times so everything gets well mixed in. It’s ready to use.

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STEP 4: ASSEMBLING THE CAKE

• Fill a piping bag with caramel buttercream frosting & cut off the end of the piping bag.
• Place the first cake on a cake stand or cake turn table and pipe some of the buttercream on top and spread it evenly using an offset spatula. Make an outside edge with this frosting and pour 1-2 tbsp salted caramel in the middle.
• Place the second cake on top, press it down gently to fix it and repeat the same. Place the third cake on top, fill the gaps with frosting and frost the cake all over with a thin crumb coat (the first thin layer of frosting is called a crumb coat), keep in the fridge for 30 minutes to set the coating. 
• Frost the cake all over with a final coat of buttercream, and smooth the top with a pallet knife and the sides with a bench scraper. Make vertical lines (from bottom to top) on all sides of the cake using the back of a spoon (optional). Keep in the fridge for 1 hour to set properly.
• Take 2 tbsp of salted caramel, if it has cooled too much reheat it again for 5 seconds or if it is hot just wait for 5-10 minutes, fill a piping bag, snip off the end and apply this drip around the cake. Start from the back to check the exact consistency of caramel then apply around the cake. Pop in the fridge for 15 minutes to set.
• In the meantime, take 2 tbsp of frosting in a small bowl & mix a small drop of green gel food colour to make green buttercream. Transfer to a piping bag. Transfer the leftover frosting to a small bowl and mix a dab of orange food gel colour to get the orange buttercream. Transfer into a piping bag fitted with an 8B open star tip.
• Use the orange frosting to pipe beautiful pumpkins on top of the cake. Then use the green frosting to make the top of the pumpkins.
• Make slices using a sharp knife and enjoy.

Recipe Tips

• Use high-quality ingredients.
• Make sure to measure plain flour correctly. The best way to measure the flour is by using a digital scale. If you don’t have then spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then scrape a knife across the top of the measuring cup to level the flour.  
• Eggs, buttermilk and pumpkin puree should be at room temperature.
• Highly recommend using Libby’s 100% pumpkin puree as it’s not too wet! If the pumpkin puree is too runny or has too much water, you can remove it by using a cheesecloth. Fold it first then scoop the puree into the cheesecloth, wrap it around the puree and wring out the excess water over the kitchen sink or blot with a kitchen paper towel. Measure it and then you can add it to the cake batter.
• Don’t over-mix the batter. Once the dry ingredients are combined with the wet ingredients, stop mixing too much, or it will result in a dense cake.
• You can make the salted caramel sauce ahead of time. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge. It will thicken more as it cools. You can reheat it in a microwave for a few seconds before making a drip on cake otherwise for layering the cake, cool caramel will work best.
• Chill the cake before assembling
• Bake the three cakes a day before, wrap them in the plastic wrap and keep them in the fridge. Cold cakes are easy to assemble and prevent crumbling.
• To make the frosting smooth, fill a large vessel or bowl with hot water, dip your pallet knife or bench scraper into the water then pat it dry and gently smooth out the frosting.
• Make the buttercream when you are ready to assemble the cake layers.
• To make smooth and silky buttercream, first cream the butter (softened) then add icing sugar (sifted) in 2-3 batches and caramel sauce, beat until light and fluffy. Caramel sauce should be at room temperature before adding to the frosting.

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FAQ

How To Make Homemade Pumpkin Spice Mix?

You'll need 4 tbsp ground Cinnamon, 2 tsp ground ginger, 2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom, 1 tsp ground cloves, and 1 tsp ground allspice. Whisk together all of the above ingredients in a small bowl until well combined. Store in a small jar or airtight container. It stays fresh for up to a year.

How To Store This Cake?

Store any leftover cake in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. 

You can store any leftover frosting in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days. Before use, leave it at room temperature for 15 or more minutes then whip it again so it will be fluffy again. 

For Salted caramel, allow it to cool then transfer to an air-tight container. Store for up to 1 month in the fridge. It solidifies in the fridge. Reheat it in the microwave for a few seconds when needed.

I hope that you'll try this recipe and you'll love them as much as my family and I do! If you make this recipe then be sure to tag @kaotickrunch on Instagram. We'd love to see your creations!

Happy baking and eating! 😊