Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake With Coffee Frosting

Name: Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake With Coffee Frosting
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 1 (8-inch) cake
Ingredients: 1/2 cup/120 milliliters coconut oil, melted, plus more for greasing; 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée; 2/3 cup/146 grams packed light or dark brown sugar; 2 large eggs, at room temperature; 1 tablespoon vanilla extract; 1 1/2 cups/192 grams all-purpose flour; 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger; 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom; 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg; 3/4 teaspoon fine pink Himalayan salt or fine sea salt; 1/2 cup/1 stick salted butter, at room temperature; 2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature; 1 1/2 cups/185 grams confectioners’ sugar; 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder; 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Recipe from Tieghan Gerard

Adapted by Julia Moskin

Published Oct. 30, 2023

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake With Coffee Frosting — Joe Lingeman for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell.

Total Time: 1¼ hours
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Rating: 4(143)
Comments: Read comments

Tieghan Gerard, who runs the wildly popular Half Baked Harvest blog, posts a new recipe nearly every day, all year round, but her favorite season is (of course) fall, when she brings out the pumpkin-shaped pots, pumpkin-scented candles and toasted pumpkin seeds. Even if you don’t identify with the P.S.L. set, separating the pumpkin spice (cake) from the latte (frosting) makes this a delicious snack cake. Pumpkin purée makes it very moist, so test to be sure the batter is baked all the way through. —Julia Moskin

Featured in: The Star of Half Baked Harvest Inspires Loyalty — and Controversy

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Ingredients

Yield:1 (8-inch) cake

For the Cake

½cup/120 milliliters coconut oil, melted, plus more for greasing
1(15-ounce) can pumpkin purée
⅔cup/146 grams packed light or dark brown sugar
2large eggs, at room temperature
1tablespoon vanilla extract
1½cups/192 grams all-purpose flour
1¼teaspoons baking powder
½teaspoon baking soda
1teaspoon ground cinnamon
½teaspoon ground ginger
½teaspoon ground cardamom
¼teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¾teaspoon fine pink Himalayan salt or fine sea salt

For the Frosting

½cup/1 stick salted butter, at room temperature
2ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1½cups/185 grams confectioners’ sugar
1tablespoon instant espresso powder
1tablespoon vanilla extract

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on two opposite sides. Grease the parchment with coconut oil.
Step 2
Make the cake: In a stand mixer, beat together the pumpkin, brown sugar, melted coconut oil, eggs and vanilla on low until combined, about 1 minute. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg and salt. Mix on low speed until completely smooth, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
Step 3
Bake until the center is just set, 25 to 30 minutes. Carefully use the parchment paper overhang to remove the cake from the pan and place it on a cooling rack. Let cool for about 30 minutes.
Step 4
Meanwhile, make the frosting: In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and cream cheese until combined, 2 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar, espresso powder and vanilla; beat until the frosting is fluffy, 2 to 4 minutes more.
Step 5
Spread the frosting over the cooled cake. Slice, snack and enjoy! Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Ratings

4 out of 5

143 user ratings

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Comments

annalou1 year ago

The recipe makes way too much frosting. You could cut in half. And double the coffee. I used instant decaf. But the cake itself is so moist and wonderful, you could drop the frosting all together!

Kelli C.1 year ago

Use three eggs and use 1/4 buttermilk with 1/4 coconut oil to get a less dense cake.

Ted S1 year ago

I am wondering why we've all had such differing experiences. I cooked the recipe exactly, other than slightly extending the cooking time. Cake is great IMO - actually the texture I expected and wanted, not too dense but not light and cakey, either. Exactly the right amount of frosting, also, and no need for extra liquid at all.

Melinda Meister4 months ago

This is a lovely cake. I didn't have cream cheese for the frosting, so added a tablespoon of Kahlua. It freezes well.

Heather G6 months ago

I was surprised, with all the spices in this cake, how it turned out so bland for me. Soft, moist, but so, so bland.

Katie6 months ago

Definitely a keeper. It's a moist, dense spice cake ... not as dense as I thought it would be based on comments. I halved the frosting, but will do the full amount next time, a maximalist topping to a cake that works even without the frosting. It also needed way more bake time.

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