Pumpkin Spiced Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I am really excited to be introducing you to some amazing women who are masters at their crafts!  Let's welcome the girls from Two Carolines to our little family as our official Baking Contributors!  You are going to die over this yummy Fall cake.  Even if Pumpkin is not your jam, this Pumpkin Spiced Cake will have you running for your scarves, boots and PSL from Starbucks.

Elevate readers! We are so excited to be contributing to this brilliant blog with so many cool readers hosted by one of the most clever and inspirational women to ever hit the information super highway!  Twocarolines.com is a dessert blog my sister Caroline v1.0 and I decided to create last November so we could share our passion for baking and all things sweet.  Like many of you, we are home bakers and try to make sure we cater to the demands of a busy life and a normal kitchen and pantry.  We have more in common than our obsession with dessert, Caroline King, the original, is the younger sister of my husband so we share the same first AND last name! You'll see our recipe's posted by either 1.0 (the original Caroline King) or 2.0 - which is me! For the full bio on your two new friends named Caroline, check out our about page and feel free to click around and get an idea of the kind of delicious bakes we will be sharing with the Elevate audience.  You can also find us on instagram with the handle @twocarolines or on Facebook on our twocarolinesbake page - take a minute to follow us, it's a lot of fun and so so delicious! Now to the good stuff...

It's that time of year when our tan fades, the scarves and boots come out, we start wearing stretchier pants, and our blood type changes to "pumpkin spice" - we want ALL the pumpkin spice recipes, just like you!  In fact, Caroline v1.0 just posted a Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Cinnamon Caramel Sauce that is so completely delicious it should be illegal!  There are a number of pumpkin recipes on twocarolines with more to come - but another one I need to highlight is our  Pumpkin Dulce De Leche Pie  which is absolutely TO DIE FOR!

But of all the pumpkin desserts I've had (more than you might think) this Pumpkin Spiced Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting just might be the most insanely delicious ever.  I've made it 4 times now, and every time people go completely bonkers for it.  Not only is it beautiful, and all autumy cinnamon spice fragrant, it tastes over the top amazing.  I can't wait for you to make it and FALL in love!   -CK2.0

Pumpkin Spiced Cake & Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Cake:1 2/3 cups all purpose flour1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder1/2 teaspoon baking soda1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon1 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated if you have it)1/8 teaspoon cloves1/8 teaspoon allspice1/4 teaspoon cardamon(side note: if you don’t have all of these spices don’t get stressed out, just use a little more or less of something you do have until it tastes good.  I think clove is such a strong flavor that I used less of that and added cardamon which I love in baked goods, you could even use a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice instead of those last 3 if you’d like)1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (9 ounces) pumpkin puree1 cup vegetable or canola oil1 1/3 cups sugar3/4 teaspoon salt3 large eggs, at room temperature, yolks and whites seperatedCream Cheese Frosting:1/2 cup butter at room temperature8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (but keep some extra on hand to make sure you get the right consistency)1 teaspoon vanillapinch of cinnamon (I grated fresh cinnamon on the top instead of putting it directly into the frosting, but both ways work great!)For the Cake:

1.  Preheat oven to 325 and position a rack in the center.  Butter a 9 inch round cake pan (if yours is 9.5 or 10 that’s okay, just start checking for doneness 10 minutes earlier). Line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper and butter that too.  If you don't have parchment it's okay - just butter and flour your pan as this is a very moist cake.  If you’re making the frosting same day you might want to take out your butter and cream cheese so they can come up to room temp before it’s time to make frosting.
2. Sift (if you’re really concerned about lumps, but I didn’t sift the first time and it was just as good) the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices in a bowl and set aside
3. In a large bowl mix pumpkin, oil, sugar and salt for a good 3-4 minutes until it’s all combined.  Remember to periodically scrape down the sides of your bowl.
4. Mix in egg yolks one at a time then add the dry ingredients but stop mixing as soon as the flour mixture is just combined.
5. Whisk the three egg whites until they are frothy and white.  Fold them into the batter using a rubber spatula until they are no longer visible, but just barely, you want your whites to stay fluffy so your cake is springy. In this photo you can see how your batter should look - there are traces of the whites, but they are mostly incorporated.
6. Pour the cake batter into the pan and bake on the center rack in the oven.  Begin checking the cake after 40 minutes, could take up to 50 it depends on the size of your pan.  We advise paying closer attention to doneness than bake times.  The center will continue to set as the cake cools in the pan, but still don’t take it out until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let the cake cool at least 20 minutes before inverting it to a wire rack to completely cool.

For the Frosting:

1. Beat together the butter and the cream cheese until smooth and creamy.  Gradually add the powdered sugar and beat until the frosting is smooth with no dry traces of sugar.   You can use a little extra powdered sugar if you like your frosting thicker and sweeter, but I like the sourness of the cream cheese to come out as much as possible.  Add a pinch of cinnamon and a teaspoon of vanilla and beat until incorporated. (As with any buttercream frosting use your powdered sugar and a tiny bit of milk to reach the desired consistency)

I liked it best served with chopped walnuts, but the original recipe (link below) made caramelized pumpkin seeds, which would probably be fantastic, but I don’t usually have those lying around and nuts can be somewhat polarizing in a family with kids so I usually add them at serving time for grown ups and littles who have more refined tastes.

We hope you enjoy this delicious Pumpkin Spiced Cake, it's sure to be a Fall favorite for your family too!

Recipe adapted from Food 52 Sarah Jampel’s Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Icing and Caramelized Pumpkin Seeds