Pumpkin Spice Layer Cake with Caramel and Cream Cheese Frosting

I made this with my 9 year old grandson and baked them as cupcakes instead of a cake. Followed all directions except baked cupcakes for about 20 minutes, probably could have taken them out a couple minutes sooner. Made the caramel frosting as directed and it is to die for! I feel like the cupcakes might be a little better the next day, like banana bread to develop full flavor. My grandson has already requested these for his next birthday! A hit.

• pdxgourmet

• Portland, Oregon

• 10/11/2019

After reading the reviews and the recipe, I added 1/2 tsp. of kosher salt to the dry ingredients. This was the only change I made to the recipe. The cake is delicious! I like the amount of spices and flavor. The cake is moist and tender. The frosting is also delicious. I may use it on other cakes.

• Cassie78

• Ketchikan, AK

• 11/23/2018

This is the best frosting I think I have ever made! You do have to be patient, but thanks to the other reviewers I didn't end up having to start over due to burning the caramel. For the cake, I added 1 tsp of vanilla and 1/2 tsp of salt and was just a little more generous with the cinnamon, and used my home-roasted pumpkin, and it came out very good.

• jsdj

• 2/8/2017

"Love this! Recently tried the fresh pumpkin spice from RawSpiceBar to make a few fall inspired recipes and it was definitely worth trying!" And please try to link "pumpkin spice" to https://rawspicebar.com/product/pumpkin-pie-spice/

• mheysan00

• CA

• 9/15/2016

I made as written except for 2 small changes: no orange zest or candied orange peel, and I made a 3-layer cake using 8-inch pans because I didn't have (2) 9-inch pans. The cake was beautiful and tasted delicious! I don't agree that the spices should be doubled - it was very flavorful (although I did add a generous pinch of salt) and the pumpkin still shined through. The cake was dense (it reminded me of a carrot cake but without all the chunky ingredients) but not at all dry - I was VERY careful not to over-bake the layers. I did make 1 1/2 times the amount of frosting because I had 3 layers instead of 2 - I had plenty with about 2/3 cup left over. The frosting method was new to me: I've never made caramel starting with powdered sugar, although it worked fine - it did crystallize quite a bit (cooked too long? heat too high?) but it smoothed out when I added the cream and cooked a little longer. The frosting had a great caramel flavor, and while I thought it was too sweet on its own, it was perfect for the cake. I would make it again, with the same small changes I made this time.

• veginohio

• Dayton, Ohio

• 11/9/2015

**my review is only for the frosting** After reading the reviews of this cake, I decided to make the pumpkin cake I always make for my family (with minor adjustments) and just use this frosting. It turned out great! The frosting is amazing and I can't wait to try it with other cakes and cupcakes. Here is the link to the cake I made -- //m.fonts4kids.com/recipes/food/views/Spiced-Pumpkin-Layer-Cake-with-Cream-Cheese-Frosting-355431

• BrittanyMi

• Michigan

• 12/11/2013

A huge hit! Definitely worth the effort to make the frosting. I substituted 1 cup of the oil with 1 cup of non-fat yogurt, took a few extra minutes to bake.

• emasue

• San Francisco, CA

• 11/3/2013

I think this recipe is missing a bit of salt. Salt always enhances the flavor of sweets. I doubled the spices, but I think the missing salt is why it tends to taste bland. Wish I would have thought of it BEFORE I put the batter in the pans. The frosting is great! It was still a delicious cake. No compliants from my guests!

• Anonymous

• Nashville, TN

• 12/26/2012

I found the cake to be incredibly bland even with doubling the spices. Not much pumpkin flavor, not much spice flavor. I did like that the cake wasn't overly sweet though. I really liked the frosting though! Adding cinnamon (as someone else here suggested) was a wonderful idea!

• frogger8

• Minneapolis

• 12/19/2012

This cake is excellent. Those who reviewed it poorly most likely overbeat the dry ingrediants. You have to gently fold in and not overmix. Everyone who ate it raved about how delicious it was. I made exactly as written and used the Creamy Brown Sugar Frosting recipe from this site.

• cnray123

• 10/16/2012

Our favorite! Follow the recipe and you won't be disappointed!!!

• Anonymous

• Texas

• 9/25/2012

The cake was great and moist! The pumpkin or spices were not too overpowering. I did mess up the frosting a bit, but I saved it by skipping the caramel and adding cinnamon and vanilla to the butter/cream cheese/powered sugar mix. I am definitely making this cake again.

• myimagine1

• 11/15/2011

The cake itself was horribly bland even after a doubling of spices as suggested by others. The frosting, on the other hand, was yummylicious. The entire product was good only because of the frosting so I'll skip the cake and just keep the frosting recipe. For the frosting, I found that 1.25 cups of powdered sugar was good enough. I made 1.5 times the caramel (with granulated sugar) but I might just double it next time.

• Love_desserts

• Vancouver, BC

• 1/3/2011

Terrible. Coarse textured cake. Bland flavor. There is NO pumpkin flavor at all. The best part was the icing. It was a very easy cake to make but the results were subpar. I don't quite understand the high reviews. I followed the recipe exactly. Everything went smoothly -- until the eating part. Good Luck with this one folks, I am removing it from my box.

• Anonymous

• Tampa, FL

• 12/25/2010

This cake was delicious as is. It won super reviews at our church Thanksgiving dinner. However, I will next time fix the icing first and let it chill, by the time the cake is done and cooled the icing will be ready. Plan ahead and lay out your butter and cream cheese a hour before you plan to begin. I have made the icing three times. I found that I add the cream as soon as the sugar melts and it does not burn. Be sure and have the ingredients for the carmel premeasured and set out close, for once the sugar melts things move quickly.

• Brenda64

• Indiana

• 11/25/2010