So, it’s been hovering around the 100 degree mark here the last few days. In September.
I know I live in Kansas, but that’s NOT ok with me. September is in the fall section of the calendar. Once Labor Day is over with, it’s pumpkin and legging season, dang-it! How am I going to wear my Uggs, hoodies and yoga pants cute vintage boat neck tees and boyfriend cords if it’s 100 degrees outside?
So, I’m officially rebelling against Mother Nature. I lit my pumpkin spice candles, bought some Mums and preheated my oven to 300 degrees. It’s Pumpkin Dream Cake time.
It’s a real thing.
Know what else is a real thing? That whole thing when they tell you not to use your oven when it’s really hot outside. Turns out that’s pretty good advice. But whatever. I sat in front of a fan and ate a slice of Pumpkin Dream Cake. I win, Mother Nature.
This cake is aptly named, because it is, in fact, DREAMY. The pumpkin flavor is perfect, and the maple cinnamon cream cheese frosting was born to cover this cake. It’s so good that after his first bite, my brother had already reserved this cake for his birthday (next February!) It was a big hit, all around.
The baking method is interesting for this cake, which is probably the reason I decided to try it in the first place. After baking it at a relatively low temperature, it immediately goes into the freezer to cool to room temperature. This stops the baking immediately (most cakes continue to bake for a bit when they come out of the oven) and keeps it ultra-moist.
And while a stand mixer is always helpful, you don’t need one for this cake so that’s a bonus. I would recommend 8-inch pans, because they keep the layers nice and thick. Now that I have 8-inch round pans, I rarely use my standard 9-inch pans anymore, so they’re definitely worth the investment.
Even as a chocolate-cake kind of girl, we had this and my latest Chocolate Layer Cake side by side, and I honestly can’t tell you which one I liked best. That’s saying a lot about this cake!
Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
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♥erin
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 and ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup milk
- 12 oz (1 and ½ packages) cream cheese, softened
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees (F). Grease 3, 8-inch round cake pans. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, use a whisk to combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Pour milk into a measuring cup, and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl), cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, and beat each one until just incorporated.
- Add vanilla, pumpkin and oil. Beat until combined.
- Add flour alternately with milk, using the following method:
- Add ⅓ of flour mixture. Beat until just combined.
- Add ½ of milk, and beat until just combined.
- Add ½ of remaining flour, and beat until just combined.
- Add remaining milk, beat until just combined.
- Add remaining flour, beat until just combined.
- Divide batter evenly into prepared cake pans. I use a kitchen scale to help.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a cake-tester comes out clean.
- While cakes are baking, make room in your freezer for the pans.
- As soon as they come out of the oven, immediately place them in the freezer for about 30-45 minutes or until completely cooled.
- In a large bowl (or stand mixer) beat together cream cheese and butter until very smooth.
- Add maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon and beat to combine.
- Add powdered/confectioners sugar and beat on low speed until just combined.
- Increase speed to medium/high and beat until frosting is light and fluffy.
- If frosting is too thick, add a Tablespoon of heavy cream at a time until desired consistency is met. If frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar to achieve your target consistency.
- Place bottom layer onto a cake stand and/or turntable.
- Spread a generous amount of frosting over the top of the layer.
- Add second cake layer, and again cover the top with frosting.
- Add top layer, and spread a thin layer of frosting over the tops and sides of cake. This is your crumb coat. It will "glue" all of the crumbs in place and prevent them from showing in your final coat.
- Refrigerate or freeze crumb coat for 10-15 minutes or until stiff.
- Generously cover the crumb coat with additional frosting, and smooth and decorate as desired.
- Refrigerate once again to set frosting, and enjoy!
This cake looks gorgeous! maple creamcheese frosting is my absolute favourite!
Thank you my friend! 🙂
I’m going to have to make this YUM! I have a recipe for a banana cake that you bake at low temp then put in the freezer and it really does work! I was skeptical but like you had to try it just to see for myself. This will be a Sunday dinner cake for sure
Hi Ronnie, funny you mention the banana cake, because I think this recipe was adapted from a banana cake recipe, so maybe it’s the same one! Thanks for stopping by and for commenting!
looks delicious!!! but i have some questions…1st.can we substitute the pumpkin can with fresh pumpkin if we have? 2nd, marple syrup can be replaced with something else? 3rd, why do we have to put immediately from the refridgerator to the oven ??? thank you!!
You can absolutely use fresh pumpkin. Here’s an article about it: http://allrecipes.com/howto/baking-with-fresh-pumpkin/
As far as the maple syrup goes, I know there are homemade substitutes out there, so just google “maple syrup substitutes” and see what you find. You can always just leave it out, it won’t affect anything but the taste.
Putting the cakes into the freezer stops the baking and keeps them moist. 🙂
Oh My! This looks wonderful! I live in Wyoming…do I need to make “high altitude” adjustments?
Barbara, I honestly don’t know. I can research it for you and find out.
I love trying different method’s when it comes to baking. This seems interesting freezing the cakes straight out of the oven, do you think it helps doing this method? Your cake looks lovely, I love your icing technique.
Well, this cake was super, super moist so I’d say it definitely doesn’t hurt anything! I’ve never tried it with any other cake, so I can’t say if it works for all recipes or not.
So the layers go into the freezer in the pans? Does this make it hard to get them out of the pans later?
Nope, mine came right out. They’re only in there for about 30-45 minutes, and I do prepare my pans with parchment paper rounds, but I had no trouble at all.
I want to try this cake,my taste buds want pumpkin! Do I use pumpkin puree or pumpkin solid pack? Can not wait to bake this yummy cake.
I used canned pumpkin puree. 🙂
Last night my daughter told me that she wanted a cake with pumpkin in it for her birthday in October. I think she will really like this one! Like Laura mentioned in her comment, I too love your frosting technique! Do you have a “how to” page for your technique?
I don’t have a how-to yet, but I’ve been tempted to do a video about it so maybe I’ll work on that soon. I used a turntable and the end of my offset spatula, then turned the cake with one hand while “dragging” the spatula across the frosting, slowing going up to the top of the cake. Then I repeat the process for the top.
Thank you for the information! I’m going to make the cake this coming week for her birthday!
I made this yesterday for my daughter’s birthday and it was fabulous! I noticed the high altitude question. I live at high altitude and think that it would have been fine the way the recipe is because the batter is pretty thick. But because of the low cooking temperature, I used 3 1/4 cups flour and baked at 325 with everything else, including the freezer step, the same. It came out perfectly and looked just like the photo.
I made this cake tonight. Love it! Love it! Love it! Great recipe and taste! Thank you for sharing!
I don’t consume canola/vegetable oil, and I was wondering if I could use olive oil or coconut oil instead in this wonderful recipe of yours! 🙂
My bad, recipe of the Novice chefs* 🙂
Though I’ve never done it, I believe you could substitute coconut oil.
I made this last weekend for my son’s birthday–it was phenomenal and a huge hit! Thanks so much for the tips about freezing it, assembling it, and the crumb coat! You made gourmet baking easy!!! 😉
How amazing it is, beautiful, but you know I dont know hot to decorate the top and the side of cake like your cake, please tell me what tools I need and how to decorate like you for this cake, thanks a lot.
I use a turntable and an offset spatula. Turn the cake on the turntable while holding the end of the spatula lightly against the frosting and slowly raise it toward the top of the cake as you turn. Good luck!
Does this cake freeze well? I want to make it for my daughters birthday but it’s a long week ahead of it. If this is wrapped in plastic wrap and sealed in a container, will it keep for at-least a week for me to thaw it and decorate it?