Inspired by everyone’s favorite seasonal drink, this Pumpkin Spice Latte cake is my favorite pumpkin layer cake paired with delicious spiced coffee buttercream. The cake layers have amazing spiced pumpkin flavor, are so tender and moist, and call for an entire can of pumpkin. I added warm spices to my beloved coffee buttercream recipe for the filling and frosting and together with the pumpkin cake, this tastes just like a pumpkin spice latte in cake form!
Why You’ll Love this Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake
- Tastes like a pumpkin spice latte in cake form. If a pumpkin spice latte is your go-to drink this time of year, you’re going to be obsessed with this cake!
- Uses a whole can of pumpkin. This recipe uses all 15 ounces, so there’s no awkward pumpkin leftovers to figure out what to make with.
- Perfect holiday cake. If you’re looking for a cake recipe to serve for Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert, this pumpkin spice latte cake is sure to be a hit!
- Can be made as cupcakes or a sheet cake. Don’t want to bake a layer cake? No problem! You can easily bake the cake recipe in a 9×13 pan or make it into cupcakes. See the recipe notes for baking times and temperatures.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are all of the most important ingredients and substitutes you can make for this cake:
Pumpkin Cake Ingredients
- Canned pumpkin puree. The pumpkin flavor of this cake comes from an entire 15 oz can of pureed pumpkin (not to be confused with canned pumpkin pie filling). Any brand will do, you’ll just want to make sure that pumpkin is the only ingredient listed on the label.
- All-purpose flour. Also known as plain flour, all-purpose flour gives these pumpkin cake layers the perfect structure.
- Baking powder + baking soda. The leavening agents used to make this cake rise.
- Spices. I use four beautiful warming spices in this recipe: cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ginger. These spices perfectly complement and enhance the pumpkin flavor! Feel free to experiment with the spices used if you want, or use 4 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice as a substitute for all four spices listed in this recipe.
- Melted butter or oil. You can choose whether to use melted (slightly cooled) butter or neutral oil like vegetable oil, canola oil, or whatever you love for baking. Either ingredient choice will create a super moist crumb.
- Brown sugar + granulated sugar. Both sugars together not only sweeten this cake and soften the crumb, but I use more brown sugar in this ratio to add even more moisture.
- Eggs. The main binding agents in this recipe that blend the ingredients together and give the cake structure.
- Pure vanilla extract. A little vanilla rounds out the pumpkin flavor beautifully.
Spiced Coffee Buttercream Ingredients
- Unsalted butter. This is the base of the buttercream and gives the frosting a rich buttery flavor and velvety smooth texture. If you only have salted butter on hand, you can use that instead and omit the salt at the end of the recipe.
- Powdered sugar. This adds stability to the frosting while sweetening. I like to use less powdered sugar than the average American buttercream so that the frosting doesn’t end up cloyingly sweet, but if you’d like it even less sweet you can reduce the powdered sugar amount by up to ½ cup (60g). Just keep in mind that the consistency of the buttercream will be thinner.
- Instant coffee or espresso powder. To create the coffee flavor, use your favorite instant coffee or espresso powder.
- Whole milk. This is combined with the coffee/espresso powder to add the ideal coffee flavor while thinning out the buttercream and binding all the ingredients together.
- Spices. I added cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice to give the coffee buttercream a spiced flavor, but you can alternatively use 1 ¾ tsp of pumpkin pie spice.
- Vanilla + salt. To balance the flavor beautifully.
How to Make a Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake
Step 1: Prepare the Pumpkin Cake Batter
In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Then in a separate large bowl, whisk together the sugars, canned pumpkin, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and whisk until just combined.
Step 2: Bake the Pumpkin Cake Layers
Pour the pumpkin cake batter into three 6-inch cake pans or two 8-inch cake pans that have been previously greased and lined. Bake at 350ºF (177ºC) for 32-36 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
From here, let the cake layers cool in the pan for about five minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely to room temperature.
Step 3: Make the Spiced Coffee Buttercream
Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer and large bowl, whip the butter until creamy and light in color. Meanwhile, whisk together the instant coffee/espresso powder and whole milk and set aside. Add the powdered sugar until combined, then mix in the coffee milk mixture, vanilla, spices, and salt.
Step 4: Assemble the Cake
Level the cake layers to your desired height, then fill and stack them with the spiced coffee buttercream. Crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of spiced coffee buttercream and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes to let the buttercream firm up.
Step 5: Decorate the Cake
To create the look pictured, frost a smooth buttercream finish with the spiced coffee buttercream, keeping the top edge raw. Then, divide the rest of the buttercream into two separate bowls and color one bowl burnt orange for the piped pumpkins (or mix orange with a little brown food coloring) and color the second bowl dark brown for the pumpkin stems.
Fit a piping bag with Wilton Tip 6B (or any large star piping tip) and fill it with the orange buttercream. Pipe the pumpkins in a crescent formation along the top edge of the cake. It helps to hover the tip slightly above the surface of the cake while squeezing the bag and pulling upward into a round pumpkin shape. Fit another piping bag with Wilton Tip 3 and fill it with the brown buttercream. Pipe a stem onto each pumpkin.
However you decorate, this cake will be absolutely delicious and a total hit with any pumpkin spice latte lover!
Recipe FAQs
- How do I bake this pumpkin layer cake recipe as a sheet cake? Prepare the cake batter as written, then pour it into a well-greased 9×13 baking pan. Bake at 325ºF for 30-35 minutes, cool, and top with the spiced coffee buttercream.
- How do I make this recipe as pumpkin cupcakes? Prepare the cake batter as written, then fill a lined cupcake pan with the batter so that each liner is about ⅔ full. Bake at 350ºF for 14-18 minutes, then top with the spiced coffee buttercream. The recipe as-is will yield about 28 cupcakes, or you can use my pumpkin cupcakes recipe (yields 14 cupcakes) and make half the amount of spiced coffee buttercream to top them.
- Can I use pumpkin pie filling instead of pumpkin puree? No. Pumpkin pie filling isn’t the same thing as pumpkin puree – it has added thickeners, spices, and sugar. Be sure to use 100% pumpkin puree for the cake.
- Does this cake contain caffeine? Since there’s 1 Tablespoon of coffee in the buttercream, each serving will contain about 19 mg of caffeine. For perspective, 1 cup of coffee contains about 95 mg of caffeine, so one slice of this cake won’t be enough to give you a coffee buzz.
More Cake Recipes You’ll Love
If you’re a fan of pumpkin and coffee, here are some other recipes you’re sure to love:
- Pumpkin Biscoff Cake
- Spiced Chai Pumpkin Cake
- Pumpkin Cupcakes
- Easy Pumpkin Sheet Cake
- Coffee Layer Cake with Vanilla Espresso Buttercream
- Gingerbread Latte Cake
I hope you love this recipe as much as I do! Let me know if you make it in the comments below (be sure to leave a star rating!) and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me if you post a photo. I love to see what you create with my recipes!
Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake
Ingredients
Pumpkin Layer Cake
- 2 Cups (265g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 Cup (200g) packed brown sugar
- 1/2 Cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 Cup (240ml) vegetable oil or melted butter
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 15 Oz (425g) canned pumpkin puree
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Spiced Coffee Buttercream
- 1 Tbsp (7g) instant coffee or espresso powder
- 3 Tbsp (45ml) whole milk, room temperature
- 1 1/2 Cups (339g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 5 Cups (600g) powdered sugar
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
Make The Pumpkin Layer Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC) and prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with baking spray and placing a parchment paper circle into the bottom of each one.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ground ginger. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil (if using melted butter in place of the oil, cool it for 5-10 minutes prior to adding here), eggs, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract. Whisk together until uniform, then add the flour mixture and whisk until smooth.
- Pour the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake for 32-36 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Cool the cakes in the pan for five minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely to room temperature.
Make The Spiced Coffee Buttercream
- Combine the instant coffee (or espresso powder) with the whole milk and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until creamy and pale, about 5 minutes.
- Add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time and mix on low speed, scraping down the bowl and paddle between intervals. Add the coffee/espresso milk mixture, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. Mix on low speed until fully incorporated, 1-2 minutes.
Assembly
- Once the pumpkin cake layers have cooled completely, level them to your desired height. Add a swipe of buttercream onto a cardboard cake round and place one of the cake layers on top. Place onto a turntable with a non-slip pad underneath. Add spiced coffee buttercream on top of the cake layer and smooth it down until it’s about ½ inch tall, then place the next cake layer on top and repeat. When you reach the final cake layer, place it upside down so that the bottom of the layer is the top of the cake. Then, crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of spiced coffee buttercream and refrigerate the cake for 15-20 minutes to let the crumb coat firm up.
- To create the look pictured, use the spiced coffee buttercream to create a smooth buttercream finish on the cake, leaving the top edge raw and unfinished. Divide the remaining buttercream amongst two bowls with about 3/4 in one bowl and 1/4 in the other.
- Create the Piped Pumpkin Design: Add orange food coloring to the bowl with the most buttercream in it (add a little brown food coloring to mute the color to a burnt orange to create the look pictured) and mix dark brown into the other bowl. Fit a piping bag with Wilton Tip 6B and fill it with the orange buttercream, then fit another piping bag with Wilton Tip 3 and fill it with the brown buttercream. On the top of the cake, use the piping bag with the orange buttercream to pipe pumpkins in a crescent shape halfway along the top edge. Finish the look by piping stems on each pumpkin using the brown frosting.
Notes
- The pumpkin cake layers can be made ahead and stored, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to 2 days. Alternatively, you can store the wrapped cake layers in the freezer for up to 2 months before thawing and frosting.
- The spiced coffee buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-mix in your stand mixer on low speed to bring back to smooth buttercream consistency.
- The assembled pumpkin layer cake can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator for 4-5 days, but is freshest closer to the assembly date. When you’re ready to serve, bring the cake back to room temperature by taking it out of the refrigerator 1-2 hours beforehand.
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