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This Spice Cake with Pumpkin Mascarpone Buttercream is a wonderfully moist cake with all my favorite fall spices, covered in the most amazing pumpkin buttercream made with mascarpone cheese! It is such a great cake for fall and the holidays with some fun decorations!
This post is sponsored by Wilton, but all opinions are my own.
Table of Contents
- How to Make a Spice Cake With Pumpkin Frosting
- How to Decorate a Spice Cake
- More Pumpkin Cake Recipes
- Get the Recipe
We are getting into the time of year that I love the most. All the tasty food, all the baking and all the dessert decorating. It’s the time of year that we all get into the kitchen looking to impress as much as can, whether it’s an awesome cookie recipe or a delicious cake. And of course, if you make a cake for display, it’s got to look great.
Naturally if you want a great looking cake, you’re going to need the right supplies and Wilton is where it’s at. I’ve been using their cake decorating supplies since I began baking years ago. In fact, their cake decorating classes are the ones I took back when getting started with baking. I’m sure you’ve seen me recommend many of their products, as I use them all the time.
Well today, we are going to use some of my favorite Wilton products and some of their fun fall decorations. They are perfect for using on this Spice Cake with Pumpkin Frosting.
How to Make a Spice Cake With Pumpkin Frosting
First things first – we need our spice cake. It’s wonderfully moist, made with both butter and oil. Butter not only adds moisture, but flavor, and the oil adds additional moisture that you just can’t get with anything else.
The cake batter begins with creaming your butter, oil and sugar together, which adds air to the batter to help it rise. Always an important step to not skip over.
Next, you’ll add your vanilla extract and eggs, followed by your dry ingredients and milk. Since we are making a spice cake, we’ve got all the best spices in here – plenty of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. I like to really taste my spices, so there’s lots of spice to go around.
Once your batter is prepared, you’ll want to add it to your cake pans. My favorites are my 8×2 inch Wilton pans. To be sure my cakes never stick to the pans, I always grease them and love the Bake Easy Non-Stick Spray for the sides of the pan. The other little trick I use is to line the bottom of the pans with Parchment Paper. The cakes pop right out of the pan with no problem using the spray and paper. Perfect every time!
How to Decorate a Spice Cake
When your cake is baked and cooled, it’s time for the fun part – the frosting and decor. I am totally in love with this frosting! Not only is the pumpkin flavor one of my favorites for fall, the mascarpone cheese is really just the best. I’ve used it for several frostings and find myself wanting to use it more and more. It’s so wonderfully creamy and adds the best flavor. It also cuts down on the sweetness of your typical buttercream. Love it!
Once you’ve got your frosting ready, you’ll want to frost your cake so that it’s nice and smooth. Feel free to check out my tutorial for a perfectly smooth cake. You’ll want to be sure to have a turntable handy (I use this Wilton turntable), some piping tips and some handy 12 inch Disposable Piping Bags. The disposable bags are great when you want to cut down on your dishes a bit. Just throw the bags out when you’re done – so easy!
After the cake is frosted, it’s time for the decorations! Surely you know that I love a good drip cake. When adding a colored drip like this one, Candy Melts are the way to go. I used their orange melts for this cake, but I’ve also used them on other fun cakes in the past, like this Peppermint Chip Layer Cake and Banana Split Layer Cake. They are a great thing to have handy – so many great colors and easy to use.
The Candy Melts are combined with some heavy whipping cream and drizzled around the edge of the cake. I use my Wilton Squeeze Bottle for drizzling. It helps control the flow of the orange ganache as you work your way around the cake.
After adding the orange drizzle, grab those handy disposable piping bags fitted with the 2D piping tip and pipe some swirls of buttercream around the top. Finish of the cake with some beautiful Pumpkin Mix Sprinkles. Such fun colors for fall and I love the little pumpkins included in them – so festive!
And then you’re done! Store the cake in the fridge until you’re ready to serve it. The mascarpone frosting is going to need to be refrigerated, but I definitely recommend serving the cake closer to room temperature so it’s a little softer.
This spice cake with pumpkin frosting is sure to be a hit! Not only is it a beautiful cake to serve, it’s absolutely delicious and full of spice and flavor! The spices of the cake and pumpkin buttercream pair perfectly together and I have no doubt you’ll love them. Happy Fall Baking! Don’t forget to visit Wilton’s website for more autumn project ideas!
Enjoy!
More Pumpkin Cake Recipes
Want to try out some more decadent pumpkin cake recipes this fall? Check out these ones!
- Easy Pumpkin Cake
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
- Pumpkin Pound Cake
- Cinnamon Streusel Pumpkin Coffee Cake
Recipe
Spice Cake with Pumpkin Mascarpone Buttercream
5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.7 from 3 reviews
- Author: Lindsay
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 12-14
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This spice cake with pumpkin mascarpone buttercream is a wonderfully moist cake with all my favorite fall spices, covered in the most amazing pumpkin buttercream made with mascarpone cheese!
Ingredients
Spice Cake
- 2 1/2 cups (325g) all purpose flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (168g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (338g) light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cups (300ml) milk
Pumpkin Mascarpone Buttercream
- 1 1/2 cups (336g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 11 cups (1265g) powdered sugar
- 8 ounces mascarpone cheese, cool but not cold
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (150g) pumpkin puree
Orange Ganache and Decor
- 7 ounces Wilton Orange Candy Melts
- 4 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- Wilton Pumpkin Mix Sprinkles
Instructions
1. Prepare three 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper circles in the bottom and grease the sides. Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C).
4. Combine the flour, baking powder, spices and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
5. Add the butter, brown sugar and vegetable oil to a large mixer bowl and beat together until light in color and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Do not skimp on the creaming time.
6. Add the vanilla extract and two eggs and mix until well combined and smooth.
7. Add the other two eggs and mix until well combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
8. Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until mostly combined.
9. Add the milk and mix until well combined.
10. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until well combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated. Do not over mix the batter.
11. Divide the batter evenly between the cakes pans and bake for 28-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.
12. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool for about 2-3 minutes, then remove to cooling racks to cool completely.
13. When the cakes are ready and cooled, make the frosting. Place the butter in a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth.
14. Add about half of the powdered sugar and mix until well combined and smooth.
15. Add the mascarpone cheese and mix until well combined and smooth.
16. Add the salt, spices, vanilla extract and pumpkin puree and mix until well combined and smooth.
17. Add the remainder of the powdered sugar and mix until well combined and smooth.
18. To put the cake together, remove the domes from the tops of the cakes. To do this, I use a long serrated knife.
19. Place the first layer of cake on a cake plate or cardboard cake circle and top with about 3/4 cup of frosting. Spread the frosting into an even layer.
20. Add the second layer of cake and another layer of frosting.
21. Add the final layer of cake to the top, then frost the outside of the cake. Feel free to refer to my tutorial for frosting a smooth cake. Refrigerate the cake for a bit so that the frosting can firm up, if needed.
22. To make the orange ganache, add the candy melts to a medium sized bowl.
23. Heat the heavy whipping cream until it begins to boil, then pour it over the candy melts. Allow to sit for 1-2 minutes, then whisk until smooth.
24. Drizzle the orange ganache around the outer edge of the cake and fill in the top of the cake. I like to use a squeeze bottle, but you could also use a piping bag and piping tip.
25. Pipe the remaining frosting around the outside edge of the top of the cake, then add sprinkles. I used the Wilton 2D piping tip.
26. Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve and serve at room temperature. Cake is best when stored well covered and eaten within 2-3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 944
- Sugar: 101 g
- Sodium: 229.9 mg
- Fat: 48.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 122.6 g
- Protein: 8.9 g
- Cholesterol: 163.5 mg
Categories
- Cakes and Cupcakes
- Fall and Holiday Favorites
- Holidays
- Recipes
- Sweets and Treats
- Thanksgiving
