Every fall, I make a pumpkin spice layer cake, and this is the recipe that never fails me. This is a high altitude pumpkin cake recipe made with brown butter, cozy fall spices, and sweet and tangy cream cheese vanilla bean buttercream. Sometimes, I make this pumpkin cake in the form of my Thanksgiving Pumpkin Cake. And it’s also beautiful with naked cake layers, filled with swirls of frosting. This is a perfect fall cake for Halloween and Thanksgiving!
Looking for more high altitude pumpkin recipes? You’ll love pumpkin sugar cookies with maple icing, best pumpkin bread, pumpkin bourbon ice cream, and pumpkin pie with brown sugar streusel.
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Why You’ll Love This Cake
A Perfect Texture. The cake is so soft, so moist, tender and fluffy, with a velvety crumb. With the cream cheese buttercream, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. My dad even once told me when I brought this cake to their house for Thanksgiving, that it was the best cake he’d ever had in his life!
Brown Butter. I absolutely love using brown butter (or browned butter) in baking. It’s fantastic in these Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (my personal favorite of all the cookies). And this one layer Brown Butter Toffee Cake is to die for. It’s an ingredient I use quite often, and it makes everything so much more delicious!
Pumpkin Everything Season. You have to have a festive pumpkin cake for pumpkin everything season, right? And this cake is equally perfect for a casual Halloween party or an elegant Thanksgiving dinner.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Brown Butter. Besides flavor, the brown butter adds moisture and richness to the cake.
- Pumpkin. You’ll need plain canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. I’ve also made this cake using my own homemade pumpkin puree, which I made after roasting a few pie pumpkins. It turned out great! Expect the color to be more yellow than orange if you use homemade pumpkin puree.
- Sugar. I’ve tested this cake recipe with dark brown sugar, light brown sugar, and a combination of both brown sugar and granulated sugar. Honestly, it works out well every time! I’ve written the recipe below to use both, but know that you can use just brown sugar with great results.
- Eggs. The eggs add structure and richness to the cake.
- Buttermilk. I love baking with buttermilk, and I use it in everything from waffles to muffins to cakes. It adds moisture, flavor and acidity, which helps with the rise of the cake.
- Vanilla. For a double dose of vanilla, there’s vanilla extract in the cake, and vanilla bean in the buttercream.
- Flour. Most of the time, I use all-purpose flour in my high altitude pumpkin cake. I have used cake flour on occasion, and it makes the cake a little lighter, but it’s great either way.
- Baking Soda. The baking soda reacts with the acid in the buttermilk and pumpkin to leaven the cake.
- Salt + Spices. So, you’ll never see “pumpkin pie spice” listed as an ingredient in my pumpkin recipes. If you have it, though, use it! But I like to add my spices separately. Salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg give this cake amazing flavor that perfectly complements the pumpkin.
Instructions
Make the browned butter.
- Making brown butter is as easy as just melting butter on the stove. After melting the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, continue to cook the butter, not stirring, but just swirling the pan occasionally. This process will let some of the water evaporate while browning the milk solids on the bottom of the pan. It’s very fragrant with a nutty, toasted aroma, and a richer flavor than melted or clarified butter.
- Throughout the process, which might take 5-10 minutes or so, the butter will go through several stages. It will splatter and hiss a bit as the water evaporates. Then it will quiet down, and a layer of foam will form on top of the melted butter. At this point, you’ll know it’s nearly ready. If you swirl the pan to see the bottom, you’ll see golden brown solids that have formed at the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat, and immediately use a spatula or spoon to scrape the solids from the bottom of the pan so they don’t stick. Some people strain out the solids, but I use all of it. It has the most incredible flavor. The brown butter is now ready to be used in my brown butter pumpkin cake.
Make the cake batter.
- Preheat the oven to 350, and spray the bottoms of three 8-inch cake pans with non-stick spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Whisk in the browned butter.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk for about 15-30 seconds until smooth.
Bake the cake.
- Divide the batter between the pans. Bake the cakes on the center oven rack for about 22-25 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.
- Set the pans on a wire cooling rack, cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting.
To make cream cheese frosting for a layer cake, you need to use half butter and half cream cheese, for a cream cheese buttercream. Cream cheese is very soft, and the frosting has a tendency to become very soft, thin and runny when the wrong proportions of ingredients are used. But when combined with butter (and of course, powdered sugar), it becomes more stable and firm, and is perfectly suited for frosting a layer cake without fear of it sliding off.
Make the cream cheese buttercream.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter for one minute.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder, salt and vanilla bean paste. Increase speed to medium, and whip for 3-4 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally, until light and fluffy.
- Remove the cooled cakes from the pans. Fill, frost and stack the cakes, then frost all over with a thin crumb coat of buttercream. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, then finish frosting all over with a final coat of buttercream.
- For my final coat of buttercream, I kept it pretty thin and transparent, for a “semi naked” look on my cake. This looks especially pretty with the piped buttercream pumpkins.
Decorating Your Pumpkin Spice Cake
- Piped Buttercream Pumpkins. Okay, let’s talk about how I decorated this cake! It’s so easy to pipe the pumpkins on the side of the cake using Wilton Tip 1M and a little leftover buttercream. This is my favorite piping tip, because it does so many different things from ruffles to swirls to rosettes to pumpkins! I have 3-4 of these tips, because I use them so often.
- Curly Vines. Then I switched to a small round tip (#2) to pipe the curly vines and the stems. I think those vines really make the design. I thought about tinting the buttercream orange for the pumpkins, but in the end, I loved the look of the all white, and I’m glad I didn’t use food coloring.
- Candy Leaves. Lastly, I finished the buttercream pumpkin design with little candy leaves, but you could use a leaf piping tip to pipe some leaves, too. I hope you add this high altitude pumpkin cake to your baking lineup this fall, and if you do, please tag me on Instagram, so I can see your creation!
Paint the leaves.
- I found these cute green holly leaves in a Christmas sprinkle mix, and I just love them. But green isn’t what I’m going for on this cake, and I wanted a more monochromatic look.
- To paint the leaves, simply mix a few drops of vodka with some bronze shimmer powder or luster dust to make a thin, edible “paint”. Then just use a small brush to brush the mixture onto the candy leaves. The vodka dries quickly, so that the candy won’t melt from the moisture.
- Let the leaves dry for about an hour, before decorating the cake.
Pipe the pumpkins and leaves with buttercream.
- Fit a piping bag with tip 1M, and fill with buttercream. Pipe a vertical row of buttercream to form the center of the pumpkin, followed by a row on each side of the middle one.
- Pipe two more pumpkins so you have three in a row.
- Switch to a small round tip, such as tip #2, and pipe some curly vines around the pumpkins and the stems.
- Decorate with the leaves.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this recipe if I don’t live at high altitude?
You sure can, but you’ll probably need to make a few adjustments, such as decreasing the flour, and increasing the leavening. This article by King Arthur Baking has good guidelines on making specific adjustments for various altitudes.
What piping tip did you use to pipe the pumpkins?
I used tip 1M to pipe the pumpkins, and #2 to pipe the vines.
Can I use pumpkin pie spice in this cake?
Yes, you can substitute pumpkin pie spice for the blend of spices. I would use 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice to replace the blend of spices in my ingredient list.
Does homemade pumpkin puree work in this recipe?
Sure, but make sure you’re using sweet sugar or pie pumpkins, not field pumpkins, which don’t have a good flavor for baking.
Can I use pumpkin pie filling?
No, pumpkin pie filling is not interchangeable with plain canned pumpkin puree. The pie filling contains other ingredients that would ruin the cake.
Does this cake need to be refrigerated?
Cakes with cream cheese frosting usually need to be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. But since cake is best served at room temperature, you should let it sit out for 3-4 hours to warm up before serving.
How long does this cake stay fresh?
It will stay moist and soft for about 3 days.
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High Altitude Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter
- 1 can (15 oz/425g) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
- ½ cup (80g) light or dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 cup (216g) granulated sugar
- 4 (220g) large eggs
- ½ cup (135ml) whole buttermilk
- 2 tsp (8g) vanilla
- 2 cups + 2 tbsp (276g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 ¼ tsp (6g) baking soda
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
Buttercream
- 8 oz (227g) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 8 oz (226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 5 cups (700g) powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp (9g) meringue powder, optional
- ⅛ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ tsp (6g) vanilla bean paste (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350, and spray the bottoms of three 8-inch cake pans with non-stick spray.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until the water has evaporated, and the butter is forming nutty, fragrant golden brown solids at the bottom of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and let the butter cool for 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Whisk in the browned butter.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk for about 30 seconds until smooth.
- Divide the batter between the pans. Bake the cakes on the center oven rack for about 22-25 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.
- Set the pans on a wire cooling rack, cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter for one minute.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder, salt and vanilla bean seeds. Increase speed to medium, and whip for 3-4 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally, until light and fluffy.
- Remove the cooled cakes from the pans. Fill, frost and stack the cakes, then frost all over with a thin crumb coat of buttercream. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, then finish frosting all over with a final coat of buttercream.
Well now your photos are stellar for sure:)
It's still pumpkin season in my book! This looks perfect, especially with addition of brown butter 🙂
What’s the baking time and temperate? Thank
That information can be found in the recipe at the bottom of the post. 🙂
Thank you for this high altitude recipe! I live in Colorado and sometimes it’s hard to find a recipe (or even adaptations) for our altitude. I did have one question… I do not have 3 eight inch pans but I do have 2 nine inch round pans. Do you think I can use those and make it 2 layers instead of three?
Katie,
I’m happy to help! Everything on my blog is tested for Denver’s altitude, since I live in Aurora. 🙂
You can definitely bake two 9-inch layers instead of the three 8-inch layers. Your cake won’t be quite as tall, but it’ll be just as good. You’ll probably need to add a few more minutes of bake time, so just check the center for doneness.
Great! Thank you! I’ve never had much luck baking and I’ve always blamed it on the altitude… Now I won’t have any excuses LOL! I live in Pueblo now but was born and raised in Salida. Your recipes look amazing and I’m so excited to try them!
Thank you, that was my same question!!
I stumbled across this recipe and so excited to try it! I don’t live in a high altitude and I’m wondering if I just need to increase the baking time a little. Has anyone offered any feedback on this? Thank you and so sorry if I missed any notes regarding this in the comments.
Sarita,
I haven’t had any feedback from sea-level bakers on this particular recipe, but I have had comments on other recipes that they made them as written, and they worked great, even at sea level. It’s possible you’d need to increase the leavening, though, to make sure this cake rises enough at your elevation.
If I’m halving the recipe, can I use three 6in pans instead?
Yes, that will work perfectly.
Loved this recipe! I did 2/3 cup of sugar instead of a whole cup, just as personal preference since I prefer less sweet, and it turned out great! I made 2 layers into a cake for my friend so I didn’t get to try that, but the last 3rd of the batter I poured into a cupcake tin (I think I got about 9 from it) and I got to enjoy those, so yummy!
Can the pumpkin be replaced with apple sauce?
No, I’ve tried that, and wasn’t pleased with the result.
I will give more stars after the family tries it tomorrow if it’s a hit. I followed exactly except I used browned butter in the frosting too. And I had no buttermilk so substituted milk with apple cider vinegar. My baking time is also different since I used a molded skull cake pan. I am in the middle of baking right now. Since my pan is skull shaped, I’m coating a thin layer of plain white frosting then adding dia de los muertos designs with the frosting in color. I’ll update with pics and the final cook time. I’m hopeful, since I am so used to modifying recipes that finding a high altitude specific one excited me.