High Altitude Mini Pumpkin Cake

A high altitude tested recipe for the most delicious and moist mini pumpkin cake with vanilla buttercream, in a small size that’s just enough for 2-4 people. This cute pumpkin cake with piped buttercream pumpkins is perfectly spiced, flavorful with brown butter, and easy to decorate. It’s a perfect fall-inspired recipe for a couple to share for dessert, or to make for a baby’s pumpkin themed smash cake photos.

You might also love these mini cake recipes for cookies and cream cake, chocolate cake and carrot cake.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Small Size. I’ve had great feedback on my mini cake recipes, and this mini pumpkin cake makes a fun addition to the collection. When you want to make dessert, but you don’t need too much leftover, a mini cake is a wonderful option for a special occasion, birthday or anniversary. This little cake yields four slices, so it’s just enough for a few people to share, or even to make for a baby’s first birthday smash cake. I baked my mini pumpkin cake in two 4-inch cake pans, but you can also divide the batter between two 6-inch pans, or just bake a simple one-layer cake.

Brown Butter and Fall Spices. You’ll just love the flavor of the cake, with the nutty richness of brown butter, complemented by plenty of cozy, warm spices.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Cake

• 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.
• Sugar. Granulated sugar and brown sugar adds sweetness and moisture to the cake.
• Egg. Add strength, moisture and fat.
• Milk. Moisture.
• Flour. Plain all purpose flour gives the cake structure and strength.
• Baking Soda. Leavening agent, so the cake rises as it bakes.
• Spices. You’ll need salt, to balance the sweetness and enhance flavor. Then a combination of vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and allspice adds warmth and coziness.

Buttercream

• Butter. You can use either salted or unsalted butter, just omit the extra salt if using salted butter.
• Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the frosting.
• Meringue Powder. Optional, but this adds stability and improves the texture.
• Salt. Balances the sweetness.
• Vanilla. Flavor.

Instructions

Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly spray the bottoms of two 4-inch round cake pans with non-stick baking spray. If you only have 6-inch pans, you can divide the batter between two pans for thinner layers for a layer cake, or bake all the batter in one pan for a simple one-layer cake.
• In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan occasionally, for about 5 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 bowl, whisk together the browned butter with the pumpkin, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, milk and vanilla, until smooth.
• Separately, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk just until combined.

• Divide the batter between the prepared 4-inch cake pans. Bake for about 18-22 minutes, until the tops spring back when gently touched, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the cake comes out clean. Cool the cakes completely before frosting. If using two 6-inch pans, the baking time will be less; if using one 6-inch pan, the baking time will be more.
• If the tops of the cakes are domed, use a sharp knife to slice off a small portion of the dome, to make the cakes level for stacking.

Buttercream

• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar by spoonfuls, the meringue powder, salt and vanilla. Increase the speed and whip for 4-5 minutes, until very light and fluffy, scraping the bowl down several times. Turn the speed down to “stir” and mix for 1 more minute.
• Stack, fill and frost the cooled cakes all over with the buttercream, or use the following instructions to decorate your cake like today’s photographed cake.
• Fit a piping bag with tip 1M, and fill with the buttercream. Place one of the cooled cakes on a serving plate, and pipe a generous swirl of buttercream on top of the cake, leaving the sides of the cake bare. Repeat with the second layer of cake.

• Take the remaining buttercream, and divide it into two bowls. Add a few drops of orange gel food coloring to one bowl, and a few drops of orange and yellow food coloring to the other. Now add a small drop or two of warm brown gel food coloring to both, to deepen the colors a little.
• Then, scoop a small amount of the orange buttercream into a third bowl, and add more of the warm brown food coloring until you have a chocolate brown color.

• Fit two piping bags with tips 4B and 6B, fill with the two shades of orange buttercream, and pipe pumpkins on top of the cake.
• Fit a piping bag with a coupler and tip 16, and fill with the brown buttercream. Pipe squiggly stems on top of the pumpkins.

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

What piping tip did you use to pipe the pumpkins?

I used tip 1M to pipe the vanilla buttercream, tips 4B and 6B to pipe the pumpkins, and tip 16 to pipe the stems.

Can I use pumpkin pie spice in this cake?

Yes. You can replace the blend of spices in the cake with 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice.

What size pans should I use if I double the recipe?

You can double this recipe and bake the cake in three 6-inch cake pans. This will give you a half-size cake that serves up to 8 people. For a standard-sized cake that serves 16 people, use my original high altitude pumpkin cake recipe.

How long does this cake stay fresh?

Store your cake in an airtight container at room temperature to keep it moist and fresh for up to 3 days.

How can I use up the rest of the canned pumpkin?

Since this mini cake only uses 1/3 of a cup of pumpkin, you’ll have quite a bit leftover to use. But I have plenty of pumpkin recipes that don’t use a full can of pumpkin, such as these pumpkin whoopie pies, maple pumpkin oatmeal with walnuts and raisins, soft and chewy pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pecan muffins, no churn bourbon pumpkin ice cream, and pumpkin pecan waffles. This is just a few of them, but I have more! Just search my site for “pumpkin”.

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