Personally, I think it’s just a bit too early for pumpkin recipes but I had to release this one in order to post my pumpkin cake gelato while the weather is still hot. If you also want to make that recipe, cut out one third of the cake after it’s made and use it to mix in the ice cream. Anyways, this cake is perfectly spiced and absolutely delicious! The cream cheese frosting has different flavor options like browned butter or coffee, or both! In my opinion, you’ve gotta do both to make it more special than your average pumpkin cake. Adding the espresso powder and taking the time to brown the butter makes the frosting so rich, warm, flavorful, and incredible! I’m excited for fall weather and desserts, I hope you are also, so let’s welcome it with this delicious, cozy dessert!
This post contains affiliate links to some of my very favorite ingredients. This way it is easy for you to find the ingredients I used at the best price I’ve found. If you click one and purchase anything from Amazon, I will receive a very small percentage of the sale, to support what I do here. Thank you!
Link to my favorite gluten-free flour blend is here.
Link to my favorite organic, flavorless coconut oil is here.
The 8 inch cake pans I use are linked here!
Espresso powder I use for baking is linked here.
Click here for my pumpkin cake gelato recipe!
Gluten & Nut Free Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Options
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup (64 grams) liquid oil of choice or melted, refined coconut oil
- ¾ cup (160 grams) light or dark brown sugar (dark is my personal favorite) packed
- 2 medium-large eggs room temperature if using coconut oil. I set them (un-cracked) in a small bowl, pour hot water on top to cover, and let them sit for 5 minutes or until they are no longer cold
- 2 ¼ tsps pumpkin pie spice or 1 ¼ tsps cinnamon, ½ tsp ginger, ¼+⅛ tsp nutmeg, and ⅛ tsp cloves
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsps vanilla extract
- 1 cup (243 grams) pumpkin purée
- 1 ½ tsps baking powder
- 1 ⅓ cups (180 grams) Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking flour
- ¼ cup milk of choice
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- ¼ cup (½ stick, 56 grams) unsalted butter softened if you don't want to brown the butter
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½-1 ½ tsps instant coffee/espresso powder use ½ if you want just a little background flavor and use up to 1 ½ tsps if you want full coffee flavor
- 4 oz (½ block, 113 grams) cream cheese
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp maple extract optional, but recommended for extra flavor
- 1 ½ cups (195 grams) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Grease an 8 inch cake pan with oil and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 C).
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer (use a stand mixer if you prefer), beat the oil, sugar, and eggs together for about 2 minutes. Add the pumpkin pie spice, salt, vanilla, and pumpkin and mix until fully incorporated. Add the baking powder and GF flour and mix until smooth. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula. Pour in the milk and give the batter one last, good mix. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan and bake for 22-27 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- If you would like to brown the butter (which makes the frosting so much more flavorful), melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Let it bubble and boil while mixing frequently and watching carefully, until it begins to brown (it burns very easily). Remove from heat, pour into a heat-proof mixing bowl, add the salt and coffee/espresso powder, and let it cool at room temperature until the bowl feels cool to the touch (it should still be liquid).
- If you did not brown the butter, in a very small bowl or cup, dissolve the espresso/coffee powder in about 2 tsps of hot water.
- If you did not brown the butter, in a medium-large mixing bowl beat the butter, dissolved espresso/coffee, and salt together until very light and fluffy. Whether you are using browned butter or not, add the cream cheese, vanilla, and maple extract to the coffee butter and beat until well combined. Add ½ cup of powdered sugar and mix on low until combined. Add another ½ cup of powdered sugar and mix to incorporate. Add the final ½ cup of powdered sugar and mix until combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula. Beat the frosting very well until fluffy.
Assembly:
- Once the cake is completely cooled, loosen the edges of the pan with a knife, invert the cake out onto a plate, and remove the parchment circle. Scrape all the frosting out of the mixing bowl and onto the cake. Using a frosting spatula, spread the frosting out to the edges of the cake and style it however you wish. Enjoy! Remember to save one third of it if you want to make the pumpkin cake gelato (it's linked above this recipe card)!
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