Guys. I made the BEST PUMPKIN CAKE. EVER. And all my dog park friends can confirm because I brought them two rounds of tester cake. Heheh. 

To be fair, I absolutely love anything that contains cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, especially when it comes in cake form. And I especially love pumpkin desserts. But like for real, this pumpkin cake is the best ever. It’s super moist from the addition of pumpkin puree, and perfectly flavored with pumpkin pie spice goodness.

And then there’s the cream cheese frosting. OH, THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING. What a glorious thing, am I right?

Vanilla buttercream is fine and all, but I love using cream cheese frosting, especially when you’re dealing with a spice cake. Plus, the slight tang pairs perfectly with the sweeter salted caramel drizzle on top.

I kid you not, I have made this cake four times because I loved it that much. It’s like… fall gets all these fun desserts like donuts, pies, and muffins, but where are all the fall cakes? Cakes need fall too, people. And fall needs cakes.

Hope you enjoy this miraculous cake. It’s alright, I guess. 🙂

Tips on how to make cream cheese frosting

Before jumping into the recipe, I wanted to give you some pointers on the two trickier parts of this pumpkin cake recipe, the cream cheese frosting and the salted caramel sauce.  I feel like most people have made a homemade cake before, but frosting and caramel sauce might be new territory for some of you!

To make a homemade cream cheese frosting, you’ll need a few basic ingredients (the most important of which being the cream cheese—full-fat is a must!). To make a super creamy frosting, your butter and cream cheese should be at room temperature. This is crucial, as your frosting won’t whip up properly if these two ingredients are cold.

Cream the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Then, add in some vanilla extract, salt, and most of the powdered sugar. I recommend adding the powdered sugar in stages for a few reasons. First, because it’ll likely puff up into your face when you turn on the mixer. Second, because you might like a tangier frosting than I do. Remember: you can always add in more sugar, but you can’t take it out!

As long as you keep these few simple tips in mind, your cream cheese frosting should turn out perfectly!

Tips on how to make salted caramel sauce

Making caramel seems scary, but the whole process actually takes less than 15 minutes. To make a basic caramel sauce, you’ll first add the sugar into a heavy bottomed sauce pan. No water or anything is needed, just the sugar! Heat the sugar for a good five minutes, stirring a few times to scrape the bottom of the pan. The sugar should melt fairly quickly and will start turning brown. Once it’s a lovely golden hue, remove it from the heat and add the butter.

When you add in the butter, the sugar will start to bubble like crazy. That’s totally normal! This is what you want to happen, actually. Stir everything together until combined, then pour in the heavy cream and return the pan to the stove for a few seconds. Add in the salt and set the caramel sauce aside to cool. Seriously, you’ll scald your tongue otherwise.

A word of warning: if you think the sugar has burned even a little bit on the stove, just chuck it into the trash. I hate wasting food, but burnt sugar is nasty stuff and it’ll completely ruin your caramel sauce. If this is your first time making caramel, don’t worry if it doesn’t turn out perfectly. You’ll get the hang of it quickly, I’m sure!

Alright, that’s enough chatting on my end. It’s about time you started baking!

More fall dessert recipes from Broma Bakery:

Grain-Free Gingersnap Molasses Cake

Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Frosting

Chai Spiced Salted Caramel Macarons

Cardamom Spiced Carrot Cake with Ginger Frosting

Annoyingly Addicting Bourbon Apple Fritters