Pumpkin Spice Cake with Chai Buttercream Frosting
Soft, moist, and the perfect cake! This Pumpkin Spice Cake with Chai Buttercream Frosting is the ultimate Fall dessert!
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour*
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 Tablespoon natural process cocoa powder
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups sugar
- 1 ¼ cups buttermilk room temperature
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Frosting
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon chai spice
- 1 ½ Tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
Cake
- Heat oven to 350℉.
- Spray three 6 inch cake pans with baking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the beater blade (flat beater for traditional stand mixers), beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, and stirring after each addition. Be careful not to over mix!
- Stir in vanilla.
- Evenly divide batter into prepared pans. If using a scale, it should be roughly 16.4 ounces per pan.
- Bake about 30-35 minutes, or until cake tests done.
Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment (or with a flat beater for a traditional mixer), beat butter until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Stir in chai spice and vanilla.
Assembly
- Level cake layers using a serrated knife or cake leveler, if needed.
- Place one layer on a round cake board and then on a turntable (the easiest way to decorate) or directly on the plate you will be serving on.
- Spoon about ½ cup of frosting in the center of the cake layer.
- Spread evenly across the top.
- Place second layer on top of frosting, pressing down gently to ensure it's level.
- Again, spread about ½ cup frosting on top.
- Top with remaining cake layer, again pressing down gently to ensure it's level.
- Frost as desired.
Notes
*This recipe was written using an average of the dip and sweep method for measuring flour and the spoon and level method. If you are using a scale, you will need to add 3/4 oz or 22 g to the measurement for each cup of flour.
How To Store:
If you have leftovers, you can store this cake easily! There are actually a couple of choices. You can leave it covered in a cake plate for a few days on the counter, place it in the fridge covered by a cake plate, or even freeze individual slices!
You could also freeze the individual cake layers and assemble the cake at a later date!
A Few Tips For Baking This Cake:
- Be sure to check the expiration dates on your baking powder and baking soda.
- You can use a scale to ensure the cake batter is equal in each pan!
- Cooking times may vary based on your oven! Use a cake tester/tooth pick to check if your cakes are done.
- Use an oven thermometer to ensure the correct baking temperature.
- If you let the cake sit overnight, it will develop more flavor!
Nutrition
Serving: 1sliceCalories: 910kcalCarbohydrates: 122gProtein: 8gFat: 45gSaturated Fat: 28gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 2gCholesterol: 184mgSodium: 715mgPotassium: 153mgFiber: 1gSugar: 90gVitamin A: 1448IUVitamin C: 0.3mgCalcium: 141mgIron: 3mg
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.