The Best Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Maple Buttercream

I know sharing a pumpkin cake in January isn’t exactly “in season” or whatever, but this cake is definitely a winner in my “Six Essential Cakes for Every Baker” series. No matter what time of year it is, I know that there will be a time when you need THE BEST pumpkin cake on the planet. This is it, friends: the best pumpkin cake with brown butter maple buttercream. Trust me, you’re not going to want to skip out on this buttercream. The cake is already next level, but this buttercream really is something special that people always comment on absolutely loving.

SIX ESSENTIAL CAKE RECIPES FOR EVERY BAKER SERIES

I know we all love the new flavors with different textures and flavors, but there’s always a few cakes I come back to. We will always need a few classic flavors that our clients, family, friends, and even kiddos will request for their gatherings. It’s always nice to have a handful of classic cake recipes in your back pocket that you know will work each and every time. You want them to be easy to make, you want them to taste delicious, and you need them to be a winner that you come back to each and every time.

The Best Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Maple Buttercream is no exception! I know it’s still only January, but this cake will be one people come back to each and every time. It’s moist, delicious, and I’ve never been able to find a recipe that can truly beat it’s flavor and texture all around!

TASTED, TESTED, AND TRUE

You guys, I have you covered!!! Throughout this month, I’ve been sharing SIX of my go-to-classic cakes that I know will up your baking game, improve your business (if that’s what you’re here in cake land for – your clients will go crazy over these cakes!) and become your new favorite recipes. They’re easy, fool-proof, and have been proven over the YEARS to be the best of the best. They’ve won blind taste-tests, sold hundreds of thousands of cookbooks, and earned so many bakers increased revenue because their customers LOVE the way these cakes taste!

Yes, you’re going to love this recipe with the cake mix!

Most of the ingredient for this cake you’ll already have around, except for the canned pumpkin and yellow cake mix. I know cake mixes aren’t for everyone, but hear me out – we’ve done blind taste tests with this doctored cake mix (meaning, we add in different ingredients other than the usual oil, water, egg) recipe against some of the most famous baker’s scratch recipes and guess who won…. yep. You’re looking at it right here! So trust me, give it a try, and tell me what you think. I know you’re going to just love it! I prefer the taste and texture of Duncan Hines, but anything else you find that’s around 15.25oz should be similar, hopefully.

Ingredients for the pumpkin cake

• BUTTERMILK – Use room temperature. If you don’t have any, you can make some! Simply add in lemon juice or white vinegar to whole milk and let it curdle for an hour or so into buttermilk.
• SOUR CREAM – Room temperature is best. I love the huge Costco tub of sour cream. You can also sub in plain greek yogurt.
• EGGS – Room temperature (notice a pattern here?). And I always use large eggs, not extra large.
• VANILLA – There’s plenty of flavor in the cake, but this adds in a little something extra.
• VEGETABLE OIL – You can also use melted butter, but vegetable oil is pretty inexpensive these days, so I usually stick with it. I would not sub in canola oil or anything else.
• CANNED PUMPKIN – Not canned pumpkin pie, and not fresh pumpkin puree. You need the canned version, for sure, on this one.
• PUMPKIN PIE SPICE – You can usually find this in the spice aisle, but if you can’t you can make your own by combining together the following spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Pioneer Women has a good recipe here for a small batch.
• YELLOW CAKE MIX – I have tried this with white cake mix and it worked just as well, actually. So if that’s all you can find, go for it!

For the full instructions and directions, see the full recipe below in the recipe section.

Can I make this into a different size cake?

Yes! You can certainly turn the best pumpkin cake with brown butter maple buttercream into a 9×13 pan, cookie sheet, cake roll, cupcakes, 2 8″ cakes, 3 6″ cake rounds, or even a bundt cake if you’d like! Keep the recipe the same, but you’ll need to adjust the baking times for each of the recipes, as they all are a little bit different.

How to make the best browned butteR?

Browned butter is a super under-used ingredient that should be in every baker’s repertoire! It’s simply butter that has been cooked on the stove into a toasted, golden amber, nutty flavor that transcends anything it’s added to. It’s very easy to make, but you’ll need to make sure to follow a couple steps to make the process fool proof.

1. Heat the butter over medium heat until the butter has melted, about 1 minute.
2. Let the butter continue to cook until it’s bubbly, then watch it closely as it begins to foam.
3. Stir the melted butter and let it continue to cook for about 20-30 more seconds. It will start to smell nutty and change to a deep amber color.
4. *This is the important part!* When you see little brown flecks begin to form, remove the browned butter off the stove, then stir for another 10 seconds, then add to a glass dish or small bowl to cool. **Neglecting to do this quickly will yield BURNED butter, and will taste bitter. Doing it too soon will not allow the butter to develop the flavor enough so the browned butter flavor won’t be as strong as it needs to be.**
5. Make sure to scrape in all those little browned bits in the bottom of the pan! Those are where most of the flavor is!
6. Let the butter come back into a solid in the fridge or freezer, then use it as you would regular butter in the recipe.

Maple extract?

I found mine next to the other extracts and emulsions, but you can also find it online here.

Where do I find that cake scraper for the outside cake design?

I have mine from CakeSafe, which is actually named “Mandy” after me 🙂 .

Here’s a quick video of the process:

Share the cake love:

As always, I LOVE to see what you’re baking! If you make my cake, make sure to tag me @bakingwithblondie or #bakingwithblondie on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or Youtube so I can join in on all the fun!

xo,

Mandy