Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake With Coffee Frosting

Recipe from Tieghan Gerard

Adapted by Julia Moskin

Published Oct. 30, 2023

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake With Coffee Frosting
Joe Lingeman for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell.
Total Time
1¼ hours
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour
Rating
4(223)
Comments
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Tieghan Gerard, who runs the wildly popular Half Baked Harvest blog, posts a new recipe nearly every day, all year round, but her favorite season is (of course) fall, when she brings out the pumpkin-shaped pots, pumpkin-scented candles and toasted pumpkin seeds. Even if you don’t identify with the P.S.L. set, separating the pumpkin spice (cake) from the latte (frosting) makes this a delicious snack cake. Pumpkin purée makes it very moist, so test to be sure the batter is baked all the way through. —Julia Moskin

Featured in: The Star of Half Baked Harvest Inspires Loyalty — and Controversy

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Ingredients

Yield:1 (8-inch) cake

    For the Cake

    • ½cup/120 milliliters coconut oil, melted, plus more for greasing
    • 1(15-ounce) can pumpkin purée
    • ⅔cup/146 grams packed light or dark brown sugar
    • 2large eggs, at room temperature
    • 1tablespoon vanilla extract
    • 1½cups/192 grams all-purpose flour
    • 1¼teaspoons baking powder
    • ½teaspoon baking soda
    • 1teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • ½teaspoon ground ginger
    • ½teaspoon ground cardamom
    • ¼teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
    • ¾teaspoon fine pink Himalayan salt or fine sea salt

    For the Frosting

    • ½cup/1 stick salted butter, at room temperature
    • 2ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
    • 1½cups/185 grams confectioners’ sugar
    • 1tablespoon instant espresso powder
    • 1tablespoon vanilla extract
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on two opposite sides. Grease the parchment with coconut oil.

  2. Step 2

    Make the cake: In a stand mixer, beat together the pumpkin, brown sugar, melted coconut oil, eggs and vanilla on low until combined, about 1 minute. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg and salt. Mix on low speed until completely smooth, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

  3. Step 3

    Bake until the center is just set, 25 to 30 minutes. Carefully use the parchment paper overhang to remove the cake from the pan and place it on a cooling rack. Let cool for about 30 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Meanwhile, make the frosting: In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and cream cheese until combined, 2 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar, espresso powder and vanilla; beat until the frosting is fluffy, 2 to 4 minutes more.

  5. Step 5

    Spread the frosting over the cooled cake. Slice, snack and enjoy! Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
223 user ratings
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Comments

annalou

The recipe makes way too much frosting. You could cut in half. And double the coffee. I used instant decaf. But the cake itself is so moist and wonderful, you could drop the frosting all together!

Ted S

I am wondering why we've all had such differing experiences. I cooked the recipe exactly, other than slightly extending the cooking time. Cake is great IMO - actually the texture I expected and wanted, not too dense but not light and cakey, either. Exactly the right amount of frosting, also, and no need for extra liquid at all.

Kelli C.

Use three eggs and use 1/4 buttermilk with 1/4 coconut oil to get a less dense cake.

OaktownMomma

We really liked this cake! Two things to remember - do NOT put the cake in the fridge! This changes the texture of the cake from dense to unpleasantly thick. Only put the frosting on when you're about to serve, or the pieces you intend to eat. (When you put the frosting on top, you have to refrigerate it.) The frosting is AWESOME!!!

Renee

I’m usually way too lazy to ice cakes and I don’t need the sweetness, but this icing had a perfect latte taste so I’m thrilled to have tried it. (I used decaf instant Nespresso gold.) The cake also retained the pumpkin flavor which tasted great with the latte. Many pumpkin dessert recipes drown out the pumpkin with spice, but that didn’t happen in this cake.

paikra

@C. yes, it will be watery so you'll want to bake, puree, then drain the pumpkin

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Credits

Adapted from Tieghan Gerard

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