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Oh deliciousness. If you’re a pumpkin spice anything person, this one’s for you. Spiced pumpkin cake with a fluffy espresso-flavored frosting. It doesn’t even need a description it’s that good. And with the mini bundt pumpkin patch on the top it’s not only delicious but adorable too. Beautifully captured by my sweet friend Ruth Eileen Photography. Snag her up for fall pictures while you can, she fills up quick.

You’ll need a 9 x 13″ baking pan and a mini bundt pan to make the mini “pumpkins” on top. Some cinnamon sticks cut in half, anise seed pods for the “leaves” and a chocolate drizzle vine dress this cake to adorable perfection.

I love this cake pan because it comes with a lid so you can easily store it. I made sure to fill the mini bundt pans only 1/2 full and then cut the risen top flat once baked so I could put the two cut edges together to make a cute bundt “pumpkin” And they turned out better then I imagined! In order to do that though and have enough batter for the cake I made 1.5 times the recipe–the full recipe for the cake and then I cut the recipe in half for the mini bundt cakes.

 

PUMPKIN CAKE

 

INGREDIENTS

2 C All Purpose Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

2 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Salt

2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1 tsp Allspice

3/4 tsp Ground Ginger

1/2 tsp Ground Cloves

1 Can Pumpkin Puree

1 2/3 C Coconut Sugar (or substitute with brown sugar)

2/3 C Sunflower Oil

4 Eggs

1/2 C Greek Yogurt (I use Kite Hill Greek Plain yogurt which is an almond milk yogurt)

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

*1/4 C dark chocolate chips, melted and spooned into frosting bag or ziplock

*Anise seed pods for the pumpkin “leaves”

*Cinnamon sticks, cut in half for short pumpkin stems

 

FROSTING

3 C Powdered Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 1/2 tsp Espresso Powder

8 oz package Cream Cheese, room temperature

1 Stick Salted Butter, room temperature

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9 x 13″ baking pan with oil and lightly flour the pan. In a medium mixing bowl stir together dry ingredients–flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine canned pumpkin, Greek yogurt, oil, eggs and sugar. Mix until combined and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and mix in flour, stirring just until combined.

Pour batter into the greased and floured baking dish and tap against the counter to level and bring some bubbles up to the surface. Bake on the middle rack for 45-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely. If making mini bundt pumpkins, fill greased silicone mini bundt molds half full. I put them in at the same time I put the cake in and only baked them ~5-7 minutes since they are so small.

For the frosting, mix 1 tsp vanilla extract with 1 1/2 tsp espresso powder and stir until dissolved. Using handheld mixer or a stand mixer, beat butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and your espresso/vanilla mixture. Beat until fluffy and fully mixed, 1-2 minutes. If you want a stronger espresso flavor, add more espresso to taste. These measurements give you a light coffee flavor in the frosting that is delicious but not overpowering.

Once the cake is fully cooled, frost the cake. Perhaps lick the spoon a few times, no judgement here. Cut risen tops off the mini bundts to create a completely flat surface. Place a small dollop of frosting in the middle of the cut side of the mini bundts and put two cut ends together to create your “pumpkin”. The frosting acts as glue to keep them together. Mix 1/2 c powdered sugar and just a drop of water to make honey consistency glaze. Dip the bundt “pumpkins” in this glaze and let dry. Stick a cinnamon stick in the top of the mini bundt and add an anise seed pod for a leaf.

I dotted them on the top of the cake like a pumpkin patch. Melt 1/4 C chocolate chips and spoon melted chocolate into a frosting bag (or ziplock bag). Barely snip off the end of the bag and drizzle the melted chocolate from one pumpkin to the next to create “vines.” It didn’t take long and it looks beautiful. Finish the cake with a dusting of espresso powder and cinnamon.

I hope you enjoy this spiced pumpkin cake with espresso frosting. I so so wish my mom was still here so she could try it. She’d love this flavor combo. So in honor of you momma, a delicious fall dessert. Make it, share it with those you love and give them a squeeze. Life is precious indeed. Be sure you stop and see all my friends pumpkin recipes below on this delightful fall blog hop.