Celebrate the warm flavors of autumn with this brown butter pumpkin cake. This small, but mighty cake, is packed with delicious and intense flavors.
It’s my favorite time of the year. Pumpkin season is here!
While I’m not the biggest fan of pumpkin spice lattes or pumpkin pies, I love pumpkin cake.
I’ve made several variations of pumpkin cake throughout the years. (See: chocolate pumpkin cake, cinnamon maple pumpkin cake, butterscotch pumpkin cake)
Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Buttercream
I love pumpkin cake so much that the top layer of my wedding cake was pumpkin.
This brown butter pumpkin cake is unlike any other cake I’ve shared on the blog before.
It’s made with BROWN. BUTTER. BUTTERCREAM.
It’s the most luscious, delicious, exciting buttercream I’ve yet to taste.
INGREDIENT INTEL: What is brown butter?
Butter is comprised of water, butterfat, and milk solids.
To make brown butter, unsalted butter is melted. As the melted butter is heated, the water evaporates and the milk solids separate from the butterfat (creating clarified butter).
As you continue to heat this mixture, the milk solids “cook” in the fat, thus turning brown.
These little golden brown specks are like liquid gold. They create this rich, nutty, deep flavor that heightens and intensifies all baked goods.
The fragrance of brown butter as it cooks is intoxicatingly delicious. It smells sort of like roasted hazelnuts.
Brown butter is popularly used in cookies and pastas. (See: brown butter chocolate chunk cookies and brown butter spaghetti)
I used a simple mixture of ground cinnamon and nutmeg to spice the pumpkin cake. The pumpkin cake is sweetened with brown sugar and maple syrup. I wanted to keep with the warm, autumn flavors.
The real star of this cake is the brown butter buttercream. Can see you all the little golden specks in the buttercream?
After a slice of this brown butter pumpkin cake, you’ll want to use brown butter buttercream for every single cake you make. Don’t say I didn’t warn you !
Cake Size Options
The recipe below makes three 6-inch cake layers.
It also works for two 8 or 9-inch cake layers. Reduce baking time to 30-35 minutes for this option.
Cake Storage and Leftovers
Pumpkin cake may be baked in advance.
- Option 1: Fully cool to room temperature, then tightly wrap in plastic wrap. Keep at room temperature for up to two days before assembling.
- Option 2: For longer storage, keep cake in the freezer for up to two weeks. To defrost frozen cake, keep at room temperature overnight to thaw.
Assembled frosted cake may be left out at room temperature in a covered container for up to 24 hours.
For longer storage, keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Warm to room temperature before eating.
Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake
Yield: three layer 6-inch cake
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cake:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, (390 g)
- 2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup coconut oil*, (226 g)
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed, (200 g)
- ½ cup dark maple syrup, (160 g)
- 4 large eggs,, room temperature
- 1 -15 oz can pure pumpkin puree
Brown Butter Buttercream:
- 1 cup unsalted butter , (226 g) sliced into tablespoons
- 3 cups confectioners' sugar, (340 g)
- 2 Tablespoon whole milk,, more if needed
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
Pumpkin Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter and flour three 6-inch round cake pans. Tap out any excess flour. Line cake pans with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together coconut oil, brown sugar, and maple syrup until smooth. Scrape down bowl as needed. Add eggs one at a time, ensuring eggs are thoroughly incorporated. Add pumpkin puree and mix until combined. Batter may look curdled at this point.
- Add flour mixture in two additions. Mix on low speed until there are no longer any dry streaks of flour. Scrape down bowl as needed.
- Evenly distribute batter among prepared cake pans. Level batter as needed. Bake for 35-40 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in pan for 10 minutes before unmolding. Remove cake from pan and allow to cool to room temperature on wire rack.
Brown Butter Buttercream:
- In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, continue to cook. Swirl pan occasionally to ensure even heating. Mixture will bubble and foam as it cooks. The bubbling will be vigorous at the beginning but it will subside. Continue to cook until butter smells nutty. The mild solids in the butter will turn rich brown in color. Remove from heat and pour into a heat-safe bowl. Be sure to scrape out as much of the browned milk solids bits.
- Allow brown butter to cool to room temperature. Cover and keep chilled in the fridge until solid. Brown butter needs to be completely cooled before mixing into buttercream.
- Allow solid brown butter to soften at room temperature. Transfer to the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use an electric hand mixer). Beat until smooth. Add powdered sugar, milk, and salt. Mix until buttercream is soft and fluffy. Scrape down bowl as needed to ensure thorough mixing.
Assembly:
- If necessary, level cake layers. Place one cake round on cake board (or serving plate). Spread a layer of brown butter buttercream over cake layer. Place second cake layer on top. Gently press cake layer down to secure. Spread a layer of frosting. Repeat with remaining cake layer.
- Spread a thin layer of frosting all over cake to seal in the crumbs (crumb coat). Let chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Spread another layer of buttercream to coat cake. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired.
- Keep cake chilled until ready to serve. Allow cake to sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes to soften before serving.
Notes
- This recipe makes three 6-inch layers.
- It also works for two 8 or 9-inch layers. Reduce baking time to 30-35 minutes.
- If you don’t like coconut oil, you can substitute any flavorless oil like vegetable or canola oil.
- There are two kinds of coconut oil: refined and unrefined.
- Refined coconut oil undergoes a heating process that removed coconut flavor.
- Unrefined coconut oil (also called virgin or pure coconut oil) has less processing. Thus, retains some coconut flavor.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
Can’t wait to try this cake. So many of your recipes are in 6 inch cake pans. What would the transition be for number of layers of cooking temp and time for an 8 or 9 inch cake pans? I am interested in this cake recipe and the crème brûlée cake.
The batter makes two 8-inch or 9-inch cake layers. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
Great recipe! Please, tell me how much pumpkin do we need for the cake? I didn’t manage to convert oz to grams…
The cake uses one 15 oz can of pumpkin puree which is about 425 grams or just a little under 2 cups.
When making the brown buttercream, your directions say, “Be sure to scrape out as much of the browned milk solids bits.” Does this mean to remove the browned milk solids from the butter? Or do you want to make sure to INCLUDE them in the buttercream?
Include the browned milk solid bits. That’s what gives the brown butter flavor.
About how long does it take to make this cake?
It takes about 35-40 minutes to bake the cake. From start to finish, it took me about 2 hours to bake, assemble, and frost the cake.
Saved this recipe for Halloween. I will decorate it spooky. Thanks for this great recipe, Maryanne!
Can’t wait to see it!
I love how you have a section on what is brown butter. I can’t believe there are people who don’t know what it is!! One of my favourite things.
This cake looks perfect!!
Thanks! It’s our job to inform everyone about the wonderfulness that is brown butter :)
Hey, Maryanne!
This is the most gorgeous cake I’ve seen all day! Nice call on the brown butter!!!
Thanks so much! What I can say…I LOVE brown butter! :)
brown butter buttercream?! sounds good to me! also really like the idea of coconut oil in here. it has both tropical and cozy connotations to me, so this pairing feels perfect to go along with cozy blankets and huge cups of tea (:
Brown butter buttercream has quickly become my favorite. I want to use it for all my autumn cakes!