A Very Big Pumpkin Layer Cake - with toffee pecans and cream cheese frosting

Toffee Pecan Cream Cheese Pumpkin Layer Cake

5 from 11 votes

A Very Big Pumpkin Layer Cake - with toffee pecans and cream cheese frosting

Recipe video above. A big-format 4 layer Pumpkin Cake sandwiched with a not-too-sweet cream cheese frosting, littered all the way through (and on!) with the sparkle and crunch of crushed toffee pecans. Heavenly combination of flavours and textures, this is one of the best cakes I've made all year!

Salt is key in this recipe - for bringing out the pumpkin flavour and offsetting the sweetness in the toffee and frosting.

This cake is large - it's 40cm/15" long, 8cm / 3.2" high! It will serve 16 generously (only for serious cake monsters!), 20 regular servings or 48 tall squares - think, petit four style.

Prep Time45

Cook Time25

Total Time1 10

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Western

Keyword: cream cheese frosting, pumpkin cake, pumpkin layer cake

Servings: - 48

Calories: 504cal

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats

Ingredients

Pumpkin puree options - CHOOSE ONE

1 2/3 cups (425g) fresh pumpkin puree , I use this (Note 1)
15 oz / 425g canned pure pumpkin , 1 can (Note 1)

Cake wet ingredients

4 large eggs 50 - 55 g/2oz each), at room temperature
1 3/4 cups white sugar (or caster/superfine sugar, Note 2)
1 cup vegetable or canola oil (or other neutral flavoured oil)

Cake dry ingredients

2 cups plain/all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp cooking / kosher salt (Note 3)

Not-too-sweet cream cheese frosting

500g / 16oz cream cheese (block type) , at room temperature - 2 blocks (Note 4)
250g / 18 tbsp unsalted butter , softened (US: 2 sticks + 2 tbsp)
3 cups (360g) soft icing sugar / powdered sugar , sifted (Note 5)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cooking / kosher salt (Note 3)

Pecan toffee crumble

1 cup pecans
2/3 cup white sugar (superfine / caster sugar works too)
1/4 tsp cooking / kosher salt (Note 3)

Cups - Metric

Instructions

Pumpkin cake layers

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced). Lightly oil spray or butter grease two 38 × 25 cm / 10 x 15" baking trays that are 2.5 cm / 1" deep (jelly roll pans). Line with a sheet of baking paper. (Note 6)
Batter - In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin and Wet ingredients. Add the Dry ingredients and whisk well until combined.
Fill trays - Divide the batter between the trays (735g batter each). Spread out to the edges using a spatula then tap the trays on the counter (assertively!) to spread the batter out as evenly as you can.
Bake 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes. Invert onto cooling racks then cool completely (1 hour+) or refrigerate overnight.
Cut - Invert a piece of cake onto a cutting board. Cut in half lengthways. Trim as needed for level, even layers. Cover each piece of cake with its own sheet of baking paper (trimmed to size), with overhang for ease of handling.

Assembling

Platter - Assemble on the platter you intend to serve it on (moving once assembled is hard / risky).
Frosting amounts to use - one-fifth between each layer, and two-fifths for the top and sides.
Layering - Use the paper to transfer one piece on the cake platter. Spread with one-fifth of the frosting, sprinkle with about 1/4 cup of pecan toffee crumble. Top with another layer of cake (invert using paper, or use 2 long offset spatulas/knives/rulers to handle). Repeat twice more with frosting and pecan crumble.
Frost surface - Spread the top and sides with remaining frosting. Sprinkle the surface with remaining pecan crumble.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (to stabilise a bit) then cut slices to serve! Use extra pecan crumble for serving, if you want (I want!).

Toffee pecan crumble

Toast nuts - Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced). Spread the nuts on a tray and roast for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool for at least 5 minutes.
Toffee - Spread the sugar in a large saucepan over medium low heat. Leave it until you see the edges melting into a clear sugar syrup, then use a chopstick to stir every now and then to encourage the sugar to fully melt. Once it turns pale golden, remove from heat (it will go more golden in the next step).
Work fast - Add the pecans and salt into the toffee. Use a rubber spatula to quickly coat. Spread onto a baking paper lined tray as best you can before the toffee starts to firm up (don't worry if you can't though, we're chopping it up).
Cool and chop - Cool for an hour until the toffee hardens. Break into large chunks then use a knife to chop it into small pieces and toffee pecan dust (this is really nice!). Set aside until required.

Not-too-sweet cream cheese frosting

Cream butter - Place the cream cheese and butter in a bowl. Beat for 2 minutes on medium high until smooth and fluffy. Use the paddle attachment if using a stand mixer.
Add the icing sugar in 3 batches, starting the beater on low after each addition, to avoid a snowstorm. Scrape down the sides as needed. Once the icing sugar is mixed in, add the vanilla and salt. Turn the beater up to high and beat for 1 minute.
Use immediately, or refrigerate until required, even overnight, though you'll need to bring it back to room temp if it chills and hardens, and give it a good beat to re-fluff.

Notes

1. Using pureed fresh pumpkin makes a cake with better pumpkin flavour. Use 800g - 1kg / 1.6 - 2 lb pumpkin. Peel, remove seeds, cut into large chunks. Put in boiling water and cook for 10 minutes or until very soft. Drain, leave in colander set over the hot pot on the turned off stove to steam dry and fully cool (around 30 minutes). Then blitz to puree (I use a stick blender) and measure out 1 2/3 cups (400g) and use per recipe.

Canned pumpkin is a popular canned vegetable product in America. You can sometimes find it in the international section of stores that carry American goods. It's actually very good - it's just pure pureed pumpkin.While I'd never use some canned vegetable products, I'll happily use canned pumpkin.

2. Sugar - This can be cut down to 1 1/4 cups if you'd like it slightly less sweet, but any less and the cake layer will dome a little too much, I think.

3. Salt - I know this looks like a lot but it really brings out the pumpkin flavour in this cake. Be sure to use cooking / kosher salt. If you only have table salt, halve the amount, if you have salt flakes, increase by 50%.

4. Cream cheese - If you can only find the spreadable tub sort which is softer, you'll likely need to add a bit more icing sugar so the icing sugar isn't too loose.

5. Icing sugar - Australia, be sure to use soft icing sugar not pure icing sugar (which sets hard).

6. Cake shape - This can also be made as a tall 3 or 4 layer 20cm/8" or 23" cake, in either 3 pans or 2 pans (then cut each in half). The bake time will vary, just check with a toothpick:

3 x 20cm/8" pans - 20 to 22 minutes
3 x 23cm/9" pans - 18 to 20 minutes
2 x 20cm/8" pans - 30 to 35 minutes
2 x 23cm/9" pans - 25 to 30 minutes

7. Inspiration - Cake style (layered loaf) inspired by this clever Carrot Cake by Pancake Princess (I haven't made it though) and the iconic Cooks Illustrated Carrot Cake (made and loved!).

Storage - This cake will stay fresh for 5 days in the fridge. Fantastic even cold, straight from the fridge - the frosting stays beautifully creamy! Leftover toffee pecans will keep for a week in the fridge in an airtight container. Sprinkle on ice cream, eat with your fingers!

Nutrition assuming 20 servings, including frosting and half the pecan toffee crumble (it makes more than you need for the cake, using leftover for serving is optional).

Nutrition