Maple And Caramel Layered Spice Cake

A moist, three-layer pumpkin spice cake stacked with warm autumn flavors and topped with a maple-caramel cream cheese frosting. This crowd-pleasing dessert delivers deep spice, rich maple sweetness, and a beautifully tender crumb.

Recipe Information

Total Time:

Yield:

3-layer, 9-inch cake

Ingredients

3½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1½ teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cloves

6 eggs

29 ounces pumpkin puree

1½ cups granulated sugar

1½ cups brown sugar

1⁄2 cup maple syrup

2½ sticks (1¼ cups) butter, melted

28-ounce packages cream cheese

3 sticks (1½ cups) butter

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

2 teaspoons imitation maple extract

7 cups confectioner's sugar + additional confectioner's sugar

1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour three9-inch springform pans or cake pans. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices; incorporate ingredients using a slotted spoon.
In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to combine eggs, pumpkin, granulated and brown sugars, syrup and 2½ sticks butter. Add half the dry ingredients at a time and blend until batter is smooth. Divide the batter equally between the pans, about 3½ cups of batter in each. Use a spatula to smooth the tops so the layers are level.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick poked in the tops of the layers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.
To make the frosting, beat room temperature cream cheese and 3 sticks butter until combined. Add maple syrup and extract. Add confectioner's sugar a few cups at a time, mixing well before adding more. For a thick layer of frosting between layers add more confectioner's sugar as desired.
To assemble the cake, place the first layer on a cake plate. Place frosting in a decorating bag fitted with a pastry-size round tip. Pipe around the out edge of the layer. Fill inside the circle with more circles of frosting until the surface is covered. Smooth with a knife. Repeat with additional layers. Garnish with chopped walnuts.