Pumpkin Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

It’s the holiday season and the sweets are in abundance, which quite frankly means I need to be careful how much I eat. I have a little bit of a sweet tooth, but when it comes to cakes I like the cake more than the icing actually. If things are sickly sweet then it’s only a bite or two for me, but if it’s got a great balance of savory and sweet, like in this Pumpkin Layer Cake recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting, then I’m all in. Just because Halloween is over doesn’t mean we are out of the pumpkin craze just yet. In fact, I’d say we’ve got until the end of the year before we can turn the corner. Since pumpkin is still king around here, I thought it would be delicious to fold it into a savory cake and then ice it up with some cream cheese. It’s honestly like a gigantic pumpkin muffin with icing, which, if you ask me, is pretty amazing. When making this recipe I wanted to leave any milk out and depend on the moisture from eggs, oil, and the pumpkin puree to do the heavy lifting so this cake would be dense while fluffy at the same time. Just like any cake, you need a great flour to make it happen, and my go to every single time is Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Flour. It is hands down the heavy lifting flour that can do anything from pizza crusts, to bread to a delicious fluffy cake like this Pumpkin Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. We trust Bob and everything that they make so it is always a no-brainer for us what we plan on using when the occasion arises. The last part of this cake is the cream cheese frosting. It’s incredibly easy to make and goes great on just about any semisweet cake or muffin. In fact, this cream cheese frosting would be absolutely delicious on some homemade cinnamon rolls. I’m all about versatility so if I’ve got leftover anything, including icing I want to figure out where else I can use it. Thanks so much for hanging out and Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Pumpkin Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

• ¾ cup each Sugar and packed Light Brown Sugar
• ¾ cup Canola Oil
• 5 Eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 3 cups Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• ½ tsp ground Nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground Cinnamon
• 1 (15 oz) can Pumpkin Puree
• 1 lb Cream Cheese, softened
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted Butter, softened
• 2 cups Powdered Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 3 Tbsp Whole Milk

Makes 1 cake Preheat the oven to 350°F. Add the sugars and oil to a standing mixer with the whisk attachment and whisk on high speed for 2-3 minutes. Next, add 1 egg at a time until mixed in and then add in the vanilla. In a separate large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, and cinnamon until combined. Pour ½ of the dry mixture into the standing mixer on low speed until combined and then add in the pumpkin puree and mix until combined. Add in the remaining dry ingredients and mix until combined. Divide the batter between two 8-inch prepared cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until firm in the center and cooked through. Cool on a rack completely. While the cakes are cooling add the cream cheese and butter to a standing mixer with the paddle attachment and whip on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Next, stop the mixer and add in the sugar, vanilla and milk and mix on low speed until combined. Trim the cakes to make them flat and ice and layer the cake. Optional garnish: chopped pecans and cinnamon.

Hello, I’m Billy Parisi, but to some I’m known as “Chef Billy Parisi.” I do a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but for the most part I’m a Food & Content Creator, Sometimes TV Host, Digital and Social Strategist, Influencer, Picture Taker, Coffee Drinker, Daddy, Husband, College Sports Enthusiast, Fashionisto, Film & Music Lover!

I’ve been in the kitchen since I started washing dishes in a restaurant at the age of 13, and during that time I knew immediately that I wanted to be a chef. I graduated from Arizona’s Scottsdale Culinary Institute and the University of Missouri, and have logged several years as line cook, sous chef, and executive in some of the Midwest’s finest restaurants. I currently live in the city of Chicago with my wife Lindsay and daughter Olivia and cook up new inventions, mash-ups, fusions, and twists on old classics. I’m incredibly spontaneous and outgoing, and run two small businesses, BPMVC and my latest venture, 5 Loaves 2 Fish!