This Maple Streusel Pumpkin Cake is perfect for the holidays! Layers of pumpkin cake, cinnamon streusel, and maple cinnamon frosting.
I have a cake book addiction. I suppose there are worse things to be addicted to, but I am seriously running out of places to store them. The recent ones are all in a (somewhat) neat pile in my photography room, eagerly awaiting some free shelf space. If I ever get around to cleaning and organizing it…
Like any good addict (ahem), I was more than happy to add a new cake book to my collection: Simply Beautiful Homemade Cakes by Lindsay Conchar. I’m so excited to bring you a recipe from it today, with this Maple Streusel Pumpkin Cake!
Lindsay blogs over at Life, Love & Sugar and if you haven’t checked her out, you need to! She makes some seriously fabulous desserts, and her book is every bit as stunning as her blog. Simply Beautiful Homemade Cakes is packed with delicious recipes. Everything from Cannoli Cupcakes to Rocky Road Ice Cream Cake to Red Wine Chocolate Cake. There is something for everyone and it was so hard to choose a recipe!
After much deliberation, I finally decided on the Maple Streusel Pumpkin Cake because I clearly can’t get enough of pumpkin recipes. Plus, US Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and I really can’t think of a better way to wrap up your Thanksgiving dinner. Step aside pumpkin pie! This cake is where it’s at.
My favorite part of this cake has to be the cinnamon streusel. It’s such a delicious flavor and texture addition! It’s possible I was snacking on the streusel the whole time I was decorating this cake. SO yummy. And it pairs really well with the pumpkin cake and maple frosting.
Aside from to-die-for recipes, Simply Beautiful Homemade Cakes also has a ton of incredibly helpful tips, tricks, and detailed tutorials. Everything from levelling cakes to ombre frosting techniques to making chocolate decorations, and more. It is packed with everything you could need to make stunning cakes at home.
Simply Beautiful Homemade Cakes is a must-have for any cake baker, or really just anyone who loves to look at pretty desserts. It’s the perfect holiday gift for the baker in your life!
Get your copy of Simply Beautiful Homemade Cakes HERE!
Note: I modified the original recipe to make a smaller but taller cake. Recipe below is as written in Simply Beautiful Homemade Cakes and makes a 3-layer 8″ cake.
Maple Streusel Pumpkin Cake
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cake:
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 large egg white room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon ground
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg ground
- 1/8 tsp cloves ground
- 1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
Maple Cinnamon Frosting:
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable shortening
- 12 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon ground
- 1 Tbsp maple extract I used maple syrup
- 1/4 cup water or milk room temperature
Cinnamon Streusel:
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon ground
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
Instructions
Pumpkin Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 8″ cake rounds, line with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
- Beat butter until smooth. Add sugar and beat on med-high until pale and fluffy (2-3mins).
- Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Add oil and vanilla and mix until incorporated.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and pumpkin puree, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of pumpkin). Mix until just combined.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pan and smooth the tops with a spatula.
- Bake for 20-25 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.
Maple Cinnamon Frosting:
- Beat butter and shortening until smooth. Slowly add 6 cups of powdered sugar, fully incorporating after each addition. Add the maple extract, cinnamon, and water or milk and mix until smooth. Add remaining powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Mix thoroughly until smooth.
Cinnamon Streusel:
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients with a fork until combined and crumbly. Spread evenly on baking sheet and bake for 6-8mins. Cool completely and crumble into pieces if needed.
Assembly:
- Trim off any domes with a serrated knife. Place one layer of the cake onto a cake stand or serving plate. Top with 3/4 cup of frosting and spread evenly. Sprinkle the frosting with 1/3 of the streusel. Lightly press the streusel into the frosting. Repeat with remaining layers. Frost and smooth the outside of the cake. Decorate with drop flowers or dollops and remaining streusel. I used Wilton Tip 1G.
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container. Best eaten within 2-3 days.
Annette says
I am not normally a fan of maple; HOWEVER, I am so thankful I gave this a try! As you said above, these flavors are perfectly paired. The cake is delicious, and combined with the yummy streusel, tones down the maple flavor perfectly. We made these in to mini loaf cakes for a school bake sale and they were amazing. Thanks for sharing!
Olivia says
Hi Annette! So happy to hear you loved it. Thanks for the feedback!
Zadelle says
This is by far the most delicious cake I have ever made. I could smear the frosting all over my body and roll around on the floor with it. Absolutely the best ever!!
Olivia says
Hi Zadelle! That is quite the visual, lol. I’m glad you like it!
Edward says
Hi, can this recipe be made with other kinds of buttercreams?
Olivia says
Hi Edward! Yes, you can use any buttercream you like.
:( says
The frosting tasted like vegetable shortening. Would use a cream cheese frosting next time to save the cake.
Olivia says
Hi there! You could use all butter in place of shortening if you like.
Tiffany says
When you used maple syrup as a replacement did you still use the same measurement as the extract?
Olivia says
Hi Tiffany! I used the same amount as the extract. It’s not as strong though as it’s not as concentrated.
Michele says
What a great recipe. I’ve already made it twice, and it’s always such a hit . It’s such a lovely combination of flavors. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Olivia says
Hi Michele! So happy you love it. Thanks for the feedback!
Sukayna says
Hey there! I just came across this recipe and I am very excited to make it. Although I do not have any vegetable shortening for the frosting. What can I use instead? And will it affect the final result at all? Thank you!
Olivia says
Hi Sukayna! You can use butter instead, it will be totally fine 🙂
Erica meador says
Hi! I have made this cake before and it was so delicious! I paired it with my own Maple Bacon buttercream! It has bits of bacon in the frosting 😋
I’m going to make this cake again but on a larger scale. I need three 10 inch cakes about 2 inches tall. How much batter should I use? Double the recipe or triple?
Olivia says
Hi Erica! Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here are some sites I use as a guideline:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html
https://www.cookipedia.co.uk/recipes_wiki/Cake_tin_conversion_charts
Christine says
This cake was incredibly. So flavorful and moist, the perfect way to celebrate fall. I substituted a cinnamon cream cheese frosting for the buttercream, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly and it turned out perfectly!
Olivia says
Hi Christine! So glad you loved it! 😀
Sarah says
My crumble turned into like a taffy carmel? I redid it twice and it turned into a blobby mess bith times? The cake was great. I halved the required powder sugar to 6 cups and it was still PLENTY and made a nice fluffy icing.
Olivia says
Hi Sarah! Hmmm, sounds like something was maybe off in the measurements? Did you have clumps in your crumble before you baked it?
Priscilla says
I made this for thanksgiving this year and it was an absolute hit! I halved the sugar in the pumpkin cake because that’s what I normally do when making all my cakes and because of the sweetness of the buttercream (which I followed as per your recipe, 12 cups of powdered sugar!). Everyone loved it and were fighting to take leftovers home. Thanks for yet another great cake recipe! I’ve made 4 other cakes from your website in the past 3 months. Loved them all.
Olivia says
Hi Priscilla! So happy to hear you loved it! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
Naomi says
When you made yours and used four 6” cake pans did you make the same amount of batter as the original recipe or do I need to make more or less batter?? Thanks in advance!
Olivia says
Hi Naomi! The recipe as written makes a three layer 8″ cake. I used two 6″ cake pans and did 2/3 of the recipe. You can adjust the Servings to 8 to get the amounts.
Naomi says
So did you slice your two cakes into 4? Also should I do 2/3 of the original icing recipe too? Thanks so much for all your help!
Olivia says
I used two 6″ rounds that I cut in half. If you want yours to be the same size then yes, I would 2/3 everything 🙂
Claudia Cruse says
I found the frosting way too sweet for me, so I used your brown sugar swiss meringue from your pecan pie cake. It came out perfect. The layers looked very thin but once I frosted it, they actually came out great. Would make this recipe again.
Olivia says
Hi Claudia! I prefer a Swiss meringue buttercream as well. Glad you liked it though!
Lucy says
Baking this today – can’t wait to get started. But, how much maple syrup did you use in place of maple flavoring? My store didn’t have any – but I do have the syrup!
Olivia says
Hi Lucy! I used the same amount as listed for the extract. You could use a bit more but be careful not to use too much as it will affect the texture of the frosting.