EEEEEK!
…Eeking because I LOVE THIS CAKE SO MUCH.
Happy Thursday, all! We’re turning on the spook with a Midnight Pumpkin Patch Layer Cake, the darker, more sultry sibling of The Pumpkin Patch Layer Cake from last year. Not to pick favorites amongst my baked children, but ya’ll this one is a real pleasure to have in class.
One dark chocolate cake layer, one pumpkin cake layer, both soft and moist and boasting a perfect crumb. We’re dousing both in a beautiful black cocoa buttercream and piping little pumpkins on the sides for a festive final touch. The imprecision of the pumpkin shapes is what turns on the charm of this cake. The more heirloom, the better!
This cake is a fabulous treat for noshing while carving your pumpkin patch yield, or while wrapped on the couch in your coziest watching your favorite autumn films. Hell, I’d bake it for Thanksgiving, too.
Get the whole fambam involved and be sure to squirrel away a slice to enjoy when the house is dark and quiet and you actually get to settle down for a treat without anyone bothering you to share.
Darkness, Take My Hand
For our oven adventure today, we’re baking up a half batch of my standard chocolate cake, and a half batch of my pumpkin cake. Both recipes are very easily halved and always yield perfect layers, no guesswork involved.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 9-inch cake pans, then mold two circular slabs of parchment paper to fit the bottom of your pans.
First, the chocolate layer. It actually doesn’t matter which you decide to mix first, but we’re gonna start here because we have to start somewhere.
Beat together vegetable oil, brown sugar, and regular sugar, then add two eggs, one at a time, vanilla, and plain whole milk Greek yogurt. Sour cream is fine, too. Add flour, cocoa powder, black cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. With your mixer running, slowly stream in your buttermilk.
Tip #1: All of your dairy ingredients and the eggs should be at room temperature before you begin.
Tip #2: No black cocoa powder? You can use regular, but the color will not be as dark. Still delicious, however!
Pour your batter into one of the cake pans and spread with a spatula to even out the top.
The pumpkin cake layer: Whip vegetable oil, brown sugar, and sugar, then your eggs, vanilla, yogurt, and pumpkin puree. Mix in the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, baking powder, and baking soda. No need for buttermilk here, as the pumpkin provides the extra moisture needed.
Dump the batter into your second cake pan.
Pop both layers into the oven for 30-35 minutes. When an inserted toothpick emerges with a few moist crumbs, your layers are done!
Cool them on a wire rack, in the pans, for about 10 minutes, then loosen the edges with a knife and flip onto the wire rack. Cool completely. Warm cake = melty frosting = no.
The dark chocolate buttercream. This frosting debuted in my Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes, and it is a dream.
Grab two softened sticks of butter and beat, along with vanilla extract, until pale and creamy in color. This will take a couple minutes. Add cocoa powder, black cocoa powder (again, use regular if you don’t have black), lots of powdered sugar, and a few spoonfuls of heavy cream. Continue mixing on medium-speed, measuring in heavy cream as needed to smooth out the texture, until the frosting is fluffy and soft.
For the pumpkins, we’re making a small batch of orange-hued vanilla frosting. Achieving the color involves food dye, and you can use whatever you have on hand. Gel is ideal due to its high concentration, but I only had standard egg dye myself and it worked swimmingly.
Whip together butter and vanilla once again, then powdered sugar. Start dripping your dye into the frosting and continue measuring until you achieve your perfect, vivid orange color.
Tip: If you need fewer drops of dye, you might need to add a tablespoon or two of heavy cream to soften the frosting since it may be too stiff.
Decorating! Place one cake layer on a stand or a flat plate. It doesn’t matter which one you start with. Frost the top with the chocolate buttercream, then add the second layer. Frost the top and all around the sides until fully covered, scraping and cleaning up as you go. Try to smooth out the job as best you can to create a good canvas for your pumpkins.
I attached a Wilton 1M tip to a piping bag and used the rest of my buttercream to swirl a pattern on top of the cake.
Clean out your piping bag or get a new one, attach a star tip to the end, and draw your pumpkins. They needn’t be perfect at all! Mine kinda look like butts, and I still think they’re charming.
Leftovers? Undecorated cake layers last up to 3 days in the fridge, after which I would proceed with frosting and garnishing. The fully embellished cake will last a total of 5 days, but expect some moistening due to the oil and pumpkin in the layers. You can freeze cake for up to 3 months.
Embrace the spook and ENJOY!
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Pumpin’ out the pumpkin:
Pumpkin Butter White Chocolate Oatmeal Bars
midnight pumpkin patch layer cake
Ingredients
pumpkin cake layer
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt, at room temperature
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
chocolate cake layer
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp black cocoa powder (or more regular cocoa)
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2/3 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
dark chocolate buttercream
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp black cocoa powder (or more regular)
- 5-6 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
orange buttercream
- 4 tbsp butter, softened
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- yellow and red food dye, for color
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 9-inch cake pans. Cut out two circles of parchment and fit one to the bottom of each cake pan.
- Chocolate cake layer: In a large bowl, beat the oil, brown sugar, and sugar for 2-3 minutes until combined. Whip in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla and yogurt. Add the flour, cocoa powder, black cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running, stream in the buttermilk until the batter is just combined. Do not overmix. Pour into the first cake pan.
- Pumpkin cake layer: In a large bowl, beat the oil, brown sugar, and sugar for 2-3 minutes until combined. Whip in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla, yogurt and pumpkin. Add the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined. Do not overmix. Pour into the second cake pan.
- Bake both layers for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center emerges with just a few moist crumbs.
- Cool the cake layers in the pan for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges to loosen and invert each layer onto a wire rack. Peel off the parchment from the bottoms. Cool completely.
- Dark chocolate buttercream: Whip the butter and vanilla extract on medium speed until the butter turns pale and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the cocoa, black cocoa, 5 cups of the powdered sugar, and 3 tablespoons of cream. Whip on medium speed until fluffy. You may need an extra tablespoon of two of cream to achieve the desired texture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, as needed, to properly incorporate all the ingredients.
- Set one cake layer onto a cake stand or flat plate. I placed the chocolate layer on the bottom. Frost generously overtop. Set the pumpkin layer on top and frost atop and around to thoroughly coat. Use your favorite piping tip with decorate the perimeter of the top layer. I did some cute little swirly curls with a Wilton 1M.
- Orange buttercream: Whip the butter and vanilla until creamy and combined, about 1-2 minutes, then add the powdered sugar and continue mixing. Follow package directions on your dyes (and, honestly, go by vibes) to create your ideal orange hue. I used an assload of egg dye for mine, but if you're using gel, you will probably need less since its more vibrant.
- Pipe pumpkin shapes along the lower perimeter of the cake. They don't need to be perfect! Make "stems" with some of your leftover chocolate frosting. SO CUTE.
