Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake

'Tis the season for all things 'pumpkin spice'. I tried this cake the other day and have to say it's yummy. I particularly like the espresso icing. The recipe came from a website called Celebrating Sweets.

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder (which I forgot to add unfortunately)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup sour cream ( I used plain yogurt)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing Ingredients:

• 10 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
• 2.5 cups powdered sugar ( also called icing sugar)
• 2 teaspoons milk plus more if needed
• 2 teaspoons espresso powder
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Methods:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 

Whisk together the first 6 ingredients for the cake.

In a second large bowl, whisk the pumpkin, brown sugar, granulated sugar, yogurt or sour cream, oil, eggs and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Grease a 9 x 9 inch baking tin and pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 22-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre come out clean. Cool the cake while making the icing.

To make the icing use a mixer to beat the butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, followed by milk, espresso powder and vanilla. Spread the icing over the top of the cooled cake. 

(I must admit that I made a few adjustments to the recipe as stated above since I dislike using a lot of butter in an icing. I used much less butter, somewhat more espresso powder, perhaps more icing sugar and no milk, but as much heavy cream as I needed to get the consistency I wanted.)