Layers of pumpkin spice and coffee sponges, filled and coated with pumpkin spice buttercream and a smooth caramel drip.
Yet another birthday is here; this time my boyfriend’s brother. But I’m not complaining because I love baking everyone’s birthday cakes! You may also be wondering why I’m doing an autumn-y cake when we’re in the midst of summer, but it was the request of the birthday boy as the flavour he wanted as he really likes the Starbucks drink that comes out every year. It’s not a flavour I would go for myself or have ever tried, I’m more of a simple cake flavours kinda girl, but I was willing to give it a try at making and maybe eating too.
I made my own pumpkin spice mix for this cake, which is a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and all spice. I did make much more than was needed for the recipe, but I thought I’d store the leftovers in a jar so if I ever want to make other pumpkin spice recipes or if anyone wants any, we have some handy. I was worried that it didn’t smell anything like it should have, but the others told me that it was great.
I was actually surprised that I liked the buttercream, considering I have quite a simple palete. You get this initial taste of sugary buttercream and then the after-taste of the pumpkin spice subtly hits you, it’s truly lovely and makes you feel (or at least made me) like you can’t wait for Christmas time. It took us a while to choose the drip to go with this cake, debating between chocolate and caramel. I thought both would taste nice, no doubt, but I wasn’t so sure if chocolate would go so well with the pumpkin spice flavour. We thought caramel would go a lot better, as you can get caramel shots with coffee and I think the caramel flavour would add a sweet to the spice on the cake.
I had never done a caramel drip before and it was surprisingly easier to use than a chocolate drip. It wasn’t as runny when applying which may have helped, but it was much easier to handle and have more control over the drip. I do have to say I think I went a little too much with the drips. When I had finished the cake, the drips where roughly around half-way/ ¾ way down the sides, but when I went back to it a couple hours later, about half of them had reached the bottom and pooled slightly. So, when doing a caramel drip again, I will remember that it does drip a lot more that chocolate and it will continue to drip over the next few hours so to keep them shorter initially is probably a better idea.
He wanted the design to be quite simple with no decorations, so I tried a new swirl I had never done before with the buttercream. I think the ring of the buttercream on top with the colour of the caramel drip just looks to die for!
Difficulty level: 6/10
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