Pumpkin Spice Cake with Maple Frosting and Caramel Drizzle

Happy husband on his Birthday

My husband loves cake. He really loves cake. Therefore, when his birthday comes around, I always try to get him a cake or at least take him out for cake. 

When I first met him, I was not so good at making cakes. The first cake I ever made was for him. It was a plain yellow cake with plain chocolate frosting from boxes and store bought containers. They were sufficient, but not the best.

Then, we would go out. Cheesecake Factory has cheesecakes that are good of course. We also bought donuts from Dunkin Donuts once.  And then last year, my amazing hairdresser also makes amazing cakes. I purchased a pumpkin cake with maple cream cheese icing from her. It was delicious! It was then that I decided with all of my baking skills, I should probably figure out how to make a cake for my husband's birthday. 

Pumpkin Cake with LOTS of Maple Frosting and Caramel Drizzle

This year, I created a rather tasty cake for Brad's birthday. I researched a bunch of different recipes and looked for common themes, like how much cinnamon to use or how much maple to put in the cream cheese. I also made a lot of icing because he is in love with it. The cake has double the amount of creamy, whipped icing than most normal cakes.

This cake was really AWESOME

This is what I created.

Pumpkin Spice Came with Maple Frosting and Caramel Drizzle Recipe

Ingredients

Cake
1 box yellow cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
1 cup of canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup oil
4 eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie mix
1/8 teaspoon of crushed cloves

Icing
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 container of cream cheese frosting (I used Betty Brocker)
4 Tbsp Maple Syrup
Caramel syrup for drizzle (I used Smuckers Butterscotch Caramel Topping)

Step 1: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Using a mixer, beat together cake mix, pumpkin, water, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie mix and cloves. Pour the batter evenly into two 8 or 9 inch cake pans.

Step 2: Bake the cake rounds for about 30 minutes. Then, let them cool

Step 3: While the cake is baking and cooling, make the icing. Beat together the butter, cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, and 2 tablespoons of the maple syrup with an electric mixer. When well mixed, add the cream cheese frosting and the rest of the maple syrup. Beat the icing  until smooth and well mixed. Place in the fridge to set while the cakes are cooling.

Step 4: To assemble the cake, spread a thick layer of icing over one of the cake rounds. Then, drizzle a small amount of caramel over the icing and spread it around using a butter knife. Place the second round on top. Spread more icing around the sides and then the top. Drizzle a desired amount of caramel over the top of the cake, letting it run down the sides.