Four Layer Pumpkin Cake w/ Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

By soccercat

Ingredients

• Cake:
• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• Frosting:
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• Chopped walnuts or walnut halves, toasted.

Details

Servings 12
Preparation time 40mins
Cooking time 85mins
Adapted from epicurious.com

Preparation

Step 1

Cake:
Position rack in bottom third of oven; pre-heat to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with 1-1/2 inch sides with non-stick spray. Line bottoms with parchment.
Whisk flour and next 4 ingredients in large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in another large bowl until smooth. Beat in brown sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating between additions. Beat in pumpkin. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions, beating to blend between additions. Divide between pans.
Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Run knife around to loosen. Invert cake onto racks. Remove parchment. Turn cakes over onto racks, top sides up, and cool completely.

Frosting:

Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add cream cheese and orange peel; beat;until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until smooth.
Trim rounded tops from cakes. Using long serrated knife, cut each cake horizontally in half. Place 1 cake layer,cut side up, on a large platter. Spoon 2/3 cup frosting atop cake in dollops; spread to edges. Repeat 2 more times with cake and frosting; top with remaining cake layer, cut side down. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake (layer will be thin.

Decorate cake with walnuts.