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This beautiful pumpkin and chocolate cake boasts gorgeous flavours of autumn and will be the most memorable finish to your Thanksgiving dinner.
This cake makes a great addition to any Thanksgiving celebration. Find all the recipe ideas you need in our Thanksgiving Recipe Collection!
I’m a huge fan of finishing any holiday meal with a bang. The appearance of a big show-stopping dessert is when a meal goes from a bit of fun to a real celebration!
The inspiration for this cake came when I was getting ready for a Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends. I wanted to make something a bit more spectacular than we would normally have.
I knew where I needed to start because my family would revolt if dessert did not have spiced pumpkin somewhere. But I also wanted chocolate because moist, dark chocolate cake is the sort of decadent dessert I can really get excited about!
It may not be not be obvious, but pumpkin and chocolate make a fantastic combination, like with this Pumpkin Pie with Chocolate Swirl! The combination of silky chocolate and spiced pumpkin with make you swoon, especially when layered with luxurious mascarpone frosting!
Pumpkin and chocolate cake
I made this cake for a special occasion, which is why it has a bit more happening than with some cakes. To make this celebratory cake I combined two of my favourite cake recipes and invented a new favourite frosting.
It has two layers of Chocolate Stout Cake and two layers of Spiced Pumpkin Cake. I brushed each layer with a combination of Demerara sugar and the beautiful flavour of Sloe Gin syrup.
The frosting makes me really happy! It is light and fluffy mascarpone frosting with maple and cinnamon. A dream!
If you are like me and are wondering whether spiced pumpkin and chocolate go together you have to make this cake. Make it, make it, make it! This cake boasts all the gorgeous flavours of autumn and will be the most beautiful finish to your Thanksgiving dinner.
Recipe notes
- To make sure your cake is beautifully frosted always start with a crumb coat. Cover your cake with a thin layer of frosting to seal all crumbs and put it in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to chill. Then finish it off with more frosting and whatever design you choose.
- Some brands of mascarpone (especially mascarpone available in America) may separate when made into this frosting. To prevent this from happening, combine both mascarpone and cream when well chilled and do not over beat. If the problem persists, try whipping the heavy cream first, then folding it into the mascarpone.
More cake recipes
- Black Forest Cake
- Christmas Chocolate Cake
- Black and White Chocolate Cake
- Naked Cake with Mascarpone Cream and Crushed Strawberries
Spiced Pumpkin and Chocolate Cake with Maple Cinnamon Mascarpone Frosting
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Stout Cake layers
- 1/3 cups / 80 ml Guinness or other stout
- 2 tbsp strong black coffee
- 1/2 cup / 115 g unsalted butter
- 1/3 cups / 45 g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup / 130 g all purpose flour
- 1 cup / 130 g sugar
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup / 120 ml creme fraiche/sour cream
For the Spiced Pumpkin Cake layers
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp / 130 g flour
- 2/3 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp mixed pumpkin spice, (nutmeg, cloves, ginger)
- 2/3 cup / 160 ml vegetable oil
- 2/3 cup / 135 g granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, large
- 7 oz / 200 g pumpkin purée
For the syrup
- 1/4 cup / 60 ml simple syrup, sugar and water in equal parts
- 2 tbsp sloe gin or damson gin, not regular gin
For the Maple Cinnamon Frosting
- 2 cups / 500 g Italian mascarpone
- 1 cup / 130 g icing sugar
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp This is an affiliate link.vanilla
- 1/2 cup / 120 ml whipping cream or double cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F/160C.
- Grease 2-8″ round cake pans and line the bottoms with greased parchment paper. Set aside.
Chocolate layers
- In a saucepan heat stout, coffee and butter together until the mixture comes to a gentle simmer, add cocoa powder while whisking continuously to avoid lumps until smooth. Set aside to cool.
- Blend flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a different bowl. Mix eggs, vanilla and creme fraiche with an electric mixer in bowl no 3.
- Now check on your chocolate mixture and make sure it’s cool enough to continue the process.
- Add the chocolate mixture to the egg and creme fraiche mixture and blend them together.
- Add flour mixture a little bit a time and beat on low speed until combined. Pour into the pan and level.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 min. Always test your cakes for doneness with a toothpick or a cake taster. Cool on a wire rack.
Spiced Pumpkin layers
- Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Then add oil, sugar and eggs, beat well to combine.
- Add pumpkin and mix for 2-3 minutes until well incorporated.
- Pour into the cake pan and level. Bake at 325 F/160C for 25-30 min, cool on a wire rack.
Sugar syrup for drizzling
- Mix sugar syrup with sloe gin or any other liqueur of your choice.
Maple Cinnamon Mascarpone Frosting
- Whip cold mascarpone until light, which will take no longer than 30 seconds, add pure maple syrup and icing sugar, beat until well incorporated for 30 seconds longer.
- Add cinnamon, vanilla and whipping cream. Whip for 2 minutes until stiff.
Assemble the cake
- When the cakes are cooled, split each layer in half. Brush each layer with some sugar syrup.
- Divide Maple Cinnamon Frosting into 4 parts.
- Stack the layers on top of each other so chocolate and pumpkin layers interchange. Fill the layers with 3/4 of Maple Cinnamon frosting.
- Then cover the entire cake with your crumb coat using the frosting from the part you'd set aside. Chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
- Then cover the cake with the remaining frosting and decorate with flowers if desired or leave it plain. Alternatively, you can lightly dust the cake with a touch of cinnamon.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Oh wow, look at this cake! Looks stunning! Well done! All these flavors sound like a match made in heaven! I would love to try this cake. Pinned!
Thank you, Oana!
Happy birthday Vikalinka!! We are almost the same age (blog-wise). Hope we will be celebrating blogaversaries for many years to come. Gorgeous cake – wish I could have had a slice…
Thank you, Lucy! I hope so too. 🙂
Made this cake this week – the cakes turned out beautifully but the frosting was a complete fail. Are those directions accurate? Add the liquid heavy cream and then beat? Because the whole thing curdled and became a giant mess. I’m a pretty experienced baker and I’ve never seen anything like that. In retrospect, I should’ve whipped the cream separately and then folded together. Can you provide any more insight?
Thanks!
Hi Kate, sorry it didn’t turn out. I am not quite sure why it curdled. I make this frosting the exact way I described in the recipe. I made it several times and also wrote about it on my blog- for this cake https://vikalinka.com/2013/10/24/raspberry-limoncello-cake-with-mascarpone/ and also here https://vikalinka.com/2013/12/22/coconut-meringue-kisses-with-mascarpone-cream/. I’ve never seen mascarpone curdle unless it was watery? Mascarpone has a very high fat content (60-75%) and whipping cream is also very fatty so no reason any of these ingredients cause curdling which usually happens when fat comes in contact with water. My only guess is the ingredients. Do you live in England or North America? I know that both mascarpone and heavy creamy are slightly different there and that might be what caused it.
I made this frosting on a cake for my coworkers and it worked out beautifully! Soft, airy texture and really easy to spread! Will definitely make it again! I’m living in the UK as well so I do wonder if the difference might just be the ingredients themselves as they are a little different in North America. Fantastic recipe! 🙂
I’m in the US and i have an icing recipe very similar to this, but it calls for cream cheese instead of mascarpone. One of my go to recipes. For those in the states this might help with the curdling problem.
Can’t wait to try this recipe!!
Yes, cream cheese is a fair substitute but unfortunately not exactly the same. For those with curdling problems I would recommend whipping mascarpone and cream separately and then combining the two.
This is seriously gorgeous.
Thank you, Jen. I learned to cut my slices from you. 😉
Thank you so much, Cynthia! Your comment made me grin from ear to ear. 🙂
YAY happy happy blogiversary!!!!!!!!!! Your words are so beautiful and resonate so much with me — it’s so true, it’s magical how the Internet can be such a wellspring of love, kindred spirits, and joy through food (while simultaneously so angry not so far away..) I’m so glad that you decided to blog and share your gifts with us 🙂 This cake is spectacular — so so beautiful. Yay for Vikalinka!
Happy blog birthday and what a lovely cake to celebrate with! I’m smitten with that luscious frosting :).
Thank you, Laura! I’ve never been a fan of the traditional buttercream and Swiss Meringue Buttercream is a bit fiddly, although I LOVE it, so this frosting is my favourite go-to recipe since it’s quick, stable and can be made into any flavour I want!
Stunningly beautiful cake, Julia and love the combination of chocolate stout and pumpkin spice! And happy 2nd blogiversary 🙂
Thank you, Jennifer!
Soooo excited to try this. I am considering making it and driving 2 hours to our in laws. How well do you think it will travel? Can I refrigerate the day before and travel with it in an ice box?
Thank you so much!
Stacy
Oh Stacy, absolutely! I would be concerned if it were summertime but not this time of the year. I kept it overnight in my conservatory which we call our “icebox” in the winter and it’s perfect temperature for it.
I wonder if adding White melted Chocolate to cream cheese mix will help stabilize it ? !
Hi Ken, I really can’t answer this question since I have no problems with the stability of my icing but I live in the UK and have different ingredients. I think if you are worried about it you might want to consider using cream cheese instead of mascarpone. You shouldn’t have any problems then. Cheers!
Julia
Have you made this without the simple syrup?
I have not. I usually use some sort of flavoured simple syrup in my cakes, it adds moisture and flavour.
Beautiful photos and a yummy looking recipe! Wow. I’m a little scared to try so many layers but I may have to try this one. Amazing! And congratulations on your 2 yr blogiversary!
Thank you!!Dee, it might look intimidating but it’s really simple. I baked both cake many times and they always turn out without a fail. Everything else is just stacking!