Pumpkin Spice Cake with Maple Frosting

A fellow missionary and myself were planning our annual Harvest Party which we hold each year for the missionary kids here in the area of the city where we serve. This year we were wanting a different dessert than we had used in the past and thanks to Pinterest, we found it when we found this Pumpkin Spice Cake with Maple Frosting. This cake is a cake with almost a texture of pumpkin pie. It is delicious! With the hint of maple in the frosting, it is a great fall dessert. But, it is a large cake so it works well to make for a party or event.

Pictured above is most of the dessert table for our Lumberjack Bash Harvest Party 2015.

Ingredients:

For the Pumpkin Spice Cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoons Garam Masala (sub. Pumpkin Pie Spice or Chinese 5 Spice) *I used Pumpkin Pie Spice- you can find recipes to make it from scratch.
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 sticks melted unsalted butter (1 1/2 cups)
6 large eggs
28 ounces can pure pumpkin puree (3 cups) - I used fresh pumpkin puree from my own pumpkinsFor the Maple Frosting:
16 ounces cream cheese
3 sticks unsalted butter
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (I substituted the from scratch recipe I posted last week with a pancake recipe and it worked fine)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5-6 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

For the Pumpkin Spice Cake: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 9-inch cake pans and set aside.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Pour in the melted butter, pumpkin and eggs and beat (or whisk) until smooth.
Divide the batter evenly among the three pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the top bounces back when pressed.
Cool for 10 minutes then flip out of the pans and cool completely. Use a serrated knife to trim the top of each cake to make a level surface.

For the Maple Frosting:

 Place the cream cheese, butter, maple syrup and vanilla in a bowl. Beat until light and creamy. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat until the desired consistency is reached. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To Assemble. Place one cake on a cake plate. Spread 1/3 of the frosting in a thick layer over the top. Add the second cake on top spread another 1/3 of the frosting. Top with the third cake. Place the remaining frosting in a piping bag with a decorative tip. Pipe stars over the top of the cake. Garnish with chopped nuts if desired. (I skipped the nuts because we had a missionary with an allergy.)