Ingredients
Equipment
Method
Brown the cake butter and prep
- Brown 1 cup butter, then refrigerate it until solid for a thicker, richer cake batter. Let it chill until firm to the touch.
- Preheat the oven to 350F, then grease two 9-inch pans. Set them aside so the batter goes in right away.
Make the pumpkin cake batter
- Beat the softened browned butter and brown sugar until smooth, then add the eggs, pumpkin, sour cream, and vanilla. Mix until the batter looks cohesive and evenly colored.
- Fold in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt. Stop mixing as soon as no dry streaks remain.
- Fold in toffee bits for a crunchy spread throughout the layers. Mix gently so the bits stay suspended.
Bake and cool
- Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350F until the centers spring back lightly. Use a toothpick test and bake until it comes out mostly clean.
- Cool the cakes completely before frosting. This prevents the frosting from melting or sliding.
Brown butter toffee frosting and assemble
- Beat the browned and cooled unsalted butter with powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla until very fluffy. Stop when it holds soft peaks and looks pale-gold.
- Frost and stack the two cake layers, then press extra toffee bits onto the sides. Keep pressing gently so the bits adhere as you swirl on frosting.
Notes
Pro tip: fully cool the baked layers before frosting so the brown butter toffee frosting stays thick and fluffy instead of loosening. Store the assembled cake covered in the refrigerator up to 4 days; freeze unfrosted layers wrapped tightly up to 2 months. For a dairy-reduced option, use lactose-free butter and lactose-free sour cream in the cake and lactose-free cream in the frosting.