Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake
A soft pumpkin spice sheet cake poked and soaked with sweetened espresso milk, then covered in espresso cream cheese frosting. Somewhere between a poke cake and a tres leches.
By Hanan · Salt & Hearth
Published August 12, 2026
Full quantities, times and temperatures · How we make this site
Prep
30 min
Cook
38 min
Total
68 min
Serves
16
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This is a pumpkin spice latte taken apart and rebuilt as a sheet cake. The cake itself is soft and heavily spiced, then it gets poked and soaked with sweetened espresso milk so the coffee runs right through the crumb rather than sitting on top. The espresso cream cheese frosting finishes it. It lands somewhere between a poke cake and a tres leches — moist and a little wet, but still sliceable into neat squares.
Why you'll love this recipe
- The latte soak means real coffee flavor through the whole cake, not just the frosting.
- A 9x9 sheet cake — no layers, no crumb coat, no stacking.
- Cuts into 16 squares, which makes it useful for a crowd.
- Actually improves after a few hours as the soak settles into the crumb.
- One bowl for the cake, one for the frosting, one jug for the soak.
Ingredients
For the pumpkin cake
- 2 1/4 cups (281 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 10 tablespoons (140 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 cup (244 g) canned pumpkin puree, at room temperature
For the latte soak
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) espresso or strong brewed coffee
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) whole milk
- 1/2 cup (150 g) sweetened condensed milk
- 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the espresso cream cheese frosting
- 1 cup (224 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese, cold
- 2 cups (260 g) powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, plus extra to dust
Ingredient notes & substitutions
- Canned pumpkin puree:
- Pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling, which is pre-sweetened and pre-spiced. Room temperature, or it will seize the creamed butter.
- Buttermilk:
- The acidity works with the baking soda and keeps the crumb tender. No buttermilk: 1/2 cup whole milk plus 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice, left 5 minutes.
- Sweetened condensed milk:
- The body of the soak. It carries the coffee into the crumb and sweetens it at the same time — evaporated milk is not a substitute.
- Instant espresso powder:
- For the frosting, dissolved in the vanilla first. Ground coffee will not dissolve and leaves grit.
- Cream cheese:
- Cold, beaten into already-whipped butter. Room-temperature cream cheese gives a slack frosting that slides off the cake.
- Pumpkin pie spice:
- Or mix your own: 3 parts cinnamon to 1 each of ginger, nutmeg, allspice and a pinch of cloves.
Method
- 1
Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x9 inch light-coloured metal pan and line it with parchment. Dark or glass pans bake the edges faster than the middle and this cake wants to be even.
- 2
Whisk the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt together and set aside.
- 3
Cream the softened butter and sugar on high for a full 2 minutes, until visibly paler and fluffy. This is where the cake's lift comes from — cutting it short gives a denser crumb.
- 4
Beat in the eggs and vanilla about 1 minute, until smooth and pale.
- 5
Add the buttermilk and pumpkin puree and mix on medium-low. It will look curdled and split at this stage. That is expected — it comes together once the flour goes in.
- 6
Add the dry ingredients and mix on low just until no streaks of flour remain. Stop there; beating past this point develops gluten and toughens the cake.
- 7
Pour into the pan and bake 35-38 minutes, until a toothpick comes out of the centre clean.
- 8
Cool in the pan on a rack 30 minutes, then lift out by the parchment and cool completely. The cake must be cold before it is soaked or the crumb turns to mush.
- 9
Whisk the soak ingredients together. Slice a thin layer off the domed top of the cooled cake so the surface is flat and open, then poke holes all over with the handle of a wooden spoon.
- 10
Pour the soak slowly and evenly across the surface and give it time to sink in. Go in stages rather than all at once, or it runs off the sides.
- 11
Beat the butter on high 5-10 minutes until very pale and fluffy — this long whip is what makes the frosting light. Beat in the cold cream cheese, sift in the powdered sugar, then add the espresso dissolved in the vanilla, and the pumpkin pie spice.
- 12
Spread the frosting thickly over the soaked cake, dust with a little more pumpkin pie spice, and cut into 16 squares.
- 13
Bon appetit
Tips
- Weigh the flour. Scooping the cup into the bag compacts it and easily adds an extra 30-40 g, which is the most common cause of a dry, dense cake.
- Everything at room temperature — eggs, buttermilk and pumpkin puree. Cold wet ingredients hitting creamed butter make it seize and the crumb turns gummy.
- Let the cake cool completely before soaking. Pouring liquid onto warm cake collapses the structure.
- Whip the butter for the frosting a full 5-10 minutes before the cream cheese goes in. It looks excessive and it is the difference between dense and cloud-like.
- Use a light metal pan. Glass and dark metal both run hot at the edges and give you overcooked corners with an underdone middle.
Variations to try
- Cupcakes: about 24, at the same temperature for 17-19 minutes. Brush the soak on rather than pouring.
- Maple: swap the vanilla in the frosting for maple extract.
- Chai: chai spice blend in place of pumpkin pie spice in both cake and frosting.
- Decaf: decaffeinated espresso powder and decaf coffee in the soak.
- Gluten-free: a cup-for-cup gluten-free flour blend; expect a slightly denser crumb.
Storage & make-ahead
Refrigerate covered up to 3 days — it has to be refrigerated because of the cream cheese frosting and the soak. Bring slices to room temperature for 20-30 minutes before eating; straight from the fridge the butter in the frosting is firm and the flavor is muted. Freezing is not recommended once soaked, as the crumb turns wet on thawing. To get ahead, bake the unsoaked cake and freeze it up to 1 month, then thaw, soak and frost on the day.
Frequently asked questions
- Why slice the top off the cake?
- The domed top bakes into a slightly sealed crust that the soak runs off rather than into. Taking a thin layer off opens the crumb so the liquid actually absorbs.
- My cake is soggy at the bottom. What happened?
- The soak went on too fast, or the cake was still warm. Pour it in stages and let each addition sink in, and make sure the cake is completely cold first.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes, and it is better for a few hours' rest so the soak settles evenly. Assemble it the morning of, or the night before, and keep it refrigerated.
- Can I use fresh pumpkin instead of canned?
- You can, but roast and puree it and then drain it well in a sieve. Fresh pumpkin holds far more water than canned, and that extra liquid throws the cake off.
- Do I have to use coffee?
- No — decaf espresso powder and decaf coffee give the same flavor without the caffeine. Leaving the coffee out entirely turns it into a plain spiced poke cake, which is still good, just different.
- Why is my frosting runny?
- Usually cream cheese that was too warm, or butter that was not whipped long enough first. Chill the frosting 20 minutes and re-whip it; that fixes most cases.
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