Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Mousse and Maple Pecan Caramel

I'm back! Since I last posted I had a baby, moved across the country, restarted my business, sent my oldest daughter to Kindergarten and became a Soccer Mom! I haven't stopped playing with food but I have had much less time to post my creations to my blog.

So, this cake has almost all of my favorite things: Maple syrup, cream cheese and pumpkin! Its the perfect cap to any meal and it was a big hit when I brought it to a dinner party at a friend's house. The cake is moist, the mousse is fluffy and the caramel is, well caramel! How can you go wrong?

Maple Pumpkin Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Mousse and Maple Caramel Topping

Cake:

2 cups gluten-free flour mix

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp baking powder

¾ tsp xanthan gum

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp cloves

¼ tsp ginger

1 cup chopped pecans

½ cup butter, melted

¾ cup maple syrup

½ cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup pumpkin puree

¼ cup yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

 

Mousse:

¼ cup + 2 Tbsp maple syrup

4 oz cream cheese, room temp, cubed

½ tsp vanilla
Dash salt
1 ½ cup whipped cream
 
Topping:
5 Tbsp maple syrup
¼ cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cream
4 Tbsp butter
½ tsp vanilla
Dash salt
¼ cup chopped pecans

Directions:

For the cake: Preheat oven to  350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter two 8 or 9 inch cake pans and dust with rice flour. In the bowl of the stand mixer combine first nine ingredients. With the paddle attachment, mix on low for a few revolutions until dry ingredients are well mixed. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth. With mixer on low speed, slowly add wet ingredients to dry. Scrape sides of bowl and mix on medium for 2 minutes or until batter is smooth. Divide evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and turn cakes out onto a wire rack to cool.

For the mousse: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat cream cheese, maple syrup, vanilla and salt on medium high, scraping bowl down as necessary, till mixture is silky. Carefully fold in 1/4 of the whipped cream until well combined. Fold in remaining whipped cream, cover with plastic wrap and chill till ready to fill cake.

For the caramel topping: Combine maple syrup and brown sugar in a 3 quart, heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and boil for 5-7 minutes or until you notice that the mixture has darkened in color. Gradually add the cream and continue cooking till mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and add vanilla , pecans and butter. Stir until incorporated.

To assemble cake: If you want 4 layers, cut each layer in half horizontally. Spread mousse mixture between layers - 1/3 of the mousse between each layer for 4 layers or all of the mousse between layers for 2 layers. Drizzle caramel sauce over the top and serve! Enjoy!

More to come with love. . .