Whether it’s apple, pecan, or pumpkin, pie is practically mandatory on most Thanksgiving dessert spreads. But this year, I’m making a case for cake.
Inspired by a nostalgic Turkey Day favorite—sweet potato casserole with a puffy blanket of toasted marshmallows—I dreamed up a towering spiced pumpkin cake with swoops of marshmallow frosting.
It’s a real showstopper, bringing together sweet pumpkin, warm baking spices, a silky buttercream, and the drama of fire (more on that later).
Best of all, it’s surprisingly easy to pull off.
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Rich, Moist Pumpkin Cake
For the cake, I chose a simple base (whip eggs and fat together with sugar until they’re thick and fluffy, then mix in the dry ingredients) with lots of pumpkin puree for earthy sweetness and moisture.
Autumnal spices—ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon—and lots of vanilla made its flavor extra special.
Anticipating the hubbub of holiday cooking, I used oil instead of butter so that the cake could be made a few days in advance.
Because oil remains liquid at room temperature, an oil-based crumb tastes moist and keeps longer than its butter-based counterpart.
Finally, for a statuesque, celebratory look, I baked the batter in three 8-inch rounds.
Leave the Sides Bare
So-called naked cakes, with their sides either unfrosted or coated with the barest skim of frosting, provide an impressive look with little effort, since the frosting is spread only between the layers and on top. The key is to ensure that the sides of the cake are attractive straight from the pan and that it’s moist enough to stand on its own, two attributes that our pumpkin cake has in spades. The other thing to consider is the frosting itself: Like our toasted marshmallow buttercream, it needs to be rich and sweet enough that a little goes a long way.
Fluffy Marshmallow Buttercream
American buttercream is perhaps the simplest style of frosting there is: Just whip together softened butter and confectioners’ sugar.
But it can be a little dense, and for this cake I wanted something airy and marshmallowy.
Fresh marshmallows are essentially stabilized meringue, so a Swiss meringue buttercream seemed like a natural starting point.
To make it, you gently heat egg whites and sugar together and then whip them into a glossy meringue.
Once the mixture has cooled, beat in softened butter and you’ll have a frosting that’s satiny and light, with all the flavor and nostalgia of marshmallows.
Committed to a Swiss meringue buttercream, I came across Substacker Kassie Mendieta’s technique for toasted meringue.
Armed with a kitchen torch, she stops her mixer periodically to brulée egg whites as they are whipped into a meringue.
The result—a tawny fluff with deep burnt sugar notes—seemed like a fun way to give my frosting dimension, and it gave me an idea for a flamboyant finish too.
Blaze of Glory
When whipping egg whites to stiff peaks, I’m always captivated by the evolution from loose and translucent to aerated, shiny, and opaque.
Add fire to the equation to make a toasted meringue, and the transformation becomes even more exciting.
In the early stages of whipping, the whites have no structure, so you’re torching a flat surface.
Then, as the whipping progresses, the egg white proteins unfurl, creating stable, stiff peaks with intricate ripples.
Each time you torch and resume whipping, you incorporate more toasty bits into the meringue.
The final result is speckled and golden, with rich caramel depth.
Toasted Marshmallow Meringue
The striking finish for this cake starts with a Swiss meringue, which is made by whipping gently heated egg whites and sugar.
To give the meringue the bronzed, lightly charred appearance and flavor of toasted marshmallows, we stop the mixer periodically during whipping to torch the surface of the mixture.
Then we mound the meringue on top of the cake and torch it again.
The high, localized heat creates a gradient of flavor: The deeply caramelized surface has some bitter-tasting molecules (melanoidins and caramelins); then, beneath that are the normal caramelized flavors (furans, maltol); and beneath that is a rich roasty-tasting layer (pyrazines). —Paul Adams
Set a generous portion of this toasted meringue aside before whipping softened butter into the remainder to create a buttercream filling.
When it’s time to assemble the cake, a “naked” style makes things simple.
Just spread the buttercream between the cake layers, leaving the sides bare. Then, pile the reserved meringue on top and finish with tableside pyrotechnics: Torch the mountain of meringue to highlight its peaks and valleys with tones of amber and charcoal.
If you work quickly, you can serve your guests while the cake is still smoking. With that kind of drama, who would ever opt for pie?
Spiced Pumpkin Layer Cake with Toasted Marshmallow Buttercream
Toasty Swiss meringue brings this cake to another level—and gives it a dramatic presentation.
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