Vanilla Cake with Pumpkin Spice White Chocolate Ganache

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It is officially October, which is my favorite month of the year! I love October; the weather starts to get cooler so sweaters and cute boots can be worn and leaves start to turn colors and start falling to decorate the ground. Pumpkins can be carved and the seeds roasted for a snack; but you can't forget the obvious though! All the candy and the scary movies; my favorite part! The best part though? This vanilla cake with pumpkin spice white chocolate ganache!

I don't know where this flavor idea came from for this cake, but I'm super glad it did. It's super easy to make and really delicious. The flavors really remind me of fall as the pumpkin spice white chocolate ganache filling reminds me of pumpkin pie! It tastes exactly like pumpkin pie and I had to resist real hard to not eat it by the spoonful. It is that delicious and I'm not even a pie person! I know, shame on me dissing pie.

This is a really simple cake. That doesn't mean it doesn't have lots of flavor to it though. It has sweetness from the white chocolate, flavor from the pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, and the chocolate buttercream ties it all together! Now I wanted this cake to say Halloween, so I added some black food coloring into the frosting. This isn't necessary though, as it would be just as pretty without the food coloring. If you think about it, without the food coloring the colors would be great for thanksgiving.

Make it extra

If you want it to really say Halloween, then you could add in some orange food coloring into the ganache to really make it pop! Then add some orange and black sprinkles and maybe even some of those candy corn pumpkins on top.

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vanilla cake with pumpkin ganache

a simple vanilla cake that is filled with a white chocolate pumpkin spice ganache and covered in a dark chocolate buttercream

cake

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk

ganache

• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp heavy cream
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 12 oz bag white chocolate chips
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• pinch cloves

buttercream

• 4 sticks unsalted butter (room temp)
• 5 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup black cocoa powder
• 6 oz melted dark chocolate
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3-5 tbsp heavy cream
• black food coloring (optional)

cake

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line three 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper. in a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. make sure that the brown sugar isn't in clumps. in another bowl, combine the oil, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk and whisk together. pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until fully combined. divide the batter evenly among the cake pans and bake for  30-32 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. let the cakes cool for 10 minutes then carefully remove them from the pans to continue cooling. wrap in cling wrap until ready to use.

ganache

1. place the white chocolate and all of the spices into a heat proof bowl. in a small pot, combine the heavy cream and pumpkin puree and place over low heat (i use a gas burner, so if you are using an electric one you can increase the heat to medium-low). constantly whisk the mixture until it starts to simmer or creates steam. when the pumpkin mixture is hot enough, pour over the white chocolate. constantly whisk the mixture until all of the chocolate is melted. put cling wrap over the bowl and place into the fridge to chill.

buttercream

1. melt the chocolate in a microwaveable bowl. put the butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, melted chocolate, and vanilla into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. whip on low and gradually increase speed, whipping for about 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. add in the heavy cream and continue whipping, about a minute. add in some black food coloring if desired.