Pumpkin Praline Upside Down Cake is fall pumpkin spice flavor at it’s BEST! Moist pumpkin spice cake served up between layers of crunchy pecan praline topping then finished off with homemade cinnamon cream cheese frosting makes this the perfect fall dessert!
Pumpkin Praline Upside Down Cake
It’s that time of the year. What time??? One word … pumpkin!
The time of year when everyone runs to their favorite pumpkin recipes and overloads on anything and everything pumpkin flavored (was it really necessary to invent pumpkin flavored cough drops??)
As guilty as the next pumpkin loving addict, October hits and I am a pumpkin smoothie drinking, Pumpkin Crunch Cake making fiend!!
So it comes as no surprise that it was just a matter of time before this Pumpkin Praline Upside Down Cake found it’s way under my pumpkin lovin’ radar!
Upside Down Pumpkin Cake
What is an Upside Down Pumpkin Cake exactly?
#perfection
This Pumpkin Praline Upside Down Cake recipe is my swing on the Betty Crocker Praline Pumpkin Cake. You can find the original recipe HERE.
Basically, if you take a box cake mix and add pumpkin puree to it.
Then add a layer (or two) of praline pecan gooiness and then top that bad boy with cinnamon cream cheese frosting.
What makes this praline cake recipe fun is that after your cakes cook and cool, the cakes gets flipped out so that your cake bottom is now your cake top.
This will in turn make the most perfect fall dessert concoction known to God and Man.
This praline cake is moist and amazing and not overpowering with the pumpkin flavor aka pumpkin love.
It’s really pretty too. Don’t laugh, that’s important. Would YOU eat an ugly dessert? Me neither!
why this is the BEST pumpkin praline cake
- So. Many. Pecans.
- Sweet crunchy praline topping sandwiched between moist pumpkin cake and cinnamon cream cheese frosting? Yes, please!
- This pumpkin cake will blow all other pumpkin cakes out of the proverbial pumpkin water .. it’s just THAT good!
- You may or may not make this upside down pumpkin cake JUST for the cinnamon cream cheese frosting.
- Perfectly spiced pumpkin cake spiced with all of your favorite fall flavors.
To make this Pumpkin Praline Upside Down Cake, you will need:
- Butter
- Heaving Whipping Cream
- Brown Sugar
- Pecans … lots of pecans …
- Yellow Cake Mix
- Pumpkin puree
- Water
- Vegetable oil
- Eggs
- Fall flavored spices
- Cream cheese
- Powdered sugar
- Milk
- Cinnamon
how do you make an upside down pumpkin cake?
Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees and spray two 9 inch cake pans with nonstick spray or line with parchment paper liners.
In a small saucepan, melt together butter, cream and brown sugar over low heat, stirring occasionally.
Pour evenly into your two prepared 9 inch cake pans and sprinkle both with equal amounts of the chopped pecans. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the yellow cake mix, pumpkin, oil, water, eggs and spices until combined. Beat on medium about 2 minutes.
Spoon or pour the batter evenly over the pecan mixture in each of the pans, don’t stir them together.. you want the pecans to remain on the bottom of the pan.
Bake the cakes for 40-45 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.
Cool for 5 minutes. CAREFULLY use a knife to level out top of cake before turning cake pan upside down to remove cake from the pan and moving cake to rack to cool completely.
Let cool completely for at least 1 hour or until no longer warm to the touch.
cinnamon cream cheese frosting
Once cooled, make your cinnamon cream cheese frosting. In a large mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy.
Mix in 1-2 tablespoons of milk until you reach the desired consistency for your frosting.
Add cinnamon, vanilla and salt to the mixture and then slowly add in the sifted powdered sugar in batches until all has been incorporated.
Now frost your cake. Place one of the layer cakes, praline side up on your serving platter and spread half of the frosting over the top of it.
Add on the second layer of cake, praline side up and spread the remaining half of icing over the top.
Don’t worry about frosting the sides if you don’t want to, let that pretty praline layer lure the unsuspecting dessert lovers in.
If you are a frosting addict, go to town!
When you are done frosting the cake, add some additional chopped pecans on top, if you choose and stand back because you are about to see a stampede take place in your very own kitchen!!
Yes, it’s really THAT good!
pro tips for perfect upside down pumpkin cake
- Don’t let your cakes cool too long in their baking pans or the praline mixture will stick to the pan.
- When you remove your pans from the oven, you will notice that the center of the cake rounds up, making a little hill in the middle of your cake. Take a knife and level that hill off while it is still in the pan. You will be turning the cakes out upside down so you won’t be able to even that cake ‘bottom’ out any other time and if you do not even them out, your cake will slowly split apart when you frost it. I learned this the hard way… oops!
- Be sure to let your cake layers cool completely before frosting or your frosting will melt and you will be sad.
- Sift the powdered sugar before adding to your cream cheese when making your frosting. No one likes lumpy frosting.
- Refrigerate praline cake and keep the frosting cool. Cream cheese frosting can be a bit grouchy at times but if you keep it cool and even pop it in the refrigerator for a spell, it’s just fine.
- Learn from my mistakes, spend the $6.00 and buy yourself some circular pie pan parchment rounds to keep that praline from sticking to your pan. They are lifesavers and on Amazon.
more easy pumpkin recipes
- Pumpkin Cobbler with Bourbon Salted Caramel Sauce
- Easy Pumpkin Monkey Bread
- Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
- No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie
- Pumpkin Ravioli in Apple Sage Butter Sauce
Enjoy ♥ Heather
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
I would love for you to leave a rating and a comment below! Let me know, how’d you do?! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pumpkin Praline Upside Down Cake
Ingredients
Pumpkin Praline Cake
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
- 1 box Betty Crocker yellow cake mix
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2/3 cup butter, room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1-2 tablespoons milk or cream
- more pecans for garnishing
Instructions
- Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees and spray two 9 inch cake pans with nonstick spray or line with parchment paper liners.
- In a small saucepan, melt together butter, cream and brown sugar over low heat, stirring occasionally. Pour evenly into your two prepared 9 inch cake pans and sprinkle both with equal amounts of the chopped pecans. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the yellow cake mix, pumpkin, oil, water, eggs and spices until combined. Beat on medium about 2 minutes. Spoon or pour the batter evenly over the pecan mixture in each of the pans, don't stir them together.. you want the pecans to remain on the bottom of the pan.Bake the cakes for 40-45 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.
- Cool for 5 minutes. CAREFULLY use a knife to level out top of cake before turning cake pan upside down to remove cake from the pan and moving cake to rack to cool completely. Let cool completely for at least 1 hour or until no longer warm to the touch.
- Once cooled, make your cinnamon cream cheese frosting. In a large mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Mix in 1-2 tablespoons of milk until you reach the desired consistency for your frosting. Add cinnamon, vanilla and salt to the mixture and then slowly add in the sifted powdered sugar in batches until all has been incorporated.
- Place one of the layer cakes, praline side up on your serving platter and spread half of the frosting over the top of it. Add on the second layer of cake, praline side up and spread the remaining half of icing over the top. You can choose to frost the sides of the cake or not but either way, when you are done frosting the cake, add some additional chopped pecans on top.
Notes
- Don't let your cakes cool too long in their baking pans or the praline mixture will stick to the pan.
- Parchment paper liners for your cake pans are your best friends in life! Grab some off Amazon or at your big box stores for removing cakes a breeze!!
- When you remove your pans from the oven, you will notice that the center of the cake rounds up, making a little hill in the middle of your cake. Take a knife and level that hill off while it is still in the pan. You will be turning the cakes out upside down so you won't be able to even that cake 'bottom' out any other time and if you do not even them out, your cake will slowly split apart when you frost it. I learned this the hard way... oops!
- Be sure to let your cake layers cool completely before frosting or your frosting will melt and you will be sad.
- Sift the powdered sugar before adding to your cream cheese when making your frosting. No one likes lumpy frosting.
- Refrigerate praline cake and keep the frosting cool. Cream cheese frosting can be a bit grouchy at times but if you keep it cool and even pop it in the refrigerator for a spell, it’s just fine.
- Learn from my mistakes, spend the $6.00 and buy yourself some circular pie pan parchment rounds to keep that praline from sticking to your pan. They are lifesavers and on Amazon.
Update Notes: This post was originally published in November of 2014 but was republished with an updated recipe, new photos, step by step instructions and tips in September of 2023.
Great recipe and easy to follow instructions. Cake was very moist and had good flavor. I didn’t make the frosting from this recipe, but I did make the cake as instructed. Everyone loved it. I will certainly make it again. Thank you!
love the tip about slicing off the hump before turning out the cakes … I never do this and I always have cracked and broken cakes (we eat em anyway!) but I want to make pretty cakes
watch out potluck eaters, here I come!
Heather you are such a natural at this. You make the recipe your own! You have such a great way of telling the story of the recipe!! XO 🙂 Great website. I am definitely going to try these fall goodies.
Thank you so much 🙂 I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!!! .. haha