Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

Preheat the oven to 350ºF/177ºC and prepare three 6-inch or two 8 or 9-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with cooking spray and placing a wax or parchment paper circle into the bottom of each one. Measure the cake flour by spooning into your measuring cup and leveling it. Place it into a medium sized bowl and add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ground ginger. Whisk together and set aside.

In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), cream the butter on high for two minutes until it's light and fluffy. Add in white and brown sugars and continue to mix on high for another two minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add pumpkin puree and vanilla and mix for one minute on medium-high, scraping down the bowl and paddle once more.

With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the buttermilk in a steady stream and mix until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps.

Coat the mini chocolate chips in 2 tsp of flour (all purpose or cake flour) and gently fold them into the pumpkin cake batter. Then, pour the batter evenly between the cake pans (fill them no more than ⅔ full) and bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pan for ten minutes before removing and continuing to cool on a wire rack or flat surface.

In a medium bowl, add the powdered sugar and cinnamon. Whisk to combine and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and cream cheese on high until light, fluffy, and uniform (no lumps), about five minutes. Turn the mixer to low and add the cinnamon-powdered sugar mixture a few cups at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add the vanilla and salt, then mix on low until smooth and combined, about 30 seconds.

Place chocolate chips into a heat resistant bowl (glass or metal).

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, warm heavy whipping cream until it just starts to simmer. I always look for small bubbles forming around the edge and a soft simmer starting in the middle. When it's reached this point, pour the cream into your bowl of chocolate and let sit for about 30 seconds.

Whisk until the ganache is uniform in consistency and there are no bits of chocolate left on your whisk. Cool ganache at room temperature for 10-20 minutes, or until the ganache itself is room temperature or slightly above, before dripping the cake.

Once the pumpkin chocolate chip cakes are completely cooled, level them to your desired height. Add a swipe of buttercream onto a cardboard cake circle and place the first cake layer on top. Fill and stack the cake with spiced cream cheese buttercream. Crumb coat the cake with spiced cream cheese buttercream, then place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the buttercream set firm.

To create the design pictured, frost a smooth buttercream finish onto the cake with spiced cream cheese buttercream and place it back into the refrigerator for an additional 20 minutes to chill the buttercream while you heat the chocolate ganache to perfect drip consistency. Drip the cake with the chocolate ganache and place it back into the refrigerator for 5 minutes to let it set.

Add the remaining spiced cream cheese buttercream into a piping bag fitted with Wilton Tip 1M, then use it to pipe a rope border around the top edge of the cake. You'll basically pipe continuous, counter-clockwise rosettes at a 45 degree angle until you've gone all the way around the cake. Top with mini chocolate chips as a finishing touch.