First, brown the butter. To do this, melt butter in medium sized sauce pan over medium heat. Stir constantly until butter turns amber in color and has a nutty smell, about 10 minutes. Transfer butter to a heat safe bowl and allow to re-harden for at least an hour. You can also put in the fridge and use again the next day.

When ready to make the cake, preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 3, 8" baking pans with parchment paper. Grease and flour sides (I use baking PAM for this).

Beat together butter, sugar and light brown sugar on medium high speed until lightened and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

With mixer on low, slowly beat in eggs, egg yolks, grapeseed oil, vanilla, and pumpkin puree.

In medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, corn starch, baking powder, kosher salt, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

Slowly beat about 1/2 cup flour mixture into sugar/butter mixture. Then, beat in about 1/3 of the buttermilk. Alternate beating in rest of flour and buttermilk, ending with the flour.

Spread batter evenly between the three prepared pans.

Bake for 23-25 minutes, or until tops are golden and toothpick in center of cake comes out with just a few crumbs.

Let cool completely before assembling cake.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

In a small bowl, mix together pecans, maple syrup, salt and cayenne paper.

Lay pecans out on prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 8 minutes, stir, then bake for another 8 minutes.

Let pecans cool for at least 5 minutes. Then, place pecans in a food processor and grind until they turn into a butter consistency, about 3-4 minutes. Set aside.

In a small pot over medium-low heat, add white chocolate, corn syrup, miso, salt, and brown sugar. Stir constantly until chocolate melts.

Once chocolate melts, turn heat to medium and continue stirring constantly until the mixture turns to a light brown color (just a little bit darker than the miso).

Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the heavy cream. Once cream and chocolate are well mixed, fold in the pecan butter.

Place in fridge for at least 6 hours before using. NOTE: I only use half of this for each cake, so I freeze the other half to use again. It freezes well in an airtight container and I have used it up to 6 months later.

In a small bowl, melt white chocolate. To do this I place in microwave on 50% power in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval. Set aside to cool for about 5 minutes before using in frosting.

Beat together butter and shortening until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.

Then, on medium speed, beat in powdered sugar about 1/2 cup at a time. Scrape down sides with spatula as needed.

Next, beat in vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt.

After this, slowly mix in melted chocolate. Once incorporated beat on high speed for about 30 seconds to mix thoroughly.

Mix in 3-4 tablespoons of heavy cream to reach desired consistency.

Assembly:

If needed, level cakes. As there is not much leavening and the cake does not rise much, I find I generally do not have to do this.

Place one layer of a cake on a cake board. Put frosting in a pasty bag and pipe boarder along outside of one layer. Fill inside boarder with desired amount of pralina filling (I use about 1/4 of the mixture for each layer). Place a second layer on top, and repeat. Finally, place third layer on top.

churro cake filling

Use frosting to lightly frost outside of cake (this is a crumb layer). Place cake in fridge for about 15 minutes, then finish frosting.

Place dark chocolate chips in a heat safe bow. Place heavy cream in microwave safe bowl and heat until cream starts to boil, about 1 minute. Pour heated cream over chocolate and cover bowl in plastic wrap. Let set for 5 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Pour over top of cake and let run down the sides.

Let ganache sit for at least 5 minutes before you decorate the top with additional buttercream.