For the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer add oil, eggs and canned pumpkin. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute.
3. Add vanilla, sugar and brown sugar and mix again for 1 minute or until smooth.
4. In a separate medium sized bowl add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk to combine.
5. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the pumpkin mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Do not over mix. Mix until no flour streaks remain.
6. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and spread the cake batter evenly into the pan. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick entered in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs on it.
7. Set aside to cool while you make the frosting.

For the frosting:

1. In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer add heavy whipping cream and granulated sugar. Mix on high speed until stiff peaks form.
2. Remove the whipping cream and put it in a small bowl.
3. Add the cream cheese and powdered sugar to the mixing bowl that you just whipped the whipped cream in. Beat on medium speed until smooth.
4. Slowly fold the whipping cream mixture into the cream cheese mixture until smooth and fluffy.

For the crack:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a medium sized bowl combine all crack ingredients until sugar is wet and mixed in.
3. Using a baking silpat or parchment paper, line the bottom of a half sheet pan with it.
4. Spread mixture in an even layer and bake for 9-10 minutes until starting to bubble. At this point turn your oven to high broil, don’t walk away from the oven, watch your mixture the entire time and let it broil for 30-60 seconds until its a toasty caramel color. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
5. Once completely cool, break it into chunks and set aside.

Assembly:

1. Frost cooled cake with whipped cream frosting.
2. Right before serving, top the cake evenly with the pretzel crack. Cut into squares and serve. Do not add the pretzel crack until an hour before serving or else there’s a chance it could get soggy.
3. Keep leftovers in the fridge.