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The BEST ever Pumpkin Spice Cake with cream cheese frosting is super moist and rich with a plush, soft crumb and pumpkin spice flavor! Luscious frosting makes this cake sweet but not too sweet for the perfect crowd-pleasing fall dessert treat!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Supremely moist: The best ever pumpkin cake is supremely moist, yet baked precisely—a combo that’s hard to find. This soft, plush cake is moist yet airy, with a fluffy & tender crumb.
- Perfectly spiced: With just the right amount of pumpkin spice, this cake is cozy and flavorful without being overpowering.
- Topped with the BEST ever frosting: Luscious, velvety cream cheese frosting that’s just the right amount of sweet and tangy for the perfect pairing with pumpkin spice cake or pumpkin cupcakes.
Welcome to the BEST ever Pumpkin Cake! Truly, in our household, this pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting has been in our dreams, at the top of everyone’s fall desserts list, and requested to be made over and over.
IT’S THAT GOOD.
Tender ‘n moist, this Pumpkin Cake is a decadent fall dessert packed with pumpkin spice flavor, topped with velvety cream cheese frosting. Learn how to make a pumpkin cake with me in simple, easy steps with photos (woohoo!). This fall dessert recipe is one of my family’s very favorites and one you’ll be making time and time again, just like pumpkin pie overnight oats.
Pumpkin Cake Ingredients
- Pumpkin: We’ll use the entire 15-oz can of pumpkin puree to make things easy. Skip using pumpkin pie filling or fresh pumpkin puree, which tends to be overly moist.
- Sugar: With granulated sugar and light brown sugar, we’ll achieve a warm, molasses-tinted flavor that’s not too heavy
- Oil
- Eggs: No need to worry about making these eggs room temperature, they’re fine to use straight out of the fridge
- Flour: basic all purpose flour is all we need for this cake recipe
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Spices: by using both ground cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice, we’ll have the best balance of flavors to enhance this pumpkin cake
- Salt
How to Make a Pumpkin Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Then, line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper or lightly greased foil.
- Add all wet ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk together: pumpkin, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, oil, and eggs.
- Add the dry ingredients into a separate, large bowl: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until well mixed.
- Transfer the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl. Stir until well combined. Pour pumpkin cake batter into the lined baking pan and spread into an even layer.
- Bake for around 32 minutes, until the pumpkin cake is springy in the center. Transfer the cake in the pan onto a cooling rack. Cool about 2 hours or until completely cool.
- In the last 20-30 minutes of cooling, make the cream cheese frosting. Frost the cooled cake. Chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes, then slice into 9-16 squares.
Does Pumpkin Cake Need To Be Refrigerated?
Yes, since we’re adding cream cheese frosting to this easy pumpkin cake, it is required to store this cake in the refrigerator. You can keep it in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- For room temperature, you can keep the pumpkin cake at room temp for up to 2 hours.
What Frosting to Use on Pumpkin Cake?
Use this cream cheese frosting recipe on pumpkin cake. It’s made with just 3 ingredients and yields silky, creamy, and thick frosting that complements this pumpkin spice cake so well. Also good on carrot cake cupcakes.
Other frostings to use include: peanut butter frosting, lemon cream cheese frosting, and chocolate frosting.
Tips for Amazing Pumpkin Cake
- Don’t overwork the batter: Simply stir together wet and dry ingredients until combined and no flour clumps remain. Overworking the cake batter will yield tough, gummy cake.
- Cool the cake completely before frosting so the cake won’t crumble under the pressure of spreading frosting and that the frosting doesn’t melt! Or use maple glaze instead.
- Test for coolness by lifting the cake carefully out of the pan and holding a hand to the bottom center of the cake. If it’s cool there, you’re good to go.
- To cool the cake quickly, allow to first cool at room temperature for 1 hour. Then, place in the refrigerator until chilled throughout.
- For cleaner slicing, cool the pumpkin cake completely, frost, then refrigerate for 30 minutes. Slice with a clean knife with a serrated edge, then wipe off on a kitchen towel completely before each slice.
Tools You Need
- Hand mixer
- Whisk attachment
- Mixing bowls
- Offset spatula – for spreading frosting on the cake easily. One of my favorite baking tools.
For more delicious recipe ideas, follow us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. If you’ve tried this recipe, take a pic and tag us on Instagram using #beamingbaker. We can’t wait to see it! Sending you all my love and maybe even a dove, xo Demeter ❤️
Delicious Fall Recipes
Also try my pumpkin fluff dip, buttermilk pound cake, chocolate cupcakes, and pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes.
Best Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 1 (15 ounce) can 100% pure pumpkin puree
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Frosting
- 1 batch cream cheese frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 9×13 inch baking pan with parchment paper or lightly greased foil.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together Wet Ingredients: pumpkin, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, oil, and eggs.
- In a large bowl, whisk together Dry Ingredients: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt.
- Transfer wet ingredients into dry ingredients bowl. Stir together until just combined and no flour patches remain—be careful not to over-stir. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan, spreading into an even layer.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, until springy in the center, not jiggly. Mine took 32 minutes. Done when toothpick in center comes out clean. Leave the cake in the pan and set onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting, about 2 hours, or set in the fridge after 1 hour until chilled.
- Using a hand mixer, make a batch of cream cheese frosting. Frost the cake and slice into 12 squares. For clean slicing, chill the frosted cake in the fridge for 30 minutes. More tips in the post.
- ★ Last Step: If you made this recipe, leave a comment and review. It truly helps our small business keep running and it helps readers like you!
Notes
- For cupcakes, make pumpkin cupcakes.
- To halve the recipe, bake in an 8-inch square pan for about 30 minutes.
- Storing Instructions: Store frosted cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Cake tastes even better the next day!
- Freezing Instructions: Frost and, optionally, slice. Then store pumpkin cake in an airtight, freezer-friendly container in the freezer for 1-3 months. Thaw at room temperature for about 5 minutes before enjoying.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Delicious! Hubby loves it too!
Yay! I’m so happy you two enjoyed the pumpkin cake, Bonnie!
If I could give this 10 stars, I would!
I don’t have much confidence in baking cakes from scratch. I tend to doctor up a boxed cake mix. I LOVE to bake. And in an effort to eat less processed foods, it was time I tried to make a homemade cake! It is DELICIOUS. So moist and tender, even several days later. It was foolproof and so easy to throw together on a whim! 32 min. was the perfect bake time for me as well! I’ll definitely be making this again and again and cannot wait to try more recipes!
Oh my goodness, your comment totally made my day! I agree that baking cakes from scratch can be scary and iffy on the best days, that’s why I tried my best to share one that’s foolproof (to quote you). I’m so HAPPY that you had a great time baking and I got to be a part of it. Thank you so much for letting me know… I can’t wait to see what you try next!
Hi Demeter
I would like to make this recipe but I have a gluten problem and need use gluten free flour also I don’t use vegetable oil . What can I substitute those items with ?
Thank you. By the way it looks delicious
Hi Maria! For the flour, I would recommend using an all-purpose GF blend, but just know that every brand works a bit different, so it make take a bit of testing to find the one that works best for you. As for the oil, a neutral oil like canola or avocado should work the same, or melted coconut oil may work as well. I haven’t tried these out, so if you do give it a go I’d love to hear your results. Hope this helps and happy baking!
Fabulous
So happy you liked it, Audrey!
Made this for a church gathering and everyone loved it! Not too sweet, not too dry, just right. I got so many requests to bring it again. Thank you dear!
That’s so awesome to hear! Glad it was a hit for everyone. ☺️
Great flavor and not too sweet everyone loved it. And the frosting was so good too!
Woohoo! I’m so happy that everyone enjoyed the cake and the frosting!