This easy pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting is fluffy, extra moist, and tastes amazing. This cake is made with pumpkin puree, brown sugar, cinnamon, and spices, topped with creamy cream cheese frosting.
The cake recipe is made without a mixer, can be made in one bowl, and is everyone's favorite fall cake!
We love making pumpkin recipes in fall and thanksgiving time, like our pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin snickerdoodles, and pumpkin cheesecake.
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Why this recipe works
- Extremely easy to make.
- An extra moist cake that stays moist for 3 days!
- Made with simple ingredients.
- Perfect to make when you need a fall-themed dessert.
- Has a light pumpkin flavor and is filled with fall spices.
- The perfect dessert for Thanksgiving, fall, and winter.
Ingredients
Pumpkin puree- we like making our own pumpkin puree from fresh pumpkins. You can use either canned pumpkin puree or homemade pumpkin puree, make sure that you strain the extra liquids from your fresh pumpkins. You will need 450 grams of pumpkin puree.
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe, self-rising flour, and cake flour will work great as well.
Baking powder and baking soda – to allow the cake to rise.
Vegetable oil – we used vegetable oil for this recipe. canola oil will work great for this recipe.
Sugar- we used granulated sugar for this recipe. You can use caster sugar as well.
Brown sugar- adds a caramelly flavor to the cake.
Cinnamon- we love adding cinnamon to our pumpkin pie, it adds so much flavor that compliments the pumpkin flavor.
Ginger- use ground ginger for this recipe. You can add any of your favorite fall spices like cloves, allspice, and pumpkin spice.
Nutmeg- use either ground nutmeg or fresh nutmeg in this recipe.
Eggs- use room-temperature eggs in this recipe.
Vanilla extract- adds extra flavor.
Kosher salt- you will need about ½ teaspoon of kosher salt for this recipe.
For the cream cheese frosting:
Butter- make sure you are using room temperate butter.
Cream cheese- make sure that you are using whole-fat cream cheese that is at room temperature.
Powder sugar- is known as confessional sugar. For a smoother frosting, sift it before adding it to the butter.
Vanilla extract- for extra flavor.
Pinch of salt- to balance the sweetness.
Instructions
Preheat an oven to 180c (350f) and grease a 9x13 inch pan with oil spray or butter.
In a medium-sized bowl, add the dry ingredients: flour, brown sugar, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and kosher salt. Mix the dry ingredients with a spoon or a whisk.
Set the dry ingredients aside and into a medium mixing bowl, add the wet ingredients: eggs, pumpkin puree, oil, and vanilla extract. Mix with a whisk until a smooth mixture forms.
Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Don’t overmix the batter so you won’t get dry and dense cake.
Pour the cake batter into the baking pan and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Make cream cheese frosting:
Make the cream cheese frosting: into a large bowl add room temperature butter and mix with a hand mixer or a stand mixer until the butter is light and fluffy.
Add the cream cheese and mix until smooth.
Add ½ of the powder sugar at a time (you don’t want to be in a powder sugar cloud).
Add a pinch of salt, and vanilla extract and mix well until smooth.
Spread an even layer of cream cheese frosting on top of the cake, slice, and enjoy!
Expert tips
- Use room temperature ingredients.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cake and not dense and dry cake.
- Use room temperature butter and cream cheese.
- Use full-fat cream cheese, this step makes sure that your frosting is stable.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before adding the frosting.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Use pure pumpkin puree in this recipe! It is very important that you use pure pumpkin puree in this recipe. Make sure that you are not using the presweetened or pre-spiced pumpkin puree. You will be able to find this information on the ingredient list of your pumpkin puree can.
Faq's
This cake will last up to one 3 days stored in the fridge. Cover the cake with plastic wrap or foil to prevent it from drying out.
We use all-purpose flour for this cake. Self-rising flour and cake flour will work great as well.
We have a pumpkin cupcake recipe! Click here for the recipe.
Storing
The cream cheese frosting needs to be refrigerated because it contains cream cheese and butter.
If your cake isn't frosted, it’s okay to store the cake at room temperature. Make sure that you store the cake in an airtight container so it won’t dry out.
Freezing
Freeze this cake after it cooled completely in an airtight freezer-friendly container for up to 3 months, some people find the cake tastes better after freezing it.
our tip is not to freeze it decorated or covered with frosting, because it can ruin the decorating on the cake, we suggest freezing the cake and decorating it when you defrost it.
Substitutions
Dairy-free - you can make this cake dairy-free by replacing the butter with vegan and replacing the cream cheese with vegan cream cheese.
Variations
Nuts- These taste great with chopped toasted walnuts or pecans. You can add any of your favorite add-ins.
Frosting- If you don’t like cream cheese frosting, you can use vanilla buttercream or cinnamon buttercream.
More pumpkin recipes
Classic pumpkin pie- This classic pumpkin pie is soft, creamy, not too sweet, and the ultimate dessert for thanksgiving! This pumpkin pie recipe is extremely easy to make, loaded with pumpkin and fall flavors, and served with a big dollop of whipped cream.
Pumpkin Cupcakes- These super moist pumpkin cupcakes are soft, delicious, stay moist for 3 days, and are topped with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. These pumpkin cupcakes are packed with pumpkin flavor and fall spices.
Pumpkin cinnamon rolls- These pumpkin cinnamon rolls are soft, made with pumpkin puree and fall spices in the dough, filled with cinnamon filling, and topped with maple cream cheese icing.
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📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups Flour
- 1 cup Sugar
- ½ cup Brown sugar
- 3 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1 cup Vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 425 g Pumpkin puree
Cream cheese frosting:
- 230 g Cream cheese soften
- 115 g Butter soften
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups Powder sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 180c (350f) and grease a 9x13 inch pan with oil spray or butter.
- In a medium-size bowl, add the dry ingredients: flour, brown sugar, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and kosher salt. Mix the dry ingredients with a spoon or a whisk.
- Set the dry ingredients aside and into a medium mixing bowl, add the wet ingredients: eggs, pumpkin puree, oil, and vanilla extract. Mix with a whisk until a smooth mixture forms.
- Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Don’t overmix the batter so you won’t get dry and dense cake.
- Pour the cake batter into the baking pan and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
How to make cream cheese frosting:
- Make the cream cheese frosting: into a large bowl add room temperature butter and mix with a hand mixer or a stand mixer until the butter is light and fluffy.
- Add the cream cheese and mix until smooth.
- Add ½ of the powder sugar at a time (you don’t want to be in a powder sugar cloud).
- Add a pinch of salt, and vanilla extract and mix well until smooth.
- Spread an even layer of cream cheese frosting on top of the pumpkin cake, slice, and enjoy!
Camille says
Is it possible to have the recipe please? You write a lot a lot about the cakes and blablabla but you don't give the measurements for ingredients. Then how ça we do the cake ? I don't understand the idea behind sorry. For me when the title is recipe, you give the recipe, you don't just write for pages about whatever... ?
RichandDelish says
Hi Camille, there was a technical issue, but it's now fixed and the recipe is on the lower part of the page. Hope you like it!