This simple pumpkin spice cake is moist, loaded with warm spices, and pumpkin flavor and topped with the best cream cheese frosting. Join the hundreds of families that have made and love this easy pumpkin cake!
Mar Says “Made this cake twice already and it’s a hit! Everyone loves it, even the ones who aren’t pumpkin lovers! It’s so good, it is worthy of making it a two layer round cake. Excellent recipe.”.
As the crisp autumn sets in, the smell of warm pumpkin spice wafting through the kitchen is so comforting. This pumpkin spice cake is a huge win, and you’ll have a delicious dessert to take to your next Thanksgiving dinner, fall party, or anytime you need a sweet, easy, fall dessert!
Pumpkin Spice Cake Recipe Ingredients
- eggs – these make the cake fluffy
- sugar
- vegetable oil – this keeps the cake nice and moist
- pumpkin puree
- flour
- cinnamon and other seasonings
- baking powder and baking soda – this gives the cake lift, and makes it fluffy
- butter
- cream cheese
- powdered sugar
- vanilla extract
Can I use pumpkin spice in this Pumpkin Spice Cake?
If you’d like to use pumpkin pie spice instead of the combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves you can. I would add about 2.5 tsp of pumpkin pie spice. Or if you like the stronger cinnamon flavor like I do you can add 1.5 tsp of pumpkin pie spice and 1 tsp of cinnamon.
The flavor may be slightly different, but it should be close enough to the same if you don’t already have all the individual spices and don’t want to buy each of them just to make this recipe.
How to make Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Mix the wet ingredients. You’ll mix everything together for the cake. You’ll start with mixing together the sugar, oil, and pumpkin puree in a large bowl till nice and smooth. Stir in the eggs.
- Mix the dry ingredients. You’ll mix all your dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. That means your flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients you’ve already combined until everything is mixed together.
- You’ll pour the cake batter into a greased 9×13 pan. Test the crumb with a toothpick to make sure it is done.
- After the cake is baked you’ll want to let it cool completely before frosting it. Otherwise the frosting will melt and will not spread nicely. Whip up your best cream cheese frosting ever and spread it all over the top of the cooled cake.
The cream cheese frosting is super easy to make and is only 4 ingredients. The tangy sweet frosting is the perfect contrast to the sweet moist pumpkin cake.
Best Pumpkin Cake Recipe Tips
- Use Pumpkin Puree. Use pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling has other ingredients in it and the cake won’t turn out. The only ingredient on the can should be pumpkin. You can also make your own pumpkin puree with a fresh pumpkin.
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Room temperature ingredients. Let the eggs, butter, and cream cheese sit at room temperature for about 1 hour before baking. This will ensure better mixing in both the cake, and cream cheese frosting.
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Don’t over mix. Mix the batter of the cake until just combined. Over mixing the batter will lead to a dense cake.
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Add texture. Add about 1 cup of chopped nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips to the cake batter before filling the pan for a nice texture and flavor burst.
- Try a cinnamon cream cheese frosting instead of a regular cream cheese frosting, by adding 1 to 1.5 TBS of ground cinnamon to the frosting.
How to serve Pumpkin Spice Cake with Cream Cheese?
The cake is delicious topped with the smooth cream cheese frosting, but if you want to skip the frosting you can also dust the cake lightly with powdered sugar.
If you’d like to garnish the cake, here are some of my favorites:
- chopped nuts
- caramel sauce or chocolate sauce drizzle
- cinnamon sprinkle
- fresh berries
- candied ginger
- mini chocolate chips
Moist Pumpkin Cake Recipe storage
Because of the cream cheese frosting this cake needs to be stored in an airtight container in the fridge, or by wrapping the pan in plastic wrap. It can be stored for up to 5 days.
You can also make it an unfrosted cake, it’s delicious without the creamy frosting. Powdered sugar sprinkled on top would also be delicious. If the cake is unfrosted it can be stored at room temperature.
I love pumpkin desserts like pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, and pumpkin ice cream but this delicious pumpkin cake might be one of my new all time favorites. The cinnamon and seasonings pair perfectly with the pumpkin puree to give this cake the perfect fall flavor.
The cream cheese frosting on top of the moist spiced pumpkin cake, is amazing. It all comes together as the perfect combination and when you take a bite full of cake that you won’t be able to stop at one bite.
More favorite pumpkin recipes
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Pumpkin Cheesecake
- The Best Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Bars
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The Best Pumpkin Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil (or canola oil)
- 1 3/4 cup pumpkin puree (about 15 oz)
- 4 eggs (large)
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese (softened)
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick, room temperature)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, whisk together your sugar and oil and pumpkin until well combined.
- Add in the eggs and stir till smooth.
- Combine your flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and whisk together.
- Slowly add your dry ingredients to the wet ingredients while mixing.
- Pour mixture into a greased 9×13 baking pan.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes (mine took 32) or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cake cool completely before spreading the frosting over the top.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Beat your cream cheese in a large bowl over medium speed until smooth.
- Add in the butter and continue mixing till well blended.
- Add in the vanilla and powdered sugar and continue to mix until the frosting is completely smooth.
Video
Nutrition
Danielle says
Just made this cake today for Thanksgiving at my mom’s tomorrow. I can’t wait to taste it and hear the comments from my family who tries it. It smells and looks amazing!
Aimee says
I hope you all loved it!
Erika says
To die for…from the husband, to the kids and even the grandparents..everyone raves about this cake. It’s simple, the combinations just work, not overly sweet, light and flavorful.
Melody Pratt says
I haven’t made the cake yet but it sounds delicious! About how many servings does it make? For a decent size piece. Thank you!
Ellen says
We plan on it making 18 servings. It is a 9 x 13 cake pan. You can make the servings any size you want. Large servings would be about 12 servings.
Brittany says
This is going to be a new staple recipe for me and my family. I recently made it for a dinner party and it was a huge hit. It has the perfect amount of pumpkin and spice and the frosting is amazing.
Ellen says
That is great. Thanks for sharing with us how much you enjoyed the pumpkin cake. We are so glad.
Natalie says
That cake looks amazing. I love the texture, looks moist and flavorful. I must make this soon. I’ll just swap sugar for maple syrup. Do you think it would work?
Aimee says
I think you could probably cut the sugar down to about 1 cup, or substitute a similar amount of maple syrup. You may also be able to cut the oil down about 1/4 cup with the extra liquid. Let me know if you try it 😉
Ashley says
I was craving pumpkin dessert and whipped this together. It was the perfect treat. I will definitely make it again this fall!
Patty says
Made this cake for 40 years….got the recipe from a friends aunt. Delicious and light. People love it.
Wendy says
This is the recipe I used to win my in-laws over at any holiday! The only downside to this cake is it’s so good, anyone you make it for will ask you constantly to make it again!
Aimee says
Haha! So glad to hear that!
Kathy Hood says
Best pumpkin cake ever and I have made many!
Jawzlyn says
I made this cake this year for thanksgiving and was a really big hit. I used a different frosting recipe though. Instead of using 2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon, I used 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice and 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon to give it more of a pumpkin flavor. But this was one of the best cakes I have ever tasted and definitely recommend it!!
Aimee says
I’m so glad it was a hit! Thanks for letting me know!
Claire says
Hi, do you use All Purpose Flour? Thank you. Looking forward to making this!
Aimee says
Yes, we always use all purpose unless otherwise specified
Jennifer P says
Perfect and moist! This is replacing the traditional pumpkin pie for our Thanksgiving this year. It’s definitely a favorite in our home. The cake isn’t overly sweet and you get the perfect amount of sweetness from the cream cheese frosting to balance everything.
Aimee says
I’m so glad you guys like it! Perfect addition to Thanksgiving!
Crystal says
Love the recipe. Cake came out very moist.
Brianne says
Do you think I could turn this cake into a pumpkin roll?
Aimee says
The recipe makes a lot more batter than you’d need for a pumpkin roll, and is also a little more dense. We have a pumpkin roll recipe that I would recommend you use instead 🙂 https://lmld.org/pumpkin-roll/
Barbara kochman says
I have made this cake over the past 10 years and it always comes out delicious. I did add crushed walnuts and some toffee bits this year.
Aimee says
That sounds so yummy with the nuts and toffee! I’ll have to try that next time
Naomi Winkel says
I just made this cake right now for lunch at church tomorrow. I was looking for a yummy pumpkin cake and this fit the bill. Thanks so much. I am excited to eat it with my friends at church tomorrow.
Ellen says
So glad you made it for friends, let us know what they think.
Gabriella says
I will say say that I used my own mixture of spices and opted to add slightly more sugar, so I can’t speak on the taste of this recipe exactly, but the reason I wanted to leave a comment is for the texture of the cake. I am EXTREMELY picky with the texture of my cakes. That’s why I make my own. I like them less light and fluffy and a bit more dense and moist. This texture is PERFECT for me. It’s so good I could eat it without the frosting! (I won’t of course, I’m not that crazy). I also added in crushed nuts to the cake , which made it even better. Thanks for the recipe!
Aimee says
I’m so glad you loved it! I love how dense and moist it is too
Mary says
I’m so excited to make this cake with my daughter!! Honestly, I’m more excited to EAT the cake.
We are at high altitude. Is there anything different I need to do?
Thank you!!
Aimee says
You shouldn’t need to make any changes, I live in a high altitude location! 🙂
Kellie Ellermann says
I’m high altitude as well, I added 2 tbs of flour as all of my recipes have suggested that. I did it with these and so far looks awesome but have not tried them yet!
Cassie says
How do you store this cake?
Aimee says
I just cover the cake lightly with plastic wrap, and store in the fridge. Because of the cream cheese frosting it needs to be kept refrigerated. It should be good for about 4 days
James says
Deluxe
Susan says
Can you use a glass pan?
Aimee says
Yes, a glass pan should work fine! Just check the baking a few minutes before to see if it’s done early
sally says
how long should i leave it in the oven
Aimee says
It should take between 30 and 35 minutes. It will be done when you can stick a toothpick in the middle and it comes out mostly clean
Julie says
Moist and flavorful. I’ve tried a lot of pumpkin cake recipes and this is my favorite, by far!!!
Aimee says
Yay! I’m so glad to hear that!
Jane says
How long would you bake it using a bundt pan?
Ellen says
Most bundt pans hold less than a 9×13 pan according to https://www.almanac.com/content/substitutions-baking-pan-sizes
The best adjustment I can suggest is to bake it the normal time you do a bundt cake and check on the lower end of the time for doneness. I have not baked this in a bundt cake so I can’t tell you the exact time. You can also note that you will probably have more batter than needed. Please let me know how it goes if you try it.
Best
Ellen says
There will be slightly more batter than a normal bundt pan would hold, so I’d recommend just filling it about 3/4 full. Then it should bake for about 5-15 or so minutes longer than it would in the 9×13 pan since it will be denser. I’d start with 30 minutes and go from there.
Arkie says
People fight for this cake at my house! this is a wonderful recipe.
Aimee says
Aww I’m so glad to hear! It’s one of our favorites too!
Paula Henao says
This recipe is everything!!! I love it. The cake and the frosting 100% my family loves it!
Aimee says
I’m so glad! It’s my favorite too!