Spiced Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting — Moist pumpkin cake is topped with a creamy homemade cream cheese frosting. This easy fall dessert is perfect for Thanksgiving, Halloween, and more!
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The BEST Recipe for Pumpkin Cake
Cream cheese frosting is my weakness. I don’t even need cake to put it on. Just pass a spoon. But this pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting isn’t too shabby. It’s soft, springy, and brimming with spiced pumpkin flavor.
It’s a fast, easy, one-bowl, no mixer pumpkin spice cake recipe that everyone loves.
I used oil rather than butter, which keeps the cake extra moist and since pumpkin naturally makes everything moister, there’s no chance of a dry cake here. The thick layer of tangy cream cheese frosting complements the warming spices in the cake perfectly.
My family said the pumpkin spice cake reminded them of carrot cake, minus the carrots, thanks to the spices and frosting. This pumpkin cake is irresistible, and sinking your teeth into it is pure comfort and bliss.
Pumpkin Cake Ingredients
This is a super easy, no-frills recipe for pumpkin cake that uses basic ingredients.
For the pumpkin cake:
- Eggs
- Granulated sugar
- Pumpkin puree
- Canola oil
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Salt
For the cream cheese frosting:
- Cream cheese
- Butter
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Pumpkin Cake
This recipe for pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting couldn’t be easier to make! Here’s how to make both the cake and frosting:
- Whisk together the wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls, then combine the two.
- Turn the batter out into an 8×8-inch pan.
- Bake until the center is set and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Once the pumpkin cake is fully cooled, you can make the cream cheese frosting. Simply add all the pumpkin spice cake frosting ingredients into a bowl and beat until smooth and fluffy.
- Spread the frosting onto the cake, then dig in!
Tips for the Best Pumpkin Spice Cake
Pumpkin puree: It’s so important that you use pure pumpkin puree and not pre-sweetened pumpkin pie filling! Double check the ingredients list on your canned pumpkin — there should only be one ingredient listed (pumpkin).
Oil: I don’t recommend substituting applesauce for the oil. Both applesauce and pumpkin are incredibly moist, and I think if you combined the two in this recipe your pumpkin spice cake would wind up being a bit of a mess.
Frosting: When you make the homemade cream cheese frosting the cream cheese needs to be at room temperature. If the cream cheese is too cold, it won’t whip up properly and won’t blend in well with the other ingredients.
Recipe FAQs
I haven’t tried that myself, but I bet it’d work out okay. Check your cupcakes around the 20-minute mark to see if they’re finished.
Otherwise I recommend making this pumpkin spice cupcake recipe that I shared years ago.
Yes, I think you could easily double this recipe and bake it in a 9×13-inch pan. It’d probably need to bake for roughly the same amount of time, but I can’t say for sure since I’ve only ever made this cake in a smaller pan.
I’m sure you could, but I never have personally tried this pumpkin spice cake recipe with homemade puree so I’m not sure if it will work out exactly the same.
I don’t dabble in gluten-free baking, so I can’t say for sure whether a gluten-free 1:1 flour substitute will work.
However, my gut says yes so long as you use a gluten-free all-purpose flour substitute and not something such as almond flour (almond flour is just ground almonds and contains no gluten, therefore it won’t behave remotely like regular flour).
The pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting is incredibly moist and is slightly denser than regular cake, so I think the batter could be made gluten-free.
Recipe Video Tutorial
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Pumpkin Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Frosting
- 6 ounces cream cheese, softened (lite okay)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Instructions
Make the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8×8-inch pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- To a large bowl, add the eggs, sugar, pumpkin, oil, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and whisk to combine.
- Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and stir until just combined, don’t overmix.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula. Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes (I baked 36 minutes) or until center is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, no batter.
- Set cake aside on a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting it so the frosting doesn’t melt.
Make the Frosting
- To a large bowl (or to the bowl of a stand mixer) add the cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, salt, and whisk until smooth and fluffy or beat with an electric mixer (or use the paddle attachment of a stand mixer).
- Turn frosting out onto cooled cake and spread into a smooth, even, flat layer using a spatula or knife (If you have a small amount leftover, it will keep airtight in the fridge for at least 2 weeks).
- Slice and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Pumpkin Cake Recipes:
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake — This soft and moist pumpkin cake is loaded with chocolate in every bite!! An EASY one-bowl fall dessert that’s perfect for impromptu entertaining or anytime a pumpkin craving strikes!!
Vegan Pumpkin Cake — This is a fast, easy pumpkin cake that you’d never guess is vegan! I topped it with a spiced buttercream frosting for even more pumpkin flavor.
Spiced Pumpkin Crumb Cake — A FAST and EASY no-mixer pumpkin crumb cake with rich pumpkin flavor!! Super soft, tender, and topped with the BEST crumble topping that you’ll fall in love with! Great for brunches and holiday entertaining!!
Pumpkin Poke Cake — Easy and the BEST PUMPKIN CAKE ever!! Two kinds of CARAMEL sauce, TOFFEE bits, CHOCOLATE CHIPS, whipped topping and more!! A total WINNER you must make!!
Pumpkin Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting — A marriage of pumpkin cake and carrot cake into one soft, moist, tender, and amazing cake!! The tangy cream cheese frosting is truly the icing on this easy cake!!
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bundt Cake — This easy pumpkin cake is loaded with chocolate chips and drizzled in rich and decadent chocolate ganache. It’s one of the best pumpkin cakes I’ve ever had!!
Originally posted October 2, 2015 and reposted October 9, 2020 with updated text.
Oh my , oh my , oh my… what an awesome recipe ! Both the cake and the icing are super-easy to make…my kind of recipe ! My youngest daughtes’ birthday is October 11 so she’s always had to share it with the Thanksgiving (Canada) holiday and pumpkin pie ! She loves anything pumpkin , so this year l surprised her with this cake for her 29th bithday ! It was a big hit with her and all the family members it was shared with ! Thank you so much for this recipe…l will definitely be making it again !! ?
What a great and unexpected birthday cake! I love that you made this for her birthday and that it was a big hit with everyone! Glad you’ll be making it again!
Hello! Just wanted you to know I made this cake (with mashed sweet potato instead of pumpkin – didn’t have any pumpkin!) I also cut down the sugar to 3/4 cup. Very nice! Will make again! Thanks! :)
Sounds wonderful! Since sweet potatoes are so much sweeter naturally than pumpkin, good call on cutting down the sugar. Glad you’ll make again!
This looks delicious! I have to make a cake for a fundraiser, but have to make it ahead of time by a few days. Do you think this one would still be “fresh” 3 days later?
I think the cake would be fine, keep it covered, very airtight at room temp but don’t frost it til the night before. But honestly this is a VERY easy cake and you can knock the whole thing out super fast!
Lol yes im aware you dont have to have fondant for a birthday cake but the one im making does require it this will be the first time i have worked with it so not sure what consistency it needs
I’m not a fondant person at all so have no idea what to say! Good luck!
I made this cake the other dayfor my family and was a huge hit!!! So much so that ive thought of increasing the recipie and using it as a birthday cake. Would this cake hold up to fondant?
Not sure about that…you could give it a trial run and see what you think. I don’t think you even need fondant for a bday cake – I’d just make it this way! Glad you love it!
I made this today for Thanksgiving (Canadian Thanksgiving) and it was super easy and it turned out great. There was no leftovers! Cant wait to try more of your recipes.
Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it came out great for you!
I am so happy to have found this recipe! This the best pumpkin spice cake recipe I have ever tried! It’s perfectly moist, has amazing texture, and has excellent flavor! I am eating me a slice of it right now and am loving every bite of it! <3
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Glad it’s the best pumpkin spice cake recipe you have ever tried!
I heated this cake the previous evening it was astonishing. It was light and sodden not thick by any means. It was a guardian. Additionally, it was so quick to make. I prepared three of your formulas the previous evening they were all awesome however this was my top pick.
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it came out great for you!
I baked this cake last night it was amazing. Â It was very light and moist not dense at all. Â It was a keeper. Â Also, it was so fast to make. Â I baked three of your recipes last night they were all great but this was my favorite. Â
Thanks for trying three of my recipes in one night! Glad they were all great! Nice to hear this was your favorite!
I baked this cake for Christmas Eve dinner with my family. Â I’ve baked a lot of cakes in my life – I’ve been baking for about 40 years now. Â I have to say that this may be one of the best cakes I’ve ever made in my life. Â My family agrees, too. Â The texture of the cake and the frosting is just perfect. Â It is moist and absolutely delicious. Â A definite hit! Â Thanks again, Averie!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you and that it’s one of the best cakes you’ve ever baked in your life!
If I would double the pumpkin spice cake recipe, would I be able to use a 9×13 pan
Probably would be fine, although I haven’t personally tried so can’t speak from personal experience.
Hi Averie – I have canned pumpkin (the label says 100% pure pumpkin). Â Is this interchangeable with pureed pumpkin? Â I looked today in the baking aisle at the store and couldn’t find pureed pumpkin. Â
Yes that’s what you’re looking for; 100% canned pumpkin IS pumpkin puree. Enjoy!
Great – I will be baking one for Christmas – thanks Averie!
Fantastic! I doubled the recipe and used a large bundt pan. Baked for an hour. Sprayed beforehand with nonstick coconut spray and it came right out. I threw the remaining half cup of the canned pumpkin in the cream cheese frosting too along w pumpkin pie spice. Topped with toasted coconut. Yummy!
I was impressed that I could do the whole recipe with just a whisk and get such great results.
Will definitely make again!
Thank you!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! The bundt idea as well as the toasted coconut sounds great and yes, amen to whisk-only cakes!
Just wanted to say that I made this cake the other day with just one substitution: I used 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice and 1 tsp cinnamon (my husband doesn’t get down with pumpkin pie spice but you gotta have SOME of that flavor in fall treats!) It was amazing! It baked up perfectly fluffy, it was soft but not mushy, and the cream cheese frosting is a most welcoming addition. My husband scarfed half of it down, despite his “aversion” to all things pumpkin.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! And that someone with an aversion scarfed it right down!
Fast, easy, awesome! I love pumpkin cakes, cakes where we use oil and cream cheese frosting. This cake really made my day :) thanks for the recipe and many greetings from Poland!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
Who would have thought that a vegetable would be so great in a multitude of desserts! Love me some pumpkin cake!