This simple and straightforward pumpkin cake recipe is for those of us who want pure pumpkin and spice flavors with nothing else in the way. Brown sugar and 2 cups of pumpkin puree promise big flavor and an extra moist texture. It’s certainly wonderful on its own, but you’ll love the smooth and tangy cream cheese frosting on top!
One reader, Gracie, says: “This truly is the best pumpkin cake I have ever had. I made it exactly as the recipe called for and it was so moist and delicious!”
Details About this Pumpkin Cake
- Flavor: Like I mention above, this cake is loaded with flavor thanks to a whopping 2 cups of pumpkin puree. We add cinnamon and there’s plenty of pumpkin pie spice, too. Like in my pumpkin scones recipe, you can use store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice mix or each of those spices individually—see our recipe note below. Tangy cream cheese frosting is always a lovely pairing with pumpkin and spice flavors. Each bite truly has it all!
- Texture: Like it does in this chocolate cake recipe, oil keeps the cake’s crumb soft and moist. In fact, we like to describe it as “stick-to-your-fork moist.” Our pumpkin cupcakes is essentially the same recipe, but yields a reduced quantity of batter.
- Ease: This is a single layer cake, so it’s pretty easy to prepare since there’s really no assembly required. Prepping the cake batter is similar to our spice cake, apple cake, and zucchini cake—make sure you have 2 mixing bowls and a 9×13 inch pan. The quarter sheet size is also convenient for transporting, storing, and serving. You’ll appreciate this recipe as an easy addition to your holiday dessert menu alongside all those delicious Thanksgiving pies!
How to Make Pumpkin Cake + Video
The full printable recipe is below, but here’s a brief description and a video tutorial.
Grease your 9×13-inch pan. You can use a metal baking pan or a glass baking pan. Use 1 mixing bowl for the dry ingredients and another mixing bowl for the wet ingredients. Combine both, then spread the batter into your pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely, then make and decorate with the frosting. To make serving easier, refrigerate the frosted cake before slicing.
Overview of Key Ingredients in Pumpkin Cake
- Flour: Because of the thick and wet batter, use all-purpose flour instead of cake flour. Cake flour is usually more ideal for butter-based cakes such as vanilla cake or white cake.
- Pumpkin: Use an entire standard can of pumpkin, which is roughly 2 cups. Readers have found this helpful because nothing from the can goes to waste. (You’ll appreciate that with our pumpkin pie and pumpkin cream cheese Bundt cake recipes too!) You can use fresh pumpkin in a pinch, but we prefer the flavor and texture of the cake when using canned.
- Cinnamon + Pumpkin Pie Spice: These spices are essential for most pumpkin desserts. Instead of prepared pumpkin pie spice, you can use a blend of ground nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and ginger (see notes), or go ahead and prepare a batch of homemade pumpkin pie spice.
- Oil + Eggs: Oil and eggs provide moisture and structure. We use both in these pumpkin bars, but reduce the eggs so the bars aren’t quite as cakey.
- Sugar: This pumpkin cake is sweetened with brown sugar and granulated sugar, but mostly brown because that’s where the best flavor lies!
How to Decorate The Best Pumpkin Cake I’ve Ever Had
Cakes with a similar spice flavor and texture profile like hummingbird cake, carrot cake, and banana cake taste unbelievable with fan-favorite cream cheese frosting.
If you’re looking for other frosting options, try any one of these:
- The brown butter cream cheese frosting from this Banana Layer Cake
- Traditional Vanilla Buttercream or Chocolate Buttercream
- The whipped buttercream frosting from Vanilla Sheet Cake
- Chai spice buttercream from these Chai Latte Cupcakes
PS: For decoration/garnish, we love using these little pumpkins. Or you can try these festive fall sprinkles.
More Pumpkin Recipes
- No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Pumpkin Pie
- White Chocolate Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Pumpkin Bars
- Pumpkin Bundt Cake
For even more inspiration, here are my 30+ favorite pumpkin dessert recipes and 30+ fall cake ideas.
Print
Pumpkin Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours (includes cooling)
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is the BEST pumpkin cake I’ve ever had and I know you’ll feel the same way! It’s supremely moist, soft, rich, and spiced with pumpkin spice flavor.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice*
- 1 cup (240ml) canola or vegetable oil*
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree*
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces (226g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 cups (360g) confectioners’ sugar, plus an extra 1/4 cup if needed
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a 9×13-inch baking pan. I always use this glass pan.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together in a large bowl. Set aside. Whisk the oil, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, pumpkin, and vanilla extract together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and use a mixer or whisk until completely combined. Batter will be thick.
- Spread batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30-36 minutes. Baking times vary, so keep an eye on yours. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you find the top or edges of the cake is/are browning too quickly in the oven, loosely cover it with aluminum foil.
- Remove the cake from the oven and set the entire pan on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely. After about 45 minutes, I usually place the cake in the refrigerator to speed things up.
- Make the frosting: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on high speed until smooth and creamy. Add 3 cups confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. If you want the frosting a little thicker, add the extra 1/4 cup of confectioners sugar (I add it). Spread the frosting on the cooled cake. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving. This helps sets the frosting and makes cutting easier.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Prepare cake through step 4. Cover the cake tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature, make the frosting, frost, and serve. Frosted cake freezes well, up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, bring to room temperature or serve cold.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×13-inch Glass Baking Pan or Metal Baking Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Cooling Rack | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand)
- Cupcakes: This batter yields about 24-28 cupcakes. Same oven temperature, fill the cupcake wrappers 2/3 full, and bake 18-21 minutes or until baked through. For 1 dozen cupcakes, use my pumpkin cupcakes recipe.
- Bundt Cake: This batter will fit into a 9.5- or 10-inch Bundt pan. Same oven temperature. But for ease, I suggest using my pumpkin Bundt cake recipe. Same great flavor and texture as this cake!
- 2 Layer Cake: Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. Divide batter between the two cake pans. Same oven temperature, bake for 25 minutes or until baked through. This frosting is enough for a 2 layer cake.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: You can find pumpkin pie spice in the baking aisle of most grocery stores or make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have either and want to use individual spices, use 1/2 teaspoon each: ground allspice, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, and ground cloves. This is in addition to the 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon—you will still add that to the batter.
- Oil: Instead of 1 cup of oil, try 1/2 cup (90g) unsweetened applesauce and 1/2 (120ml) cup oil. The cake is just as moist.
- Pumpkin: I strongly recommend using canned pumpkin puree over homemade in this recipe, though 2 cups of homemade would work just fine in a pinch. If using fresh, blot out as much excess moisture as you can using a clean towel. Overall, I found the flavor better with canned. I prefer Libby’s brand for this cake.
Here are my pumpkin cupcakes! Same recipe, just reduced down.
Always tastes fabulous, especially as I am using pumpkin I’ve grown. Only problem I find each time is that I don’t get much depth in the cake when cooked, comes out more of a slice than a cake.
I want to use a meringue frosting. Can I make the cake with just egg yolks?
Hi Katy, you can use Swiss meringue frosting here if you prefer, or even this marshmallow meringue frosting. We don’t recommend making the cake with just egg yolks—it will be much too heavy.
Well, dang. Makes sense though. The frosting recipe I found uses 5 whites, could I use four of the leftover yolks and supplement with aquafaba, maybe? I just don’t want to use 8-9 eggs for one recipe if I can reasonably avoid it…
Hi. I’m not a huge fan of the pumpkin pie spice (cloves, allspice, et.) Can I use just the Cinnamon and nutmeg? Or do I need a little bit of the other spices? If I can use just the nutmeg with cinnamon, how much nutmeg should I add?
You can omit the other spices if you don’t like the taste of them, and just use cinnamon and nutmeg. Because it’s a matter of personal taste preference, I can’t tell you exactly how much nutmeg to add in place of the pie spice mix, but I think I would start with 3 teaspoons cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg and adjust from there.
Absolutely DELICIOUS and SO EASY!!! Brought it to my book group meeting and the members swooned over it! 5 asked for the recipe, one exclaiming it was the best cake she’d ever eaten—and we’re all seniors, so that must have been years of cake!!!
Love it, perfectly with doves gluten free plain white flour. I usually add extra spice and a touch of lemon zest too
Best ever. I make cupcakes and they do not last. These are the favourites at my daughters place. I use fresh pumpkin purée that I make.
This is my absolute favourite recipe. It has never failed me. Everyone loves it. I’d love to make it for my son’s first bday but I don’t want to use sugar. So, I was wondering if you think I could substitute the sugar with banana?
Hi Chook, so glad you love this recipe! We haven’t tested this cake with banana, so are unsure of the results, but it would likely be a very wet cake. You could try reducing the sugar some, or adding more flour if using banana, but again, we haven’t tested it so can’t guarantee how it would turn out. I hope you find something that works!
Easy recipe and so delicious!
This recipe is amazing. I could have sworn it was made with butter before instead of oil. Was this changed?
Hi AK, no, this recipe hasn’t changed. I make this with oil for extra moisture.
This was a huge hit for Christmas dessert! I only had a small group so I cut the recipe in half and baked it in an 8”x8” pan. Perfect! So moist and delicious!!!!
This is a delicious pumpkin cake. I planned to make a cinnamon cake when I found this recipe so I did double the cinnamon I used. I didn’t add it to the icing but plan to next time. I also think it is amenable to several additions if you like other things such as perhaps rum soaked raisins and/or nuts. I will try those next time.
Delicious. I did add more spice – freshly ground nutmeg, more cinnamon in the batter and frosting and I think it needs walnuts in the cake. Since it’s a 9×13 pan I frosted the whole cake (I added cinnamon and lemon zest to frosting) then on top of the frosting for a 1/2 of the cake I added shredded coconut and the other side I added lemon zest. Both are really good. I like a lot of spice and this didn’t disappoint. The pumpkin taste is subtle when you add the extra spice so it’s more like a spice cake. Very yummy! Thanks Sally.
Hi, Sally, would this work with raisins and walnuts added in? If so what amount would you recommend? And do you have a “second best” recommendation for a non-cream cheese icing? (More generally, could you make your comments searchable? I bet someone has asked this before but I don’t have the patience to go through 16 pages of comments–it would save you time responding!)
Hi Lin, Yes! You can add chopped walnuts and raisins to the batter. We recommend keeping the combined amount of add-ins to between 1 and 1.5 cups. You could definitely try the The brown butter cream cheese frosting from this Banana Layer Cake.
I’ve baked this cake three times now and it is superb. The recipe is also very simple.
You can mess around with the spices in the pumpkin pie spice based on your flavor preferences. Also, I don’t bother using a mixer for the batter. A whisk works just fine. Thanks Sally!
I love all your recipes! Just stumbled on this pumpkin cake recipe and am wondering if it can be baked in a loaf pan?
We’d recommend our pumpkin bread recipe instead. Same great taste!
Best pumpkin cake I’ve ever had! We’ve made it multiple times and it’s so delicious!
I’ve made this 4 times in the past month and everyone loves it! It is on my forever fall baking list. I was wondering, if anyone has tried using sweet potato purée instead of the pumpkin purée? Because it’s almost Thanksgiving and there will be many pumpkin desserts, I’m wondering if Sweet potato would be a nice twist. Any thoughts appreciated! Regardless, this recipe is perfection as is!
This is such a reliable recipe that we‘ve gone back to a few times this Fall. Doubling the batch made four 6” layers and a dozen cupcakes, which is perfect for a moderately sized crowd or event.
I have made this recipe multiple times with gluten free flour (Bob’s Red Mill 1 for 1 baking flour) with fantastic results! Delicious every time!!
Need to make in a 13x18x1 sheet pan…will 1 1/2 times the recipe be enough to fill the pan?
Hi Tami, Here is everything you need to know about converting recipes to different Cake Pan Sizes.
Thank you!
I love your recipes! Can I make this with gluten free flour? If not would you recommend another fall recipe I could make gluten free? Thank you!
Hi Julia! We haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour, so we’re unsure of the results. This cranberry frangipane tart is a wonderful fall recipe that also happens to be gluten free! Or, here are all of our gluten free recipes for browsing.
Very disappointing. Been baking for over 50 years. Followed the recipe as written. Very bland, not spiced or pumpkin-y.
This looks so good! I’m going to make this for Thanksgiving instead of pumpkin pie. Can I really swap applesauce for half of the oil and it doesn’t taste any different??
Hi Beech! We find that to be true, yes. But you can certainly stick with all oil.