Pumpkin cake is moist, perfectly spiced, and features a luscious cream cheese frosting and is optionally garnished with candied pecans.
The Best Pumpkin Cake
I’ve been perfecting Pumpkin Cake every fall, and after creating an unbelievable pumpkin carrot cake, I thought my work was complete. However, as August began this year, I was eager to experiment again, aiming to create the best Pumpkin Cake (without carrot!) while also testing these Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.
The ideal Pumpkin Cake is moist, sweet, perfectly spiced, and topped with cream cheese frosting.
I’m excited to share that this cake checks all those boxes and has been a hit with everyone who has tried it!
Ingredients
- Canned Pumpkin: Use plain pumpkin puree, not pie filling.
- White and Brown Sugars: Adds sweetness: Both light and dark brown sugar work well.
- Eggs: Room temperature eggs mix better.
- Vegetable Oil: Keeps bars moist; any mild oil works.
- Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla gives the best flavor.
- All-Purpose Flour: Level off the measuring cups for an accurate amount.
- Baking Soda: Helps the bars rise; make sure it’s fresh.
- Cinnamon, Cloves, Ginger, Nutmeg, Pumpkin Pie Spice: Add warm, spiced flavors.
- Cream Cheese Frosting: Let ingredients soften before using. Not a fan of cream cheese? Try a Vanilla Frosting instead.
How To Make Pumpkin Cake
- Prepare Pan and Oven: Preheat the oven and grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.
- Mix Cake Ingredients: Combine the wet ingredients, then mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Bake the Cake: Pour the batter into the pan, bake it, let it cool in the pan, then transfer it to a rack to cool completely.
- Make Frosting: Beat the frosting ingredients together until smooth.
- Assemble: Spread the frosting on the cake and add chopped pecans if desired.
Quick Tip
Use a good-quality canned pumpkin, like Libby’s®, for the best moisture, color, and flavor. You can also use about 1-3/4 cups of cooked, fresh pumpkin puree, ensuring it has a similar texture.
Storage
Leftovers?
- Storage: An unfrosted cake stays fresh for 3-4 days at its best. If you refrigerate it, it can last about a week.
- Refrigeration: If you’ve added frosting, refrigerate it the same day you make it.
- Freezing: You can freeze the cake (without frosting) for up to 2 months. Wrap it well in plastic wrap.
- Thawing: Thaw at room temperature for 1-2 hours before adding frosting.
More Amazing Pumpkin treats
- Pumpkin Cookies soft and chewy
- Pumpkin Cupcakes with cinnamon-cream cheese frosting
- Healthy Pumpkin Bread with chocolate chips
- Pumpkin Poke Cake topped with whipped cream frosting
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies chewy with crisp edges
Pumpkin Cake
This moist, spiced Pumpkin Cake topped with delicious cream cheese frosting (and optional candied pecans) is even better the next day—perfect for prepping ahead!
Equipment
- Bundt pan 10-inch
- Hand mixer
- Cooling Rack
Ingredients
- 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin 1-3/4 cups, I highly recommend Libby's
- 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese at room temperature
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- plain or candied pecans chopped, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease and lightly flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.
- In a large bowl, beat canned pumpkin (if you have wet or fresh pumpkin, drain off excess liquid), granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla with a hand mixer until well blended.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk until combined. Add dry ingredients to wet and beat until just combined. Use a spatula to ensure all ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Pour batter into the prepared Bundt pan and bake for 50–65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs. The cake should spring back when lightly touched. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before inverting cake onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- For frosting, beat room-temperature cream cheese and butter until smooth in a large bowl. Add powdered sugar, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and salt, mixing until completely smooth. Spread over cooled cake and garnish with pecans if desired (see note 1).
Video
Recipe Notes
Note 1: To make candied pecans, click this Candied Pecans Recipe.
Storage: An unfrosted cake stays fresh for 3–4 days or about a week in the fridge. If frosted with cream cheese frosting, refrigerate the cake the same day it’s made. To freeze the cake (without frosting), wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature for 1–2 hours before frosting.
Nutrition
Calories: 692kcal | Carbohydrates: 97g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 24g | Cholesterol: 99mg | Sodium: 400mg | Potassium: 69mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 76g | Vitamin A: 407IU | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this as a 3 layer cake for Thanksgiving and it was astonishingly good and super moist. I put prunes (chopped up and stewed and slightly sweetened) in one layer and cranberry sauce (made from the berries) in the other layer. Crazy good. Thanks for the recipe! I know the prunes might sound weird but it was my sister’s idea, and turned out to be a good one.
Sounds awesome!! Thanks for the comment and review Su 🙂
This is a great recipe! The spices are perfect – not too much! I made this with less sugar – 1.5 c brown sugar and I didn’t use any white sugar. The frosting is quite sweet so it’s nice that the cake can be a bit less sweet and still be delicious.
The second time I made it with applesauce for oil – no difference – and used one tsp orange extract, one tsp orange zest in the batter and one tsp orange extract in the frosting (in addition to the other spices and extracts). I called overnight and took out a few hours before serving – really good!
Made it ahead for thanksgiving tomorrow with a butter sub for oil. Looks beautiful!
So happy to hear this has been a hit and love the changes you’ve made 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving!
Do you think this would work with a pumpkin buttercream frosting or would it be too pumpkiny?
I’ve actually never had a pumpkin buttercream! Sounds delicious though 🙂 Sorry to not be of more help, but I really don’t know how it would taste without personally trying it. I think if you love pumpkin, it’s worth a try!
Well thank you for your honesty answer, muchly appreciated. I just made the cake and the batter, OMG, so good. I think maybe the cream cheese might be better but can I add color to it and will it spread on like buttercream? I’m gonna attempt to make a pumpkin but if the cream cheese isn’t suitable I’ll have to try plain orange buttercream. Sorry for all the questions and thank you for your answers
Yay!! So happy you love it 🙂 Cream cheese frosting doesn’t spread as nicely as buttercream, so I’d think a vanilla buttercream died orange would be your best bet for making it look like a pumpkin. Good luck! 🙂
Do you think this recipe would work with gluten-free (1-1) flour?
I’m sorry Maria, I really have no idea! I’m not very experienced with gluten free flour. Wish I could be of more help
I’ve only made this cake with Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free flour and it’s delicious. Very similar to a recipe my mother used to made many years ago. Hers had 2 cups of white sugar and no brown sugar and she served it whipped cream instead of frosting.
I am so happy to hear this! Thanks so much Janet! 🙂
Maria,
I have made a similar pumpkin cake recipe for several years, sometimes using gluten-free flour. It works quite well, although the texture is just slightly different.
Thanks Mindy! 🙂
Yes use Pamela’s
I use King Arthur Gluten-Free Baking Mix in place of all-purpose flour. I’ve tried strictly GF flours and they just don’t work well for cooking or baking, for me anyway.
This is the best pumpkin cake ever. This was delicious. I made a change to the recipe, í substitute the flour with pancake flour and it was so fluffy and moist. Also last longer fresh .
Ahh I’m so happy to hear this! That sub sounds really good! That’s my favorite part about this cake, it is just as good 5 days after making it! Haha! Thanks Thayza! 🙂
I haven’t made this yet, but what about adding nuts? Seems to me that walnuts or pecans would be a good addition.
Sure! 🙂 I’d add a cup of coarsely chopped nuts — toss with the flour so they don’t sink to the bottom!
I haven’t made it yet, but I’d sprinkle chopped walnuts or pecans on top of the cake after it is frosted.
This cake sounds delicious! I was wondering why there’s pumpkin pie spice listed as an ingredient as well as what goes into pumpkin pie spice? Will this be over-spiced by doubling-up on the spices? I guess I’ll find out after I bake, but was just wondering. Thanks!
It depends on the brand you use of pumpkin pie spice, but most are mainly cinnamon so I wanted to make sure all the other spices are well represented while also ensuring there is a boost of that overall spice 🙂 I wouldn’t say it’s over-spiced, this is exactly how we like it, but you can definitely reduce spices if you’re worried! Hope you love the cake!
I made the cake exactly as directed at it was fabulous! Definitely not over-spiced. Perfect! Adding it to my recipe collection!
So happy to hear it! Thanks for the comment Jon 🙂
Can I make this in a muffin tin with liners?
I’d recommend this recipe: pumpkin cupcakes. Enjoy!
Literally the BEST pumpkin cake ever! Your recipes never disappoint. Thank you!!
Can’t wait to make my first pumpkin recipe this fall!! 🙂