This pumpkin cake is soft, extra moist, and full of pumpkin and a generous dose of spice flavor. Smooth, tangy cream cheese frosting is the perfect finishing touch. Bake the batter as an easy 9×13-inch sheet cake or divide it among round pans for a pumpkin layer cake.
I originally published this recipe in 2017 and have since updated it with new photos and additional success tips.
This is the pumpkin cake I come back to every fall. The batter is easy to mix, the cake stays wonderfully moist, and you can dress it up or keep it simple depending on the occasion. For an easy dessert to transport and serve, bake it in a 9×13-inch pan and spread the frosting right on top. For a birthday or holiday celebration, use the same batter to make a towering layer cake.
Always love options!
Either way, you get plenty of pumpkin, cinnamon, and brown sugar flavor in every bite. And while the cake is delicious on its own, I always look forward to the cream cheese frosting.
Pumpkin Cake Details
Here’s what to expect from today’s recipe.
- Flavor: Pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice give this cake its familiar fall flavor. The cream cheese frosting balances the sweetness and complements the spices.
- Texture: This cake is soft and “stick-to-your-fork moist,” thanks to the pumpkin and oil in the batter. If you’ve made these pumpkin cupcakes, you can expect a similar texture… they’re essentially the same recipe with a smaller yield!
- Ease: You need just 2 mixing bowls to prepare the batter, and no mixer until it’s time to make the frosting. The sheet cake is especially simple because there’s no stacking or assembly. The layer cake takes a little more time to frost, but starts with the very same batter.
Key Ingredients You Need & Why
- Flour: All-purpose flour gives this moist cake enough structure without making the crumb heavy. Stick with all-purpose flour rather than swapping in cake flour; cake flour is simply too light to support the pumpkin and oil.
- Pumpkin: You’ll use an entire 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree, so there’s no partial can left over. Be sure to use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, which already contains sugar and spices. You can use homemade puree, but I prefer the consistent flavor and texture of canned pumpkin in this cake.
- Cinnamon + pumpkin pie spice: A combination of both gives the cake plenty of spice flavor. Use store-bought or a homemade pumpkin pie spice blend, or substitute the individual spices listed in the recipe notes below.
- Oil + eggs: Oil keeps the crumb soft and moist, while eggs help give the cake structure. I use both in these pumpkin bars, too, but with fewer eggs for a less cakey texture.
- Brown sugar + granulated sugar: Both sweeten the cake, but most of the sugar is brown sugar for its light molasses flavor.
You’ll also need to grab baking soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla.
Prep Your Cake Pans
For the quarter sheet cake, grease a 9×13-inch metal or glass baking pan. For the layer cake, grease three 8-inch round pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment. You could also make this a 2-layer 9-inch cake. Lots of options for this versatile batter!
Whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Combine the two, mixing just until the batter comes together. Spread it into the 9×13-inch pan or divide it evenly among the round pans, then bake as directed below.
Here is the 3-layer cake version:
Let the cake cool completely before frosting. This is especially important with cream cheese frosting, which softens quickly on a warm cake. After frosting, a little time in the refrigerator helps the cake slice neatly.
Same Pumpkin Cake Batter, 2 Ways
One of my favorite things about this recipe is that you can choose the cake’s shape without changing the batter.
9×13-inch sheet cake: Bake the batter in one pan, let the cake cool, and spread the frosting on top. This is my go-to option for an easy fall dessert, potluck, or Thanksgiving gathering.
Layer cake: Divide the batter among three 8-inch round cake pans or two 9-inch round cake pans. Once the layers have cooled, stack them with cream cheese frosting between each layer, then frost the top and sides of the cake. If you need help with this part, see my post (with video tutorial!) on How to Assemble a Layer Cake.
A 2-layer and 3-layer cake require different frosting amounts, so see the recipe Notes below for details.
Cream Cheese Frosting & Decorating Options
Cream cheese frosting is my first choice for this cake, just as it is for carrot cake, hummingbird cake, and banana cake. It’s smooth and creamy, with just enough tang to balance the sweet, spiced cake.
If you’d like to try a different topping, here are a few options:
- Brown butter cream cheese frosting from spice cake
- Chocolate cream cheese frosting from zebra cake
- Classic vanilla buttercream or chocolate buttercream
- Brown sugar cinnamon buttercream from snickerdoodle cake
You can leave the frosted cake as is, or add little candy pumpkins or fall sprinkles before serving. I got the pictured candy pumpkins from Etsy, and on the layer cake, I added some Biscoff cookie crumbs around the base and on top.
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 pumpkin cake is soft, extra moist, and full of pumpkin and a generous dose of spice flavor. Smooth, tangy cream cheese frosting is the perfect finishing touch. Bake the batter as an easy 9×13-inch sheet cake or divide it among round pans for a pumpkin layer cake.
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 (226g/240ml) vegetable oil (or avocado oil)
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 (15-ounce/425g) 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 metal or glass 9×13-inch baking pan. (For a layer cake, see instructions below.)
- 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. The 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 the cake with aluminum foil.
- Remove the cake from the oven and set the entire pan on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely.
- 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 the 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. Spread the frosting on the cooled cake. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving to help set the frosting.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Prepare cake through step 5. After the cake cools, cover it 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!
- Layer Cake: You can make this as either a 2-layer or 3-layer cake. For a 2-layer cake, divide the batter evenly between two greased and lined 9-inch round pans and bake at 350°F (177°C) for 26–30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. For a 3-layer cake, divide the batter evenly among three 8-inch round pans and bake for 22–26 minutes. To make enough frosting for a 3-layer cake, scale the frosting above by 1.5x. So you’ll need 12 oz (340g) cream cheese, 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) butter, 4 and 1/2 cups (540g) confectioners’ sugar, 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla, and a scant 1/4 tsp salt. Before assembling the layer cake, refrigerate the prepared frosting for at least 30 minutes so it’s sturdier and can hold up the layers. I decorated the pictured layer cake with icing pumpkins and Biscoff cookie crumbs.
- 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 cup (113g/120ml) 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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi! I followed your cupcake recipe to make two 4.5” cakes (plus 4 cupcakes) for my daughter’s smash cake (I did a 1/4 cup of applesauce substitution and also opted for 1/2 cup of maple syrup + 1 tbsp of brown sugar). I baked them all at 325 degrees, took the cupcakes out at 20 min and left the cakes for an additional 10. They turned out so great!! Slightly sweet which is what I wanted!
My question is for the icing on this recipe. I’m looking to frost 2 and a half dozen cupcakes plus a little for her small cake. How much would this recipe cover? Should I do 1.5 batch?
Thank you!
I’m so happy that you were able to make the recipe work for you, Mekenzi! The frosting should be enough, but if you plan on piling it very high on the cupcakes then you can try making 1.5 times the recipe. Enjoy!
This was amazing. Simple and very tasty. Had no all purpose flour so used 1 cup plain 1 cup self raising and 2 teaspoon baking powder no baking soda. Used half cup granulated sugar and half brown. So half cup less sugar and forgot the salt upped the cinnamon and replaced oil with coconut oil. Moist. Dense. Gorgeous. Thank you
I made this as a layer cake for Christmas and frosted it with maple cream cheese frosting. It was AMAZING! My college kid even asked me to make it again before she went back to school!
I was looking for a pumpkin dessert recipe that was not pie and one for which I already had all of the ingredients. This recipe caught my attention and I made it today for Christmas. I followed the recipe as it is written and it turned out perfect! It is moist, spiced perfectly, and the cream cheese frosting is divine. This will be on the list of bakes every year from now on. Thank you!
I made this cake with minor modifications of what was available at home (and less sugar) and without the frosting, and it was amazing!! Hadn’t had such moist cake before!! Congrats for the recipe!
I added about 1/2 cup raisins to my batter!!!!! Yummy
I always forget to give reviews but this was stellar so I wanted to make sure I did. It truly is the best! I would equate it more to a carrot cake, moist, flavorful and the cream cheese frosting sets it off perfectly. I’m not usually a cake person, but I loved this and it was a huge hit to a gathering of discriminating people. I did the 2 rounds with frosting in between. Just delicious and very “seasonal” at thanksgiving time. Also note: I used fresh cooked, puréed pumpkin, using the one we had from Halloween!
Absolutely loved this recipe and my boyfriend couldn’t believe it how good this cake was hahaha. He even asked me to make it for new years for his brother and his wife. You Americans really know your desserts!! Love from Europe xx
I made this cake without the frosting with my preschool kids at school as part of our liquid/solid/gas theme. We didn’t have any spice besides the cinnamon so I added a little extra to the measurement in the recipe. Baked it in an aluminum foil pan with greased parchment paper… It took 50 minutes to bake to perfection. Served it warm and the staff raved that it was the best cake they’d ever tasted. The kids loved it! Thank you!
Really moist and flavorful cake! I made 2 9 inch layers 2 days ahead, cooled, and wrapped at room temperature and it was soo moist and good!
Thanks!
Made this for a birthday party this weekend – even after a week of everyone eating pumpkin-themed foods, the entire sheet cake was gone between 9 people in the course of an evening. Everyone went back for seconds. Birthday boy loved it! Thanks so much.
This was a really nice pumpkin cake!! Thank you
AMAZING!!! I did a 2-layer version for Thanksgiving and it was a huge hit. My husband literally hid the leftover cake in our back fridge so no one would take it home with them. My kids don’t like cream cheese so did a super light vanilla buttercream and it was perfect. Thanks so much- will definitely be making this one again!!
I followed the recipe exactly as written. I made the cake on the Sunday before Thanksgiving and stored it in the freezer in the glass baking dish recommended. I wrapped the pan completely with plastic wrap. The night before Thanksgiving I thawed the cake on the counter and made the frosting and frosted the cake in the morning. This cake is perfection! What a big help it is to have a make ahead dessert that is foolproof and delicious. Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!
Can I make this in two 8 in cake pans?
Absolutely! Pour batter evenly into two 8-inch round cake pans. Same oven temperature and use a toothpick to test for doneness. The layers will be thicker than if you were using 9 inch cake pans. This frosting is enough for a 2 layer cake.
Hi Sally,
I am planning on baking this recipe as a bundt cake for this Thanksgiving. Can I sub the canola oil with either coconut or avocado oil? Thanks!
Melted coconut oil is a wonderful replacement!
I’ve made this twice. The only tweak‘s were that I made it in a Bundt cake pan (using this recipe, not the Bundt cake one) and then simply dusted with powder sugar instead of making the frosting. Everyone loved it so much that we’re planning to bring it to Thanksgiving INSTEAD of pie. Wish us luck as to not getting kicked out
I made this for my dad’s retirement party. I quadrupled the recipe to fit in a huge sheet pan (thankfully I had access to a commercial oven). It was perfect! Rave reviews from all of our guests!
This is a great recipe!! I have made it at least 4 times and it comes out perfectly every time. It is awesome with or with out icing.
Thank you for the yummy recipe 🙂
Will the baking time be different if I make this in a metal instead of a glass pan? Why is a glass pan preferred for this recipe? Thanks
My glass pan is just my personal preference for this size! You can use your metal pan, the bake time might be a few minutes shorter (glass heats up slower) so just keep an eye on it toward the end.
Today was my second time to make this pumpkin cake. Everyone loved it the first time I made it, so I thought I would make it again to take to a church dinner. Hope they enjoy it as much as my family did.
The cake was a hit at work! I followed the cake and frosting recipes with minor tweaks. I prepared 3 6-inch cakes, and I used rum extract and a store-bought spice mix in the frosting. The cake was indeed moist while still being sturdy enough to cut! The cream cheese was just thick enough for piping delicate flowers, but I’ll continue to search for a sturdier recipe that won’t soften as I decorate. Definitely a recipe I will continue to use! Thank you for sharing.
Made this cake yesterday it was delicious had to send it to work with my husband so I could stop eating it, they all loved it. Thank you for the recipe.
Even though the cake took forever to get done, it was a big hit with our family. I did do one goof which may have caused it to take so long. I added the sugars to the dry ingredients instead of the wet and I noticed the batter was thinner than you said it would be. The frosting was good but too much. May half that next time. Nice mixture of spices.
Made this cake last night for a co-worker’s birthday.
Came out delicious, moist and flavorful.
I added 3/4 tsp of cinnamon and a tablespoon of maple syrup to the frosting
and it was really good!
My cake collapsed in the middle. It looks like oven temp was good. I did not overbeat and a toothpick came out clean. I used a glass pan. Should I have reduced the temperature? It is an easy tasty recipe, but I want it to come out as nice as yours.
Hi Nancy, ovens with too high heat can cause a cake to sink as it cools. (You could even double check the accuracy of your oven with an oven thermometer– highly recommended.) Also, make sure you’re making no substitutions in the ingredients. If the batter is too thin, it will rise tall before collapsing.
Can I add chocolate chips to this without any other alterations?
Yes you can! I suggest between 1 and 1.5 cups of chocolate chips. Enjoy!
I made this delicious cake today and my husband and I were thrilled with the end result.
I modified it with double the spices, because I just love the extra pumpkin spices. I also used my own puree from steamed butternut pumpkin. It is a winner for Thanksgiving or Christmas, or any time during the year!
This turned out great and it was delicious. The people at my church were commenting about how delicious it was. I baked for 35 minutes in a 9×13 pan and kept it in the fridge and it was so moist. I would definitely make this again.
I tried the recipe baked using a glass baking tray as i thought it was recommended but ended up totally flopped. The cake turned out to be wet inside but dry on top.