Pumpkin cream cheese Bundt cake is everything you love about pumpkin cake with a decadent cheesecake layer hiding inside. Simple to prepare and perfectly spiced, this fall cake always impresses a crowd. This layered beauty is irresistible on its own, but even more worthy of your fork with salted caramel drizzled on top! 😉
I originally published this recipe in 2016 and have since added new photos and more helpful success tips.
If you like my pumpkin Bundt cake, you’re going to love today’s pumpkin cream cheese Bundt cake. We use the same base recipe, skip the chocolate chips, and add a cream cheese layer. Hello, fall!
One reader, Caila, commented: “This recipe was easy to follow and yielded a delicious, moist cake! I have friends and family who don’t love pumpkin, and they still enjoyed it. Highly recommend making the salted caramel topping to go with it. ★★★★★“
Why You’ll Love This Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bundt Cake:
- Moist, dense pumpkin cake crumb with a cheesecake-style filling
- Spiced with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice (or you can use pumpkin pie spice)
- Pumpkin + cream cheese make a great team, just like in these pumpkin cream cheese muffins and pumpkin cheesecake pie
- Conveniently uses 1 standard can of pumpkin. (My beloved pumpkin pie uses an entire can, too. For future reference!)
- Easy to make; beginner bakers can absolutely handle this one
- A large, beautiful, impressive cake perfect for fall celebrations—with no decorating skills required
If you love dessert + cozy fall flavors, here’s a list of 30+ fall cake recipes.
These Are Key Ingredients You Need & Why
Like all of the recipes on my website and in my cookbooks, my team and I tested various ingredients and ratios to develop a standout cake with excellent flavor and texture. Here are some key ingredients:
- Baking Soda: 2 teaspoons of baking soda seems like a lot, and it is. But think about the size of a Bundt cake… they’re huge, and need to rise quite a lot in the tall cake pan. In addition to leavening, baking soda deepens a baked good’s color and neutralizes its acids.
- Spices: Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice. On its own, pumpkin is quite bland, so you need a lot of spice for flavor. You can also use pumpkin pie spice here—see recipe Notes.
- Oil: You can use vegetable oil, canola oil, or avocado oil here. This cake needs a neutral-tasting oil so it doesn’t overpower the pumpkin spice flavor.
- Eggs: Pumpkin, oil, and flour are big, heavy ingredients so you need eggs in the batter for lift; eggs also bind the ingredients together. You need an egg for the cream cheese filling, too.
- Pure Pumpkin: This Bundt cake conveniently uses one standard 15-ounce can of pumpkin. For best results and flavor, I strongly recommend using canned pumpkin puree instead of homemade. I prefer Libby’s brand for this cake. (Not sponsored by them, just a big fan!)
- Cream Cheese: It’s important to use the block cream cheese that comes in a box, as opposed to the spreadable kind that comes in a tub. That’s great for bagels, but it doesn’t make for a sturdy, sliceable cheesecake layer.
You also need all-purpose flour, salt, brown sugar + granulated white sugar, and vanilla.
The Best Cream Cheese Filling to Use
You only need 4 ingredients for the cream cheese layer, 3 of which you already got out for the cake batter: brick-style cream cheese, an egg, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract.
This tangy, creamy filling isn’t overly sweet, which I love—and I think you’ll appreciate too. Real flavors shine through today!
Overview: How to Make It
You’ll find the full recipe below, but here’s a quick visual of the steps:
Make the cake batter. This is as simple as whisking together the dry ingredients, whisking together the wet ingredients, and then whisking wet + dry together.
Make the cream cheese filling. Use an electric mixer to beat the softened cream cheese until completely smooth—no lumps. Then beat in the remaining ingredients.
Let’s layer: Spread half the pumpkin batter into your greased Bundt pan. Carefully spread the cream cheese filling on top. I like to spread it as close to the edges of the pan as possible, so you get filling in every bite. Then top with the remaining cake batter.
You follow similar layering methods when making my cheesecake swirl carrot Bundt cake.
And bake. This is a huge cake so it takes a while to completely bake through. You’ll also need to let it cool for a bit before you invert it, otherwise it will stick to the pan.
As I said before, this cake doesn’t really need a topping, but if you want to add a little something extra, it’s fabulous as pictured with salted caramel sauce + flaky sea salt sprinkled on top. It’s also lovely with vanilla icing + a pinch of pumpkin pie spice. Or go full-cream-cheese-ahead and top with the maple cinnamon cream cheese icing from these pumpkin cinnamon rolls!
Bundt Pan Recommendations
Do you make a lot of Bundt cakes? If so, you need a Bundt pan that’s 9.5 to 10.5 inches in diameter, and can hold 10 to 12 cups of batter. Let me share two favorite Bundt cake pan options with you:
- Anolon Bundt Pan: Super quality, heavy-duty, great price, never warps, awesome rubber grips. I’ve been using it for years and, honestly, it’s just as durable as day 1.
- Nordic Ware Bundt Pan: Outstanding quality, heavy-duty, and makes beautiful cakes.
Whichever Bundt pan you use, be sure to grease it very generously before adding the batter. Even if the pan is labeled nonstick, due to the size and weight of a Bundt cake, you NEED a lot of greasing so the cake easily separates from the pan when inverting it.
Other Favorite Pumpkin Recipes
- Pumpkin Pie & Pumpkin Slab Pie
- Simply Pumpkin Muffins
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- My Best Pumpkin Bars & Pumpkin Bread
And be sure to bookmark this list of best pumpkin desserts.
Print
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bundt Cake
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Pumpkin cream cheese Bundt cake combines generously spiced pumpkin cake with rich and creamy cheesecake. Simple to prepare, this fall cake always impresses a crowd. This layered beauty is irresistible on its own, but you can add optional toppings. See recipe Note.
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 and 3/4 cups (344g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)*
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar (I prefer dark here)
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (240ml) vegetable oil (see Note)
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Filling
- 12 ounces (339g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature*
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Optional Topping
- salted caramel sauce
- flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and generously grease a 10-inch Bundt pan. (Even if your pan is labeled nonstick, still grease it very well to prevent the big heavy cake from sticking.)
- Make the cake batter: In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice together. Set aside. In another large bowl, whisk the pumpkin, brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until completely combined. Batter is thick. Set aside.
- Make the cream cheese filling: Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese on high speed until no lumps remain, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula. Beat in the remaining ingredients on medium-high speed until combined and creamy, about 1 minute.
- Spread half of the pumpkin batter into the prepared bundt pan. Spread all of the cream cheese filling evenly on top. Spread the remaining pumpkin batter on top. Use a knife to gently swirl the layers together.
- Bake for 55–65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean with just a couple lightly moist crumbs. This is a large, heavy cake so don’t be alarmed if it takes a little longer in your oven. Mine usually takes 60 minutes exactly.
- Once done, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 2 hours in the pan set on a wire rack. Then invert the slightly cooled Bundt cake onto a cooling rack or serving plate/cake stand.
- Allow to cool completely before drizzling with optional topping and serving.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days and/or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Baked cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. Be sure to wrap it tightly. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Bundt Cake Pan (I like this one or this one) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cooling Rack
- Spices: Instead of 1/2 teaspoon each ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice, you can use 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. (You will still add the 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon.)
- Pumpkin: For best results and flavor, I strongly recommend using canned pumpkin puree over homemade in this recipe. I found the flavor is much better with canned. I prefer Libby’s brand for this cake.
- Oil: You can use vegetable oil, canola oil, avocado oil, or olive oil. Instead of 1 cup of oil, try 1/2 cup (90g) unsweetened applesauce and 1/2 cup (120ml) oil. The cake is just as moist. If you want to use coconut oil, melt it first, and be sure that all of the other ingredients are room temperature. Bake the batter right away, because as the coconut oil begins to cool and solidify, it thickens the batter and could result in an overly dense cake.
- Cream Cheese: Brick cream cheese is typically sold in 8-ounce blocks. You need 1 and 1/2 of them for this cake.
- More Topping Options: Brown butter icing from my peach Bundt cake; chocolate ganache; cream cheese frosting; homemade whipped cream; brown sugar glaze from my apple Bundt cake
- Can I Turn This Into a Loaf? Yes. This recipe yields 2 loaf pan-size cakes, made in 9×5-inch loaf pans. Bake time will be similar to my pumpkin bread. Simply layer the pumpkin and cream cheese batters, then swirl gently with a knife.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Awesome, made it just like recipe said and it was great. Super easy and was a great hit with everyone. The only adjustment I had to make and that was just because of my oven cooking faster on most things is I cooked it about 10 minutes less than called for.
Hi sally! I don’t have a Bundt pan. Can I make this in 2 8” cake pans?
Hi Evangeline! Here is everything you need to know about converting recipes to different Cake Pan Sizes.
This was delicious, but do you think it would work to double the amount of cream cheese swirl? It wasn’t quite enough for us! (No toppings and made in loaf pans.)
Hi! Recipe says to swirl layers but all the pictures show layers not swirled?
Hi Sally! It is swirled – you can see us swirling it in the step by step photos. Hope this helps!
Where? I just see layering the cream cheese & final layer of cake batter.
How long would you think it would bake in mini 4” x 6” loaf pans? Will the toothpick test work with the cream cheese inside?
Hi TB, we’re unsure of the exact bake time for those loaf pans, but yes, you can use a toothpick to test for doneness. Enjoy!
I don’t usually comment, but this was just so delicious. My husband and our neighbor raved about it. I followed the recipe to the letter. Mine was done in 55 minutes. I used your recipe for vanilla icing and it was just the perfect combo. It’s actually better the next day. The spices had some time to marry. Just a lovely cake for Fall and the holidays.
I just made this cake today and it was a hit with the whole family. It’s also beautiful. I followed the recipe exactly. Followed up with a maple glaze. I will be making this again. Thank you, Sally!
Cake turned out super moist and flavourful. I’m in the UK so don’t have access to cream cheese in block form so substituted for mascarpone with juice from half a lemon and dash of salt to give it the cream cheese tang. Family loved it and already requesting it’s made again soon!
This is an amazing cake and a keeper! It is perfect and friends and family love it! I did not have the recommended dark brown sugar so I used the light brown and added two tbsp molasses, just an awesome recipe!
Hello! I plan to make this cake Saturday for an event Sunday, is it best to add the topping right before serving? Thanks!
Hi Eileen, if you can, yes, we’d recommend topping with salted caramel closer to serving!
Hi….could sweet potato puree be used instead of pumpkin?
Hi Constance, we haven’t tested it, but that generally works well in pumpkin recipes. Let us know if you try it!
Sounds really good thank you so much very kind.
Can this be baked in a 9×13 instead of Bundt pan ?
Hi Mamma, we’d recommend using this pumpkin cake recipe instead for a 9×13 pan. Enjoy!
Hi, can you use 1/2 c oil and 1/2 c butter for more buttery flavor? Or can you use the 1 c oil but use butter in addition because oil makes a cake more moist than butter does. Thanks for your feedback! Leslie from Florida
Hi Leslie, we really recommend sticking with oil for this cake, but let us know what you try!
This is delicious! I might do 1.25 the cream cheese filling next time. I also increased the salt and I’m glad I did because otherwise I think it would have tasted flat. I’m going to add some maple glaze today. YUM!
Can the cream cheese layer be made with dairy free cream cheese?
Hi Jennifer, we haven’t tested it, so are unsure of the result. If you decide to try it, let us know how it turns out!
I feel like I say this about every cake recipe of yours that I make… but this was honestly one of the best cakes I’ve ever eaten. I even did the half oil/half applesauce as suggested in the notes and it was still extremely delicious. I almost made the regular Bundt cake without the cream cheese swirl, but I’m so glad I went with this one! I absolutely LOVED it and will make it again. (I added more cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice than called for because I really like the flavors.) Also, I used the maple icing that was suggested on the plain pumpkin Bundt cake.
I’m looking for a Pumpkin Chocolate bundt cake with cream cheese filling. I want to use black cocoa and add red food coloring in the filling for a black and red cake for halloween. Can you help please? I’d even settle for a chocolate bundt cake with a pumpkin cream cheese filling.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Paula, we haven’t tested this recipe with any cocoa powder, and it would take some testing to properly incorporate it since it can be such a drying ingredient. We do have this chocolate Bundt cake recipe, and you could try altering the cream cheese filling for a pumpkin version. It may take some experimenting, but you could start by swapping a small bit of the cream cheese with pumpkin puree and adding some pumpkin pie spice as well. Let us know what you try!
Delicious recipe! The kids thought it was pretty cool that I put the frosting inside!
I’ll be making this with King Arthur’s GF Measure for Measure flour tomorrow. Thanks for posting that yours was successful!
How did the gluten free version turn out?
Hi,
Do you think a half cup of Greek yogurt would work for half the oil instead of apple sauce?
Thank you
Hi Rachel, we haven’t tried, but let us know how it turns out if you do!
Bonjour !
Je n’ ai pas de moule à Bundt, est ce que je peux utiliser un moule normal : rond?
Merci de votre réponse.
Myrtille
Hello Myrtille, hopefully you can translate this reply! Here’s our regular pumpkin cake recipe, that can be baked in round cake pans. You can find those instructions in the Notes after the recipe. Happy baking!
Any chance gluten free flour can be used in this recipe?
Hi Lisa, we haven’t tested this recipe with GF flour so are unsure of the results, but some readers have reported success with using a 1:1 GF flour blend. If you try it, let us know how it goes!
Sally! Where are your Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Bars with pepitas on top?? I found the picture on Pinterest but the link took me to this bundt cake. While it looks scrumptious, I need those bars. I made that recipe at least twice a year when I was a teenager. I am now 24, and the bars are nowhere to be found. I was just telling my boyfriend that I randomly craved them and that I need to make them again this fall. Please help a girl out, Sally. And thank you for all your delicious recipes that you’ve shared with us throughout the years <3
Hi Kate! Happy to help. We were no longer satisfied with the outcome of that older recipe, so we unpublished it. We still have it, so send us an email and we can forward it to you. sally@sallysbakingaddiction.com
LOVE THIS CAKE..even my very picky husband couldn’t get enough slices!
Nice cake for Thanksgiving but also a wonderful coffee cake! Made according to directions and topped with a light homemade caramel sauce and it was delicious! Definitely making again!
Perfect for Thanksgiving! Loved this, moist and a perfect add on for dessert. I personally cut back a little on sugar for health reasons but was so delicious still (I am sure it’s amazing with regular amount of sugar too) I sprinkled with powdered sugar! Looked beautiful! will definitely go into my save recipes.
It’s perfect like all yor recipes, I love it please marry me
Hi
I want to make mini Bundts. Do you think I can half recipe and make 6 mini Bundts?
I did half your orange cranberry Bundt and made 6 minis and it worked. Wondering if this would work too!
Hi MaryJo, we’re unsure of the exact amount needed, as it will depend on the size of your mini Bundt pans. Let us know how it goes for you!
I did half and was perfect for 6 minis! So delicious.
Where I live, I can only find 28 oz cans of pumpkin. Should I spoon some into a glass measuring cup until it reaches the 15 oz mark?
Hi L, you can weigh the pumpkin for the most accurate result. So either 15 ounces or 425g.
Excellent! I made this gluten free for a friend and it was still lovely and soft. I also topped it with Sally’s browned butter icing and it was heavenly. Highly recommend.
I’m so excited to make this for Thanksgiving! I was wondering if it’s possible to include a crumb topping for this recipe? Similar to your pumpkin cheesecake muffins. I would like to add that, wondering how I should go about it or if its possible. Thanks!
Hi Angela! Crumb topping isn’t the best for Bundt cakes since you serve them upside down from the way they are baked.
This cake sound wonderful! I’d like to try it, but first a question: Is there a reason why I can’t make the cake batter in one large bowl instead of two? Can’t I mix the wet ingredients, then add the dry to the same bowl? Thanks!
Hi Geraldine, it’s best to mix the dry ingredients separately to ensure the ingredients are incorporated evenly, then add to the wet ingredients.
The cake turned out great! Delicious and festive:). It took 65 minutes in my oven using a 10-cup bundt pan. I had to tent with foil over the top toward the end of the baking. Thanks for a terrific recipe!