This easy Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is a spiced pumpkin sheet cake recipe topped with a dreamy, rich cream cheese frosting. Made entirely from scratch, it’s a fluffy and moist cake with a tender crumb that’s perfect for the fall season.
The Best Recipe For Pumpkin Cake
If there’s one dessert to keep in your stash of go-to, foolproof recipes, it’s this beautifully easy pumpkin spiced cake. It’s so soft and fluffy in texture, and it’s filled with warm spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.
This is the homemade pumpkin dessert perfect for any last minute get together, holiday party, or comfort food craving. The cake itself is really moist, and it is very noticeably pumpkin in flavor (as any good pumpkin cake should be). The cream cheese frosting is rich, tangy, and oh-so-dreamy. A pumpkin dream cake, if you will.
Move over pumpkin pie, there’s a new sheriff in town and she’s ready to take center stage on any Thanksgiving table. Don’t underestimate this pumpkin sheet cake with cream cheese frosting. She might be humble in appearance, but she’s a firecracker in taste.
Why I Love This Easy Pumpkin Cake Recipe:
- One Bowl: Who doesn’t love a simple recipe? This cake is made entirely in one bowl (if you don’t count the cream cheese frosting). You can use an electric mixer or a stand mixer, or you can even whisk by hand.
- Pumpkin Spice: What good are pumpkin desserts if you can’t even taste the pumpkin flavor? This is 100% a spiced pumpkin cake, thanks to all of the warm spices. The batter has a whole can of pumpkin puree, and it’s full of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. These warm spices enhance the pumpkin spice flavors, making it the perfect fall dessert.
- Cream Cheese Frosting: Pumpkin bars and tangy cream cheese go together hand in hand, and this luscious cream cheese frosting is to die for. The cream cheese icing is rich and creamy, and it makes for the most delicious pumpkin cake.
What You’ll Need To Make Classic Pumpkin Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting:
Pumpkin Cake Ingredients:
- Large Eggs
- Granulated Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Canola Oil: You can substitute vegetable oil for canola oil if that’s all you have on hand (do not use olive oil–it will not taste great in this recipe). Oil is used instead of butter to make for a very tender pumpkin cake that is very moist and very fluffy.
- Pumpkin Puree: Make sure you are using canned pumpkin puree, not canned pumpkin pie filling. Often the two cans are near each other at the grocery store. Pumpkin puree is straight pumpkin, while pumpkin pie filling has other additives. Also, you can use fresh pumpkin puree.
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Ground Cinnamon, Ginger, Cloves & Nutmeg: I prefer to use my own blend of individual spices, but you can use pumpkin pie spice instead.
- Vanilla Extract
Cream Cheese Frosting for Pumpkin Cake:
- Cream Cheese: You need to use full fat cream cheese for frosting. It yields a better texture and flavor.
- Unsalted Butter
- Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar is also known as confectioners’ sugar.
- Vanilla Extract
How To Make Pumpkin Cake From Scratch:
This recipe for pumpkin cake is incredibly simple. The most difficult part is waiting for the cake to bake and cool. This is a basic overview, but the recipe card down below has the full details.
- Wet Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer), mix eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin purée, and vanilla extract on a low speed until well combined.
- Dry Ingredients: Add flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and ground nutmeg to the wet ingredients (the pumpkin mixture). Mix on a low speed until combined.
- Bake: Pour the cake batter into a prepared cake pan (9×13) and bake until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Frosting: In a large bowl (using a standing mixer or a hand mixer), beat cream cheese and unsalted butter together until light and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowls as needed.
- Assembly: Frost the cooled cake with an offset spatula. Spread the frosting all over the top of the cake, spreading all the way to the edges of the cake.
Storage Tips:
- Refrigerate: Because this is a pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, leftovers of the cake should be refrigerated. Store in an airtight container or cover your baking dish with plastic wrap.
- Room Temperature: If you plan to serve the cake within a couple of hours of baking, you can leave this frosted pumpkin sheet cake at room temperature. However, the cream cheese frosting won’t be as firm as it would be if it was refrigerated.
- Freezer: I’ve never attempted to freeze this cake (frosted or unfrosted).
Make Ahead Tips:
If you would like to make this homemade pumpkin cake ahead of time, you can do that easily. In fact, I think this particular recipe for pumpkin cake tastes better after it sits overnight in the fridge. All of the flavors have had a chance to meld together, and it just makes for the best pumpkin cake.
- You can make the cake as directed and refrigerate it until you’re ready to serve. Again, this cake gets even better as it sits.
- Or, if you don’t like a cold cake, you can make the pumpkin sheet cake and leave it unfrosted at room temperature until you are ready to serve.
- Before serving, make a batch of the cream cheese frosting and frost before serving.
- Additionally, you can make the cream cheese frosting ahead of time and refrigerate it. Before serving, frost the sheet cake.
Can I Make This Pumpkin Pie Spice?
Yes, you can. I prefer to make a pumpkin spice cake with my own blend of spices, because I have more control over the overall flavor.
-However, if you would prefer to use pumpkin pie spice, I suggest using 1 tsp cinnamon + 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice.
Other Recipes For Pumpkin Cake:
- Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
- Vanilla Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- Pumpkin Earthquake Cake
- Pumpkin Poke Cake
- Pumpkin Pecan Coffee Cake
Other Favorite Pumpkin Recipes:
Quick and Easy Tips To Making The Perfect Pumpkin Cake:
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: If you prefer to use pumpkin pie spice instead of the individual spices on the ingredient list, you can use 1 tsp ground cinnamon + 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice.
- Frosting: If you’re not a cream cheese fan, make these frosted pumpkin bars with vanilla frosting, chocolate frosting, whipped cream frosting, etc.
- Pan Size: Use a 9×13 baking dish for these pumpkin bars. It’s a large cake so you really need to use a large baking pan.
- Nuts: To really enhance the fall flavor, add some toasted walnuts or pecans to the top of the frosting. Nuts pair really well with pumpkin treats, especially pecans and walnuts.
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup canola oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1 15oz can pumpkin puree
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease your 9x13 baking dish (or line with parchment paper). Set aside.
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer), mix large eggs, canola oil, pumpkin purée, vanilla extract, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on a low speed.
- Once the wet ingredients are combined, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves to the wet ingredients (the pumpkin mixture). Mix on a low speed until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking dish, and spread the batter in an even layer.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool before frosting.
- With a standing mixer or hand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Mix until everything is combined and the frosting is smooth.
- Spread the cream cheese frosting on top of the cooled cake, spreading all the way to the edges of the cake. If desired, sprinkle the top of the frosting with toasted pecans or walnuts.
- Serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Here are some other sheet cake recipes to try next:
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