Pumpkin makes cakes soft and tender with a glowing orange colour in a way nothing else can! This Pumpkin Cake is perfectly spiced and comes with a tangy cream cheese frosting. The only thing that could make it better? Maple syrup. So I added it!
Pumpkin cake
This is a pumpkin cake recipe for people who want:
an easy, foolproof recipe (just wait until you see how simple it is!);
a cake with excellent pumpkinness* that’s not overwhelmed by the use of excessive store-bought spice mixes;
a crumb that’s springy, soft and moist, rather than tight/dense or airy/delicate (like angel cake);
a big cake to feed lots of people without the deft required to cut tall layer cakes into 16 tiny slivers; and
a cake with excellent frosting-to-cake ratio. Specifically, a cream cheese maple frosting. A dreamy combination with pumpkin!
So if all that sounds good to you, read on!
* I am not sure that’s a word but it seems fitting here.
Ingredients in Pumpkin Cake
Here’s what you need to make this cake.
Pumpkin puree options
I use fresh because it tastes better and takes 8 seconds to puree. Plus, canned pumpkin isn’t readily available here in Australia. 🙂 But canned works perfectly fine!
Canned pumpkin is a convenient option if you can get it and it works perfectly for this cake. But if you use pureed fresh pumpkin, you’ll be rewarded with a better tasting cake! It’s just a plain fact that freshly cooked pumpkin tastes better than something that’s been sitting in a can for months / years. Yes, we made and compared them side by side. 🙂
Use what works for you!
To make your own pumpkin puree, just boil chunks of pumpkin for 10 minutes or until very tender. Then blitz – it literally takes 8 seconds.
Pumpkin cake batter
Here are the other ingredient you need for the batter:
Flour – Plain / all-purpose flour. Self raising flour (also called self-rising flour) will work but it won’t rise as much. I haven’t tried this cake with gluten-free flour.
Oil – Any neutral flavoured oil like canola and vegetable oil. Using oil instead of butter keeps this cake moist. Why? Because butter firms up at room temperature whereas oil does not. So cakes made with oil are more moist. However, the trade-off is that butter tastes better than oil. In this cake, we’ve got other flavours at play here – the pumpkin and cinnamon. So I don’t miss the butter!
Baking powder – This is what makes the cake rise. As a side note, the original version of this cake used a combination of baking soda and baking powder. However, over the years, I’ve found that using only baking powder gives the cake a softer crumb. Plus, we cut out one ingredients. 🙂
Cinnamon – Flavour! Classic combination with pumpkin.
Sugar – Regular white sugar, or caster sugar / superfine sugar.
Large eggs at room temperature, which means eggs that are 55-60g/2oz each sold in cartons labelled “large eggs”. They need to be at room temperature, not fridge cold, so they blend into the ingredients better. More information on the right eggs for baking here!
Salt – Just a touch, to bring out the other flavours in this cake. Standard baking practice these days. 🙂
Cream cheese frosting
There is no better frosting for pumpkin cake! Here’s what you need:
Cream cheese – use BLOCK, not the spreadable cream cheese in tubs (too soft). If you can only get the spreadable cream cheese, add extra icing sugar to correct the consistency.
Softened unsalted butter – softened but not super soft / borderline melting.
Icing sugar aka powdered sugar – 🇦🇺 Australia, use soft icing sugar, NOT pure icing sugar (which is used for things like royal icing ie sets hard).
Vanilla extract – For flavour.
Maple syrup – UGH, forgot to put it in the photo! This is for drizzling on top. I wanted to put it in the frosting but it made the frosting too loose.
How to make Pumpkin Cake
WHY CAN’T ALL CAKES BE THIS EASY???!!
Whisk wet – Whisk the eggs, oil, sugar and pumpkin puree.
Add dry – Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt then whisk until combined. Batter. Done!
Bake in a 23 x 33 / 13 x 9″ lined pan (or thereabouts) at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced) for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. See the video for my easy way to line the pan!
Frosting – While the cake is cooling, make the frosting! Just beat the cream cheese and butter for a minute on high until creamy. Then add the icing sugar (powdered sugar) in 3 batches, starting the beater on low to avoid a snowstorm. Once it’s incorporated, crank the beater up to high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until the frosting is fluffy!
Slather the frosting on the cooled cake, and use the back of a spoon to make swirly dents for maple syrup to pool in.
Drizzle with maple syrup, as much as you want / dare, then sprinkle liberally with roughly chopped pecans.
And now it’s time to dig in!
Making this cake might be the best decision you make in October. It’s totally straight forward. Your kitchen will smell amazing. It’s big enough to share with those you deem worthy.
And that moment when you take the first bite of that soft cake loaded with beautiful pumpkin flavour, mingling with that tangy cream cheese frosting mixed with rivers of maple syrup and the littering of soft pecans….
I challenge you to stop at one piece. (Even if you cut yourself a very, very big one). – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
Fresh or canned pumpkin? I’m in the fresh camp!
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Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Pumpkin puree options
- 1 2/3 cups fresh pumpkin puree , I use this (Note 1)
- 15 oz / 425g canned pure pumpkin , 1 can (Note 1)
Other cake batter ingredients
- 4 large eggs 55-60g/2oz each), at room temperature
- 1 2/3 cups white sugar (or caster/superfine sugar, Note 2)
- 1 cup vegetable or canola oil (or other neutral flavoured oil)
- 2 cups plain/all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 tsp cooking / kosher salt (Note 3)
Frosting
- 6 oz / 180g cream cheese block, at room temperature (Note 4)
- 1 cup / 225g unsalted butter , softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups soft icing sugar / powdered sugar , sifted (Note 5)
Finishing
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup maple syrup (don't be shy!)
- 1/2 cup pecans , roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced). Spray and line a large pan around 9 x 13" / 23 x 33cm with baking paper with overhang. (Note 6)
- Batter – In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
- Bake – Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto cooling rack to cool completely (~ 2 hours) before frosting.
- Frosting – Spread frosting on then use the back of a spoon to make swirly dents. Drizzle over maple syrup, concentrating on the dents to create maple syrup pools! Sprinkle with pecans. Then serve.
Frosting
- Cream butter – Place the cream cheese and butter in a bowl. Beat for 2 minutes until smooth and fluffy.
- Add the icing sugar in 3 batches, starting the beater on low after each addition to avoid a snowstorm. Once incorporated, turn the beater up to high and beat for 3 minutes or until the frosting is light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Use frosting immediately.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published in November 2016. Recipe slightly improved (I now only use baking powder as I find it makes the cake rise more evenly), recipe writing improved (I’ve come a long way in 7 years!), sparkling new photos and a brand new video with me IN it!
More pumpkin recipes
Life of Dozer
Today – visiting a local community garden just a few minutes from home called Happy Hens. What an extraordinary oasis! 100% volunteer run in a beautiful location by the water, filled with an abundance of herbs and vegetables. Everyone is welcome – so locals, drop by to see it and say g’day! Might even see you there. 🙂 ~ Nagi & Dozer xx
And from the original publication date in 2016:
a) Cruel
b) Cute
c) Funny
d) All of the above
I rate this recipe. It’s easy and tasty and something different to do with our excess pumpkins this year (not that I haven’t enjoyed the pumpkin risotto arancini lol). I cut it up and froze it, getting out a piece or two as i want. The cream cheese doesn’t really freeze which probably points to its best by date but I had some today after at least a month and it was good. Actually I had two pieces. Shush, don’t tell anyone.
This cake is amazing and isn’t overly sweet as some cakes can be, I made it with the fresh mashed pumpkin and it’s still as moist and soft as the day I made it 2 days later. I piped on the cream cheese frosting with a pecan on top, the icing was beautiful
I made this not really sure what to expect having only had pumpkin in Lady Flo Bjelke-Peterson’s pumpkin scones, probably, like most rural Queenslanders . I think our American friends are definitely onto something good here 😊. Pumpkin in everything from now!!!!
I have a standard loaf tin, will this fit or will I need to halve the recipe?
Hi Devon, depending on it’s size, you’ll need to halve, possibly even do 1/3 of the recipe. N x
This is fabulously moist and easy cake to make. I bake a lot and the family barely comment on anything I make but this one had them singing it’s praises. I love the fact that it make a big enough cake to both keep some and give some away.
I’ve made it with both tinned and fresh pumpkin and it make no difference to the end result. Tinned pumpkin isn’t so common in Oz and it’s relatively expensive. On the other hand pumpkins just grow out of the compost heap!Be sure drain any excess liquid off or the sponge will dense. I find the easiest thing to do with fresh pumpkin is simply split in half and roast, skin and all for 50 mins at 200 C then leave it so sit in the oven after I’ve turned it off. Once it’s cooled you can simply scoop the soft pumpkin out – no mashing, no peeling no fiddle whatsoever! For this cake I let the soft pumpkin sit in a sieve so any liquid can drain away. I freeze any remaining pumpkin in 420g batches, ready to defrost next time.
Thank you for this recipe. Had a pumpkin I needed to use up and found your recipe. Lovely moist cake though next time I will put it in a slightly bigger dish as it rose incredibly and a bit high for the squares I’ve cut it into. Still a lovely recipe and will definitely make again.
Made your wonderful Pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting for Thanksgiving. Deeeelicious and moist. Thanks very much.
Hi Nagi
A quick question.. Does this needs to be refrigirated as it has the cream cheese frosting? Guess yes right?
Thank you xx
Hi Claire – yes refrigerate but bring out to room temp before serving 🙂 N x
This recipe is identical (except for the canned frosting) to my late mother-in-law’s famous 200-year-old Pumpkin Cake she made every Thanksgiving and Christmas!! Thank you for sharing it.
That’s awesome Dinah!!! N x
This is one of the easiest cakes I’ve made and super moist. Followed the recipe exactly and topped with the cream cheese frosting and chopped pistachios. I encourage everyone to try this.
Hi, I don’t see the cream cheese frosting recipe here. Do you have a good one to share?
The ingredients for the frosting are listed above after the cake ingredients and the method is at the end. Enjoy!
My two year old loved this pumpkin cake. It was for our anniversary. Thank you so much for this recipe. I replaced Apf with wheat flour and oats flour as I was not having it. It was delicious. Best I have baked so far. Looking forward to try some more from this site
I made this pumpkin cake and my family loved it! Sooo spongy, moist and super delicious! Thanks a lot Nagi!
Wahoo, that’s great to hear Maria 🙂 N x
I baked the no yeast Irish Bread and I found it delicious and it had a wonderful and unique taste unlike any other bread I’ve eaten, Similar to a soda biscuit…but not? 🙂
Love hearing this – I’m so glad you enjoyed it Michael! N x
I made this using the scaled down ingredients, exactly half as that’s the amount of pumpkin I had left. It worked brilliantly in a loaf tin, it was so lovely and moist and it was gobbled up by my husband! I’m about to make it again after he requested it, praise indeed 😂
Oh that’s great to know Jan!
Does this cake keep its shape well once cut? I am making a cake for my son and I want to make a shape out of it before icing it. Is it very crumbly once cut? It sounds delicious!
Hi Amy, It’s a little crumbly but should hold it’s shape, love to know how it goes!
Just to let you know, I have seen canned pumpkin in the american section in coles!
Hi Mel, yes i posted this some time ago, Coles and Woolworths are now stocking much more international products, which is great!!
Hi. Was wanting to make the pumpkin cake today using a loaf pan. What would b the cooking time and do I need to reduce the mixture
Hi Debbie, what size loaf pan are you using?
This cake was very delicious. Made it a couple of times!
I’m so happy you love it Ana!
Great recipe! I did tweak it for our own taste as we prefer tasting more pumpkin and less spice which is 1/2 tsp each cinnamon and nutmeg with a pinch ginger. I also replaced half the oil with unsweetened applesauce, 3/4 light brown sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar. My final touch was the . My go-to cream cheese is 8 oz cream cheese, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, ~4 cups powdered sugar. For this treat, i add 1/4 tsp cinnamon for a kick! Rave reviews! Thanks for a great base recipe.
It’s time to bake your pumpkin cake again. Actually I make this cake several times a year. I love pumpkin! The only thing I change is I use cream cheese heavy whipping frosting instead of just cream cheese.
This is my and my fiancée’s favourite cake. Ever since I first made it, we can’t get enough of it. It’s moist, keeps for days and makes so many servings. Sooooo delicious!
I made this today, it turned out really good! Very moist. I used pumpkin pie spice and increased it to 3-4 teaspoons. I had to cook it a little longer, I used 4 6″ pans and cooked it around 40-45 min. I have a hard time getting things to cook thoroughly when pumpkin puree is involved, but this one eventually got there so without burning so I’m happy! I was testing another pumpkin cake as well today but around an hour I gave up trying to wait for it to be done. This one’s the winner!
That’s great! So pleased you enjoyed this Kim – N x