This Easy Pumpkin Cake is our favorite, fluffy, moist, and absolutely delicious. It’s perfectly spiced with a tender, moist, and delicate crumb. The marshmallow-like whipped cream cheese frosting takes this pumpkin cake recipe over the top.
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Helpful Reader Review
“Very easy to make, cake was moist and delicious. I loved the cream cheese frosting because it wasn’t so sweet. Was loved by all the ladies at the luncheon.” – Mandy ★★★★★
Pumpkin Cake Video Tutorial
I’ll show you how easy it is to make the pumpkin cake and cream cheese frosting. If you aren’t a major pumpkin fan yet, you will be after trying this! We are quite smitten with this cake. It is on the regular rotation at our house in the Autumn. Plus, it’s not overly sweet, so there’s no avoiding that second helping ;).
Pumpkin Cake Recipe
This pumpkin sheet cake recipe was shared by one of my readers, Yulia. Thank you so much for sharing this treasure of a recipe with us! I now use the same base for my Pumpkin Bread Recipe, and some of our favorite recipes have been shared by our readers. I love it when you all write in and share your favorite recipes and tips. Those are my favorite kinds of emails! Thanks for thinking of me :).
The first time I made this, I invited all 4 of my sisters and their families over for dinner, and everyone really enjoyed it, especially the kids. I polled my sisters about whether they would be more likely to remake this as a fancy double-decker cake or this easy-peasy sheet cake, and the consensus was: keep it EASY. Like 4 steps easy, including frosting!
Ingredients for Easy Pumpkin Cake
- Pantry Staples – All-purpose flour (measured correctly), baking powder, baking soda (sifted to get rid of lumps), cinnamon and salt. You can add 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg and 1/4 tsp cloves for a more spiced flavor in the cake.
- Granulated sugar – Many of you have asked if it works to reduce the sugar, so I tested reducing it from 1 1/2 to 1 cup, and it still works, although it will be less sweet.
- Eggs – you can quickly bring these to room temperature by placing them in warm water for 10 minutes.
- Oil – use a neutral oil like extra light olive oil, vegetable or corn oil
- Pumpkin puree – use one 15 oz can homemade pumpkin puree.
Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting
My homemade cream cheese frosting is so versatile. It has a deeper flavor than buttercream and complements the pumpkin beautifully.
- Cream Cheese – 1, 8 oz package, at room temp, cut into quarters
- Unsalted butter – at room temperature. If you dice it up, it will soften faster.
- Powdered sugar – sweetens the frosting without being gritty.
- Real vanilla extract – I use homemade but storebought is fine
How to Make Easy Pumpkin Cake
Prep: Preheat oven to 350˚F. Using cooking spray or oil, grease a 9×13 non-stick baking pan or a Glass pyrex dish. Tip: If you’re serving it out of a metal pan, line it with parchment paper so you don’t scratch up your pan when serving.
- 1. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp salt.
- In a second medium bowl, whisk together wet ingredients: 3 large eggs, 1 cup oil and 1 can pumpkin, until well combined.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Transfer to prepared baking dish and bake at 350˚F for 35-40 min (my oven took 35 mins), or until a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely in the pan.
How to Make Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Combine all of your frosting ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using the whisk attachment, beat on medium speed until combined, then beat on high speed 2-3 min or until fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Once the pumpkin cake has cooled to room temperature, spread the frosting over the top.
To make the cake more festive and fun for special occasions, I like to decorate with chopped nuts or sprinkles.
Make-Ahead and Storage
- Make-Ahead Cake: You can pre-bake the cake the day before, let it cool to room temperature, then cover and store at room temperature overnight, or refrigerate up to 2 days. You can also tightly wrap in plastic wrap and foil and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Make-Ahead Frosting: Cover and refrigerate up to 3 days. To use, let it sit at room temperature for about 1 hour or just until spreadable or pipeable.
- Storing the Assembled Cake: Once the cake is frosted, it will keep well, covered in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days.
For the past 10 years, this is the cake I make most often for Fall family gatherings because it’s so well-loved and comes together fast. This one’s a keeper and is a perfect go-to for Thanksgiving and the holidays.
Easy Pumpkin Cake
Ingredients
Ingredients for Pumpkin Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, *see note on measuring
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, *
- 1 tsp baking soda, sifted to get rid of lumps
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp cinnamon, *
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 large eggs, room temp
- 1 cup oil, extra light olive oil, vegetable or corn oil will work
- 15 oz pumpkin puree, can
Ingredients for Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temp, cut into quarters
- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter butter, room temp
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Pecans to decorate, optional
Instructions
How to Make Pumpkin Cake:
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease a 9×13 non-stick baking pan or a Glass Pyrex dish.** In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp salt.
- In a second medium bowl, whisk together wet ingredients: 3 large eggs, 1 cup oil and 1 can pumpkin, until well combined.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Transfer to prepared baking dish and bake at 350˚F for 35-40 min (my oven took 35 min), or until a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean. Let cake cool completely in pan then spread the top with frosting (see below).
How to Make Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Combine all of your frosting ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and using the whisk attachment, beat on medium speed until combined, then beat on high speed 2-3 min or until fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Once the pumpkin cake has cooled to room temperature, spread the frosting over the top, then decorate with chopped nuts or sprinkles if desired.
Notes
*If you prefer a less sweet cake, you can use 1 cup of sugar, and the recipe will still work.
*Several of you have reported great results adding 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg and 1/4 tsp cloves for a more spiced flavor in the cake.
**If you’re serving it out of a metal pan, line it with parchment paper so you don’t scratch up your pan.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Dreamy Pumpkin Recipes
If you love cozy pumpkin recipes, you will find some new favorites in this list:
- Pumpkin Cupcakes
- Pull-Apart Pumpkin Bread
- Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Pumpkin Flax Granola
- Pumpkin Pancakes
- Creamy Pumpkin Soup
- Pumpkin Cake Roll
- Pumpkin Pie
- Fluffy Pumpkin Waffles
I have a question about the order of mixing ingredients. When I make pumpkin bread, I usually mix the sugar and the oil first, then add the eggs, and then the pumpkin puree, and use that as the wet mixture. The thing is that I’m trying to make more of a cake this time as opposed to a bread, so I’m wondering if this is the step that makes a difference in the texture? Would you suggest cake flour as a possible alternative?
Jessica, without trying the recipe you are talking about its really hard to guess. Sorry I can’t be more helpful.
Absolutely amazing! Actually pumpkin taste and super easy. I wil make this again and again. Perhaps today as last nights is gone already!
That’s so great Stephanie! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
Every time I make this cake I’m in trouble! I end up eating 99% of it! 🙈
Ha ha! I have the answer! Invite me over next time and I’ll help lol. I’m so happy you like it!
OMG. Moist and delicious! My family loves this cake! We didn’t even use frosting. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
Erica, thank you for such a nice review, I’m so glad everyone loves the recipe 😀.
This is fantastic, moist and flavorful and easy. I added half a tsp. of ginger and half a tsp. of ground cardamom.
I’m so happy you loved it! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
I was looking for ways to use up my pumpkins .. as I don’t like pumpkin in general .. and although I already have pumpkin cake recipes this was by far the best recipe.I made a double mixture of this recipe and divided it between 2 8 inch square cake pans. So easy to make and the flavour and texture was worthy of a show cake .. and, yes, I did use to do show cooking. Thankyou for sharing.
Leonie, I’m so happy to hear that 😀! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Delicious cake!
Thank you so much Natasha!:):)
Thank you so much for the awesome review! I’m so happy you liked it. Also, your etsy shop with crochet toys – wow! Those are darling!
I loved it! It’s so good! Perfect texture, sweetness and super easy to make!
I’m so happy you loved it! I actually made this again for Thanksgiving and turned it into a roll. 🙂 Thank you for the awesome review!
I made cupcakes out of this batter. Everyone loved it. Especially my kids. Thank you for this easy recipe and taste delicious!
Natasha, what a great idea, I should try that 😀 . How many cupcakes did the recipe yield and did you make any changes to the recipe?
Would I be able to use neufchatel cheese instead of cream cheese?
Hi Selena, neufchâtel cheese is pretty much the same as cream cheese so yes 🙂
Delicious cake ! I adabted this recipe to gluten and dairy free. I used gluten free plain flour and wiped coconut cream for the topping.
Wow that sounds pretty amazing with whipped coconut cream!! What else did you put into the cream?
Hi in some recipes sugar must be mixed with butter and sugar.how would it change the texture?
I haven’t tried this cake that way so I’m not sure how it will affect the texture of the cake if at all. I do know that it isn’t necessary in this cake. It’s the perfect combination of moist and fluffy 🙂
I made this cake couple days ago and it got a 5 star review! My coworkers and sisters loved it also. Usually I’m not a fan of pumkin anything, but this was definitely a recipe to keep. In fact, I’m planning to make it again today. Will take to church tomorrow :).
Larisa, thank you for such a great review 😃. I will be making it again for our Thanksgiving dinner.
Made this today. One of the best out of all the pumpkin recipes I’ve tried. Thanks for the amazing recipe!!!
Music to my ears :). Thanks for the awesome review!
In such a short time, such a yummy cake! I really enjoyed it and so did my family! Thank you Natasha!
Im new to cream cheese frosting, how long can it last outside the fridge? And I was also wondering if fat free cream cheese would change the taste of the frosting?
Everything was delicious and I look forward to try more of your recipes!
I haven’t tried fat free cream cheese so I’m not sure if that would work as well. I have kept it at room temperature for 5-6 hours and it was still good. You don’t want it to be at room temperature too long though since it is a dairy based frosting.
ANOTHER DO OVER!!!! My first home made from scratch cake EVER! Yummy. Posting a photo on facebook via hashtag. Thanks for another great recipe.
Lorraine, thank you for such a nice review and you are welcome 😀 .
This turned out so so so good! And so incredibly easy to make! I only wish my frosting turned out as fluffy as yours. Mine was more crumbly but it didn’t matter cause it was finger licking good! Thanks for the great and easy to follow recipes :))
Hi Svetlana :). Thanks for the wonderful review! By crumbly, do you mean chunky? Could it be that your butter and cream cheese were not at room temperature? those are usually the main culprits. Hope that helps for next time! 🙂
This cake is amazing!
Isn’t it? We’re crazy about it. 🙂 Thanks so much for the awesome review!
My pumpkin is in the oven, for homemade puree (thank you for this recipe!) Now I’m thinking of making this cake, but without frosting. I think to add some craisins and nuts and make it in the english cake pans, like banana bread. Did you ever try this? We just don’t like frosting, because of too many calories into it…
I have not tried baking it that way but it sure sounds delicious the way you are describing it. If you do test it that way, do let me know how it works out. I’d love to try it too!
Can not WAIT to make this! I am just about to make my own pumpkin puree too, which I have done the last three years and was inspired by you. It’s so great to have it on hand, whether it’s for one of your delicious recipes or a soup! Thanks for all your hard work xx
Thank you for the encouraging words Lisa and I would love to hear your feedback on the cake once you make it 😀 .
Wow. This is SO good. Like you said so easy and so moist and not over the top sweet. PERFECT. My husband loves pumpkin and I think this is a new favorite! Will be making this again and again!
Valentiina, thank you for such a nice review, after reading your comment I wish we had some leftovers right now 😀 .