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
Hi. Could you make this into pumpkin bars?
Hi Saha, I haven’t tried that yet to advise. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes.
Made this today. A big hit. Very moist and the frosting was very fluffy and tasty. The only thing I did differently was add 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, and 1/8 tsp ground cloves because we tend to like spicy pumpkin bread, etc..
Thanks for sharing that with us, Cheryl. Glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Natasha, could the oil measure be replaced with butter?
Thanks
Hi Carolina, I’m guessing that will work but I haven’t really tried that yet to advise.
What would my baking time and temperature by for 3-6 inch round cake pans?
Hi Marie, without experimenting with using those specific sizes, I can only guess. You’ll have to test those out and let me know how it goes. Sorry I can’t be more helpful.
It’s great, but needs salt!! I also
Add more spices and now we love the recipe. I add 1/2 tsp. Of salt.
Thanks for your feedback, Jen.
does baking time need to be longer using applesauce for 1/2 of the oil?
I added 1/2teas. salt also! Cake is baking now…but I’m sure it’ll be fine!
use regular butter instead of unsalted butter. That worked for me.
This is my all time favorite cake. I have made it at least 4 times in the last 6 months. The only thing I do different is add fresh pecans to it. I love pecans in everything. I go to the pecan farm here in Az. I get about 20 lbs. for the year.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Beverly! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
super easy recipe to follow with such few ingredients (which i love)!! i did 1 1/3 cup sugar instead and it totally worked:) super delicious!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that, Mita!
Since all my many cookbooks are packed I used this recipe. I added nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, & a pinch of mace. Also used fresh puree of white pumpkin. Result was light, finely textured spice cake.
Thank you for sharing that with us, R!
Hi Natasha. Just found your recipe today. My husband and I made the cake this afternoon. We used a little less sugar, avocado oil and made it in a bundt pan. Cook time was 40 minutes. We didn’t add the icing. The cake is awesome! Recipe was easy to follow and easy to make. Definitely our go to pumpkin cake recipe from now on!
Thank you for sharing these substitutions with us, Audrey! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe.
I made this for Thanksgiving instead of the usual pumpkin pie and everyone loved it! It stayed fluffy for days and the frosting is amazing.
So great to hear that. Thank you for sharing your good review with us!
I’ve made it today and my husband couldn’t believe how good it was (initially he wasn’t excited about the idea of a pumpkin cake). I baked it in order to obtain a two layer cake and it turned out great. I put the frosting in the middle as well as on top of it. Thank you for the recipe, it is so well explained!
You’re welcome, Cristina! I’m so glad you enjoyed that!
Can I use extra Virgin Olive oil.
Hi Patricia, I recommend using 1 cup oil (extra light olive oil, vegetable or corn oil will work)
Thank you for sharing this recipe, it is a fabulous lite cake and not too sweet. The frosting is heaven. I put walnuts on top of mine, it does take away from the pumpkin flavor but I like it. You could do half nut half frosting. Love this cake.
I’m so happy to hear that, Susan! Thank you for that wonderful review!
Hi Natasha, would avocado oil work in this recipe? I’m planning on making this cake for Thanksgiving, but avocado oil is the only oil I have at home.
Thank you!
Hi Nataliya, I haven’t tried this with avocado oil but I imagine it may work. If you experiment I would love to know how you like that.
Hello Natasha
This looks so fab. I have three cans of pie filling in my pantry. If I use pumkin pie filling, should I cut the sugar in half? Not sure…
Hi, I haven’t tested this with pumpkin pie filling, but you would want to reduce the sugar since pumpkin pie filling does have a higher sugar content than pumpkin puree.
Hi there. Did you end up using pumpkin pie filling? How did it go? I was thinking to do the same.
hi this recipe sounds amazing and simple my daughter and i made the bread and muffins and let me tell you the were AMAZING!!! my other daughter will be 1 on thanksgiving an i was thinking about making her a smash cake and i would love to use this recipe but if someone can tell me how would i convert the measurements sizes to fit a 6 inch round cake pan that would be greatly appreciated. thanks and happy holidays!
Awww that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m all smiles!
I have made this pumpkin cake now four times. The cake is always really moist and a little crumby (I like that). For the frosting I added a pinch of cinnamon. Did I mention this is really easy to make.
Nice, 4 times already! Sounds like you found yourself a new favorite recipe, Scott!
Would it be okay to add ground nutmeg, ground clove, and ground ginger?
Hello Jin, I have not tried that yet to advise but I think it is worth trying. If you do an experiment, please let us know how it goes.
If I wanted to make a 4 layer cake with 9 inch round pans, should I double the recipe?
Hi Natalie, I haven’t tried layering it this high but I imagine doubling would help achieve the 4 layers.
Your recipes are purely amazing! user-friendly. Precise & concise to perfection!! When I watch/read your recipes, it makes me want to try them bc I know they are so easy to follow AND they will taste great!!! So THANK YOU! THANK YOU!! You are an awesome CHEF!!
Awww that’s the best! I’m so inspired reading your review. Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m all smiles