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
Another amazing recipe from Natasha. I baked this cake today , it’s soft as a cloud, spicy enough, the frosting is delicious. What a fantastic cake! Thank you, Natasha.
Thanks so much for your awesome review!
Made this for a potluck and everyone raved about how good it was. I made a few of your recipes and they’ve all been good thank you.
That’s great, Sheila! You’re very welcome.
Delicious and easy! This was so moist and fluffy. Perfect amount of sugar so not overly sweet with the icing. Oh! And the icing!!! This is my new go to for cream cheese icing. Loved it. What more could you ask for.
Hey Saria, thank you for your awesome feedback. We’re happy to now that you’ve loved it and that this is going to be your new go-to recipe!
A question really; what changes in baking time are needed when using an 8” springform pan?
Hi Julie! I haven’t tested different-size pans to give the exact adjustments. You’ll need to watch it in the oven since it may get done a few minutes sooner.
Omg!!This cake is so good!! This is going in my recipe book. Just made it for my granddaughter birthday and everyone loved it.
Yay so glad that it was a huge hit!
Natasha, can I make this cake a few days in advance to the party? That is, how long does this cake last in the fridge.
Hi Christina, yes, you can make this in advance. Cover well and refrigerate for 5 to 7 days. It does keep very well in the fridge
I followed the recipe but added a 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, 1/2 cup of raisins and 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans. I baked it in a Bundt pan and it turned out marvelous! It was so flavorful and so moist!
Hi Deb! Thank you for sharing. I’m so glad you loved it.
Thank you so much for a great recipe! I made it for Christmas and it was such a hit I am taking it to a potluck this weekend. I know it’s out of season but if other people are like me we did not get our fill of pumpkin yet! The cake is so moist and flavorful and the frosting does take it over the top!
You’re so very welcome! I’m glad you loved the recipe. I could eat it all year round, regardless of the season too! 🙂
We love this cake recipe. I’ve made it several times this season. I don’t do the icing. We put whipped cream on each piece as served. I also use 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 cup white sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice.
So glad you always love this!
I have made this cake several times and everyone loves it! The best part is that it’s super easy!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Diana!
The perfect cake! I followed your recipe and have made it 4x in two months. Everyone loves it and no one knows it’s gluten free! Your tips are amazing. I changed it up a bit. I add 1tsp heaping cinnamon, 2tsp heaping pumpkin pie spice. I also add a ton more powdered sugar to the icing. Such an amazing recipe. Thank you so much!!!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Deb! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Really excited to try this recipe but was wondering if it can be done in a 9in. round cake pan instead?
Hi Evan, with a few adjustments, I bet that could work!
Hello Natasha!
I have become your #1 fan.
All the recipes I have copied from your blog have been excellent. Yesterday I made the pumpkin cake and it was exactly as you describe, light and delicious and the divine cream cheese frosting, all my guests liked it very much and I recommended your blog to my female friends to subscribe and make all those recipes so easy and delicious, I also made the cabbage fried rice, it was another hit.
If there were 10 stars to rate you, you deserve them in all your recipes.
I congratulate you, you are great!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!!!
Aww, thank you! I’m so glad you enjoy my recipes. Happy Thanksgiving!
Everyone loved this cake at Thanksgiving! So moist and delicious! I will make this over and over again – exactly as written. I’m trying to find the recipe on your Instagram page so I can save it to my recipe list there.
That’s wonderful. So glad you loved it. Also, you can now save recipes on my website. This is a new feature we added recently (if that helps). 🙂
My daughter wanted something pumpkin & decided to make this. I used avocado oil which worked fine. I also replaced some of the sugar with 1/2 cup of coconut sugar. I did use 1/2 tsp of cinnamon & added nutmeg ginger & allspice. I made 1/2 the recipe for the icing. The cake is so easy to make. There was plenty of icing. The cake tastes better the next day. And tastes great iced & chilled in the fridge. Will definitely make again.
Hi Rebecca! Thank you for sharing your experience with this recipe. I’m so glad it was enjoyed!
I just made this tonight to try it out. I had one piece and I could easily eat another because it is so light and delicious! Does this need to be refrigerated? Thank you for another wonderful recipe. Happy Thanksgiving.
Hi Victoria. great to hear that you love this cake! You can cover and refrigerate for 5 to 7 days. It does keep very well in the fridge.
Absolutely delicious and moist! I could eat the whole thing myself 🥹! Thank you for making our dinners and desserts so tasty!
You’re welcome! So glad you loved it.
Hi, I am trying your recipe tomorrow. I noticed there is no salt in the recipe. Is there a reason for omitting salt? Thank you.
Hi Edward, we feel we found the perfect balance with this cake. I’ve never noticed or had any reports that it was lacking in flavor, but you are welcome to add it if you like! I do agree with adding salt to very sweet desserts like cookies and some very sweet frostings – it helps to cut the sweetness but this is not an overly sweet cake. 🙂 I hope this helps!
HOLY GUACA-PUMPKINCAKEY! This cake was so moist it made me… rejoice. From the tender crumb to the enjoyably mild whisper of Jack-O-Lantern, this had me Booing and AAHing at every forkful. As big Rocky fans, we opted for Philadelphia cream cheese in the frosting. That really put the Liberty in my Bell, if you know what I mean. In all seriousness, I wood absolutely recommend this recipe to any of you old Maple-hugging Fall freaks. This cake will leave you feeling like you just woke up from a refreshing nap under a turning oak tree on a brisk Autumn day… and then ate a delicious pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting.
I’m so happy you loved that, Drew! That’s just awesome!! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
I would like to make this as a roll cake, using the frosting as the filling. Are there any alterations I should make in addition to using a different pan?
Hi Michele. I do not know how this batter will hold up as a roll cake. I worry it will be too moist and break apart. Roll cakes typically turn out better with a sponge cake base, the eggs provide structure. Let us know how it turns out if you experiment with it.
Thanks so much for responding. I did try to make the roll cake and it fell apart when I rolled it. Of course I taste tested the cake and it was moist and delicious! So I decided to make a layer cake, which came out much better. I also made the pecan bars and they were delicious too. I’m sure my family will love them!
I’m so glad it all worked out, Michele! That’s so great!