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
Might try this for my birthday cake. Looks wonderful and easy is a big plus! Thank you
I hope it becomes your new favorite!
Forgot to mention – I added some ginger, nutmeg, and cloves for some extra spice – I know pumpkin can be a little bland. 🙂
thank you for sharing, Natalie!
This cake is absolutely amazing! Thank you for the perfect recipe, Natasha!
Hi Natalie! I’m so glad you loved this recipe!
Love your blog, Natasha!
I see 1/2 tsp fine sea salt listed in the ingredients. Is this optional?
Hi Mary! The salt helps the flavor so I recommended using it but you can omit if you prefer.
Thank you for this recipe! The cake was easy to make, it was delicious, and a hit during Thanksgiving. Will definitely be making this cake again!
So glad you loved it, Jessica!
Very tasty! My modifications: I used only 1/2 cup of oil, and added 1/2 cup applesauce, instead of the other 1/2 cup of oil. Also, I used one cup all purpose flour and one cup whole wheat flour. And, one cup brown sugar and only 1/4 cup turbinado. For the frosting I added one t. maple extract. Of course, I used lots of spices!
Hi Mary, thank you for sharing then substitutions that you used, I’m glad that it worked well and you enjoyed it!
Natasha the cake itself tastes great, however I made it half the portion and used a pie pan instead, and I found that the cake itself cannot be bajwd for 35-40 min, it’s raw up top after this time frame. I have a standing oven that I used top/bottom. Any reason why I have to bake it for longer than what your recipe says?
Hi Joanna, if you open your oven mid baking, it can cool the oven temperature down. Also, make sure your oven is preheated fully before putting the cake in. An oven-thermometer can help you determine if the oven is fully preheating. My own oven is 25 degrees below when it says it’s preheated so I have to wait longer.
Could you add choc. chips? If so, would you adjust any ingredients or cooking time? Thank you.
Hi Marianne. I think that would be fine to add some without making any changes.
Hi Natasha
you didn’t mention how much pumpkin spice we should add
Hi! We only use cinnamon on this cake but feel free to replace with pumpkin spice if you’d like.
The pumpkin cake is quick, foolproof, and delicious. Thank you Natasha.
You’re very welcome, Helen!
Hello, I’m going to make this for a friend of mine recovering from surgery because she loves pumpkin cake. I was planning on making it in nordicware pumpkin shape pan (with with 12 spots for individual cakes). Do you have a recommendation on how long to cook it for?
Hi Lacey! Without testing it myself, I don’t have an exact time recommendation. You may reference my recipe to get a close estimate and watch them in the oven.
So quick and easy to make – moist and wonderful pumpkin flavor. I didn’t make a frosting and it was just perfect!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Martha!
Thanks, the cake turned out perfect!
Only problem was the frosting, really sickly. I had to scrape it off as the cake just tasted like vanilla butter cake. Next time I’ll put like a 1/4 of the butter and maybe a few drops of vanilla, if any. Maybe substitute the vanilla for a sprinkle of lemon rind or something.
The cake was superb though and I will be making it again, next autumn!
Thanks again for that.
I’m glad you loved the cake. For the frosting, the type and quality of the vanilla can impact the flavor. Also- be sure to whip the butter long enough, it shouldn’t have a strong buttery taste. I hope that helps.
I have made this several times and just made it again for a Halloween party today, such a lovely recipe. Thank you Natasha!
You’re very welcome and enjoy it again this Halloween!
Cake is wonderful! Making it again and would like to male it in advance. Is it possible to freeze the cake? If freezing should I freeze without frosting? If without frosting does the cake need to thaw first then frosting?
Thank you!
Hi Millie. This cake can be frozen with or without frosting. Freeze in an air-tight container or wrap well for freshness.
Made this for my kids and it’s so delicious! So easy to make. So much flavor from simple ingredients. 10/10.
Awesome! Thank you for your great comments and feedback, Marina.
No Ginger or Nutmeg along with that Cinnamon? Or just use Pumpkin Pie Spice?
Hi Donna! You can if you’d like, but the pumpkin spice contains a good blend of spices.
Hi. Would I be able to do this in a Bundt pan? Or will it not come out moist?
Hi Yael, I haven’t tried this in a bundt, but here’s what one of my readers wrote: ” I baked it in a Bundt pan and it turned out marvelous! It was so flavorful and so moist!” I hope this helps!
Simple & incredibly delicious. I have tired several of your recipes & haven’t run across one I don’t like! Thank you!!
That’s wonderful, Lori! Thank you for sharing.
The cake was so moist! Everyone loved it! I was just wondering what would be the difference if we added salt?
Hi there, 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!
This cake turned out wonderful! It is super moist and tastes delicious! I will definitely be making more this holiday season. Thank you!
That’s great to hear. So glad you loved the recipe.