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
Made this for my husband and he absolutely loved it!! I also added some chopped up walnuts to this on top very good! This recipe is a must have!!!!! Thank you so much!!
You’re welcome, Susan! So glad it was a hit!
This pumpkin cake is super easy to make and it a party favorite around the holidays! Great option for large groups of people. We have made it for groups of up to 200 people as well as for our family. Easy to make and serve. You are able to choose organic ingredients and use less sugar to make it healthier. Thank you Natasha for a great recipe!
Great recipe ……followed it exactly and deliscious
I had never made pumpkin cake before, because it sounded kinda bad to me. But I made your recipe and so glad I did! I made it for some other people who LOVED it! Ive made lots of cream cheese frostings before,but your recipe here is heavenly! So light and fluffy without the heaviness most others have, and the perfect amount of sweetness, not over the top like most. The only modification I made was using all pumpkin pie spices typical for the pie. Thank you Natasha! I have added this to my recipe “box”.
Thinking of using the pumpkin pie spice blend too. Did you use the 2 tsp that was instead of the cinnamon?
I made This receipe for the first time it was very yummy and moist. Now I am making it again. Just got done baking it and waiting to cool off for the frosting. Happy Thanks giving!!!
I’m so happy you loved it, Mary!
We love this cake!
My daughter is allergic to eggs so I use 1/4 cup of yogurt for each egg and it’s so good! You can’t even tell a difference!
Hi Olga, your idea of the yogurt substitute instead of eggs intrigues me. Will it work with plain greek yogurt or plain regular yogurt? Thank you for your time.
Veronica
Absolutely delicious!!.. I made for Thanksgiving the entire family loved it.. thank you for a delicious recipe!
Hi Natasha.
I want to make this cake for Thanksgiving. Can I make it a day ahead and then frost it on Thanksgiving?
Hi Teresa! That would be fine. Happy thanksgiving!
Dear Natasha, could you please suggest how to make this cake more moisture? I was thinking to make two layers, and put frosting on the middle and on the top…
Hi Marina. It really depends on the recipe. This one should be very moist because of the pumpkin and oil. If it’s dry, it’s likely due to not measuring your flour correctly (using too much) or baking it for too long. Watch my tutorial on How to measure ingredientshere.
I would like to make this cake in a bundt pan. At what temp and how long should I cook it?
Hi Cassie! Here’s what one of my viewers said, “I baked this cake in a 10 inch bundt pan at 350C for 40 minutes. Turned out beautifully.”
Definitely a 5 star recipe. This turned out so moist and delicious. I did make a half batch because there is two of us, but still was a hit! The only change for me was just a touch of freshly ground nutmeg, mostly because I like it. This was a wonderful dessert. I didn’t add any nuts, although I could see some finely chopped walnuts or pecans on top. Bravo!
Can you use self rising or bread flour instead of all purpose flour for this recipe?
Hi Merril. I haven’t tried that but I assume it will work. You’ll just have to omit the salt and the baking powder but go ahead and add the baking soda that the recipe calls for. Let us know how it turns out.
Thinking about doing this in a mini brownie bites pan. Any thoughts on reducing temperature or time?
Hi Jennifer. I’m not sure about the temperature but definitely check because they will bake a lot faster. I wish I could give you more specifics, but I haven’t tested it to know how to adjust.
I always make these in mini cupcake pans and I still do the 350° but bake them for 10-15 min. Depending on your oven of course. In mine it’s usually about 11 min that does that job
I make this anytime I am bringing a cake to a fall/winter work function- everyone loves it!! I was wondering if you had any recommendations for making it into a two layer sheet cake. Is that a good idea? I’m guessing the bake time would be reduced? I’m wondering if it is too soft to pick up and stack one layer on top of another layer (with the frosting in the middle). Thoughts?!
Hello Sara! I have not tried experimenting and making this into a two later sheet to advise. If you give it a try, we’d love to know how it goes!
This cake is supper delicious and very easy to make. Even my picky husband and son enjoyed it. Thank you Natalia for all your amazing recipes!!!!!!
I wanted to try using a pumpkin for this recipe, how can I prepare it to use it for this?
Hi Mariya! You can reference my Homemade pumpkin purée recipe here.
Just made this and it’s in the oven now! Can’t wait to see the results. I’m NOT a baker but this was so easy!
I’ve made this cake several times and it never disappoints! I sprinkle some pumpkin pie spice on top of the icing and it looks so festive! Also, do not skip whipping the icing!! Makes such a difference!
This cake is delicious and very easy. I made this with my 2 granddaughters on Sunday. Love that it can be made without a mixer. I did not make the icing since I did not have any cream cheese. I sprinkled powdered sugar on the cake and served it with whipped cream.
Everyone loved it. Looking for more recipes that can be mixed by hand.
I’m so happy you all enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Joanne!
Absolutely fantastic cake and ridiculously easy to make! So moist and flavorful. I added 2 TB of pumpkin puree to the frosting, delicious! Thank you for a great recipe.
You are very welcome! Glad you loved it.
Natasha, I Love you girl and your passion for cooking!
all your recipes and directions are so easy and fun to watch and of course its Super delicious ALLWAYS😊😊😊
I intend to cook the best and the most delicious Thanksgiving dinner this year for my family and many years ahead using your amazing recipies!
Have you thought about opening your signature Restaurant?! Give it a thought ! You can do it and it will be another success of your love and passion you share with the world!
Hi Irena! Thank you so much. I’m so happy you’re enjoying the recipes.
I really love what I do with the food blog, but thank you, that’s a great compliment.