It’s pumpkin pie, but in cake form! This moist and delightfully dense cake is perfect for Thanksgiving or any fall season party. Learn how to make this gorgeous layered pumpkin cake, complete with cinnamon spiced cream cheese frosting.
Pumpkin desserts are a must in September, October, and November, but can absolutely be delicious any time of year. Need more pumpkin spiced goodies? Make a Pumpkin Cheesecake or a batch of Pumpkin Cookies.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple or Fancy: I’m going to show you how to beautifully decorate this pumpkin cake in a rustic yet put together way, but if you’d rather not stress about visual details, this cake is just as delicious with a simple spatula icing job.
- Big Fall Flavor: Like all good autumn baking recipes (including my Pumpkin Bundt Cake), this cake is packed with the flavors of pumpkin, vanilla, and cinnamon. Your kitchen will smell amazing while these pumpkin cakes are baking!
- Common Ingredients: You may need to stop at the store for a can of pumpkin puree, but the rest of the items needed to bake this cake are probably hanging around your kitchen already.
Ingredients Needed
A moist, delicious pumpkin cake starts out with a simple recipe.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
- Flour, Salt, Baking Soda: Every good cake recipe starts here. These are your dry ingredients, and make up the bulk of the batter.
- Sugar: Plain white granulated sugar gives the right amount of sweetness to really bring out the flavor of the pumpkin.
- Unsalted Butter: Always choose unsalted butter when baking, you want to be able to control the amount of salt in your recipe.
- Pumpkin Puree: Use canned pumpkin, or make your own pumpkin puree. Avoid buying anything labeled “pumpkin pie filling” as that product has added flavors and sweeteners that we don’t need here.
- Eggs: Here’s a tip: Let your eggs come to room temperature before mixing them into cake batter. Cold eggs don’t incorporate as well.
- Vanilla Extract and Ground Cinnamon: The flavor stars of this recipe enhance the warm, earthiness of the pumpkin puree.
- Buttermilk: Adding buttermilk to cake batter rather than plain milk makes your cake extra tender.
The cinnamon frosting for this cake only needs 5 ingredients
- Cream Cheese and Butter: Both at room temperature please! This frosting is mostly cream cheese, but a bit of butter adds a decadent touch.
- Vanilla and Cinnamon: These flavorings mimic the flavor of the cake, while continuing to enhance the pumpkin flavor.
- Powdered Sugar: Confectioner’s sugar is a must for any cake frosting.
How to Make Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prep for Baking: Preheat the oven and grease two 9” round non-stick cake pans with cooking spray. If using pans that are not non-stick, flour the edges. Place parchment paper circles on the bottom of each pan, and spray the paper with cooking spray as well. (I get pre-cut parchment circles from Amazon!)
Tip!
Know your cake pans! Dark or coated pans will brown the edges of your cakes quickly, so be sure to check them a few minutes earlier.
- Sift: In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
- Cream: In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter with a hand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about two minutes.
- Add Ingredients: Mix in the pumpkin puree. Then mix in the eggs, one at a time, and add vanilla extract and cinnamon.
- Finish Batter: On low speed, alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk into the wet ingredients in three batches until all ingredients are combined, beginning and ending with the flour.
- Bake: Divide the batter evenly between the two pans. Bake on the center rack of the oven for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Make Frosting: Cream together cream cheese and butter until well blended, about two minutes. Then add the cinnamon and vanilla. Add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing on low until all is incorporated. (Read more about how to make Cinnamon Vanilla Frosting if you’d like.)
- Cool: When cakes are done, allow them to cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, or until the pans are cool enough to handle.
- Wrap: To keep the pumpkin cakes super moist, we will wrap them in plastic wrap to finish cooling. The easiest way is to place two long pieces of plastic wrap on the counter in an X or cross pattern. Carefully flip each cake into the center of the X, and wrap the cake tightly. Repeat with the second cake, then place both cakes into the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Frost and Decorate: When the cakes have completely cooled, unwrap and place on a serving platter. Use a long serrated bread knife and level the cake to remove the convex top. Discard (or eat!) the trimmings. Pipe a generous layer of frosting on the bottom layer. Level the second cake and place it on top of the frosting. Frost the top of the cake generously and smooth with an offset spatula. Add piping decorations, sprinkles, and a sprinkle of cinnamon if desired.
Expert Cake Tips
- Use the Freezer: The step of this recipe where we wrap the cakes with plastic wrap and put them in the freezer is key to keeping the cakes extra moist and tender. The plastic wrap and cold temperature keeps all of the moisture from evaporating into the air, and keeps it in the cake instead.
- Avoid Overmixing: An overmixed cake can become tough after baking. Mix ingredients until just combined.
- The Best Pans: For beautiful layer cakes, straight sided cake pans will give you the best results. I use these 9-inch nonstick pans and get amazing results every time.
- Love layer cakes? Try making this amazing (and gluten free!) Carrot Cake, an Easy Banana Cake, or a Funfetti Layer Cake that’s perfect for the Holidays.
What To Serve with Pumpkin Cake
With a Feast. Pumpkin Cake is a perfect Thanksgiving dessert! Check out all of my Thanksgiving recipes, and plan your best Thanksgiving dinner spread yet.
Take it to a Party. Fall is football season, and there will be parties and get-togethers coming up that require you to bring a dish to pass. Bring this cake along with a shareable appetizer, like Cheesy Hot Crab Dip or Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms.
With Other Desserts. Your family will be really impressed when you present this cake along with a slew of other dessert options. Bake up some adorable Turkey Cupcakes and a batch of Puppy Chow for snacking.
FAQs
You can add to this cake to take the flavor to another level. Try adding nutmeg and/or ginger for extra spice, or make it simple and use pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon. Add chopped pecans or walnuts into the batter for additional texture.
You can create a buttermilk substitute, which works the exact same way as buttermilk, by combining regular whole milk with a splash (about a tablespoon) of white vinegar. Give it a stir and let it sit for a couple of minutes, it will thicken up and work perfectly in this recipe.
A standard 15 oz.can of pumpkin has almost two cups of pumpkin puree in it. For this recipe, I wouldn’t stress about having a bit less than two cups if you only have one can. But if you have two cans, open them both, and use the remaining pumpkin in another recipe!
Fresh pumpkin can be substituted for canned in this recipe. If you’d like to learn the easiest way to cook a pie pumpkin, see my recipe for Pumpkin Puree.
This delicious pumpkin cake will be the star of your Thanksgiving dessert table, or a delicious treat for any time this fall. Don’t forget to pin it to make later!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Pumpkin Layer Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups (400g) sugar
- ¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk
For the frosting:
- 2 x 8 ounce packages cream cheese softened, 450g in total
- 1 cup (227g) unsalted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 6 cups confectioners sugar
Equipment
- 2 x 9” inch round cake pans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Spray two straight sided 9” round cake pans with non stick cooking spray, flour edges of pans if not using a non stick pan. Cut out two parchment paper circles the size of the pan and lay one in the bottom of each pan, spray the parchment lightly with non stick spray.
- In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together dry ingredients; set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter with a hand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about two minutes.
- Mix in pumpkin puree. Mix in eggs one at a time, and add vanilla extract and cinnamon.
- On low speed, alternate adding flour and buttermilk into the wet ingredients in three batches until all ingredients are combined, beginning and ending with the flour.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two pans. Bake on the center rack of the oven for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- While the cakes cook, make the frosting; cream together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add in the cinnamon and vanilla. Add in powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing on low until all powdered sugar is incorporated.
- When cakes are done, let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes (until just cool enough to handle). Take two long pieces of plastic wrap and form an X shape on the counter top. Carefully flip the cake out onto the center of the X, and wrap the cake tightly. Repeat with the second cake. Place in freezer for 30 minutes. This will ensure that your cakes stay very moist!
- When the cakes have completely cooled, unwrap and place on a serving platter. Take a long serrated bread knife and level the cake. Discard (or eat) the trimmings. Pipe a generous layer of frosting on the bottom layer. Level the second cake and place on top of bottom layer; frost generously and smooth with an offset spatula. Add piping decorations and a sprinkle of cinnamon if desired. This cake is delicious served cold, wrap well with plastic wrap before refrigerating to prevent the cake from drying out.
Notes:
- Make sure that you’re using pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie filling.
- Avoid Overmixing: An overmixed cake can become tough after baking. Mix ingredients until just combined.
- The Best Pans: For beautiful layer cakes, straight-sided cake pans will give you the best results. I use these 9-inch nonstick pans and get amazing results every time.
- Nutrition Values. Calculated per slice without the cream cheese frosting. This is an estimate and might not be very accurate.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
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