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Moist Pumpkin Spiced Cake with a Sweet Cream Cheese Frosting. The best Fall pumpkin layered cake recipe!
Oh, how I love pumpkin season. If you’ve been following along on Modern Honey, you know I live in Arizona so we don’t get to experience much Fall weather. But I dream of it.
This is the time of year that I get the travel bug and I just crave experiencing some resemblance of Fall. So while I wait for my next travel fix, I make the most wonderful layered pumpkin cake with creamy sweet cream cheese frosting.
It’s Fall, so we need to squeeze in as many pumpkin recipes as possible into a few months so I am embracing the challenge.
The beauty of this Pumpkin Cake is that it is ridiculously moist. The homemade cream cheese frosting seeps into the layers and keeps it perfectly moist for days. It is amazing that even three days later, the cake is still tender and moist.
To make the best pumpkin spice cake, there are some key components. I have experimented with both oil and butter and found that by using oil, you create the moistest cake. Leave the butter for the frosting!
This recipe calls for an entire 15-ounce can of pure pumpkin puree. Now this is straight pumpkin. Don’t go reaching for a can of pumpkin with all sorts of spices and fillers added. We want all-natural pumpkin puree in this cake.
Also, you’ve got to add some pumpkin spice to this cake. Pumpkin spice is usually a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves and brings so much warmth and depth of flavor to this cake.
An interesting little tidbit is that homemade cake recipes don’t dome in the center like cake mix recipes, making them so much easier to stack, layer, frost, and work with.
The sweet Cream Cheese Frosting is made with sweet cream butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. It is super simple but pairs perfectly with the pumpkin cake.
How to make the Best Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Start by mixing the oil and sugar together and cream them for at least 3-4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and mix for 1 minute longer. This allows the sugar to incorporate into the oil and become smooth.
- Add the pumpkin puree. Make sure it is completely pure pumpkin puree –no fillers added!
- Fold in the dry ingredients. You don’t want to overmix the cake batter which will create too much gluten and will result in a tough cake. We want a tender pumpkin cake!
- Pour into greased cake pans. I always use LIGHT COLORED cake pans. Dark colored cake pans attract too much heat and can burn the cakes on the outer edges before the center is completely baked. Also, make sure to spray the pans with non-stick cooking spray.
- To make the frosting, make sure the butter and cream cheese are at room temperature to allow it to fully cream together.
Here are some of my favorite baking tools:
USA 8-inch light-colored cake pans (these are hands down my favorite cake pans)
IF YOU LOVE PUMPKIN, CHECK OUT SOME OF THESE POPULAR PUMPKIN RECIPES:
The BEST Pumpkin Pie Recipe — award-winning!
Pumpkin Bread with Brown Sugar Streusel
Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting
Pumpkin Dump Cake
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pumpkin Pancakes
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Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Oil (such as canola oil)
- 2 cups Sugar
- 4 large Eggs
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- (1) 15-ounce can Pure Pumpkin Puree
- 1 teaspoon Pumpkin Spice
- 2 cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1/2 cup Butter (softened)
- (1) 8-ounce pkg. Cream Cheese (softened)
- 4 to 4 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Heavy Cream or Milk
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla or Vanilla Bean Paste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, mix oil and sugar for 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and mix for 1 minute longer. Stir in pumpkin puree.
- Fold in flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin spice, and salt.
- Spray three 8-inch cake pans with non-stick cooking spray. Evenly pour the cake batter into each pan. Bake for 18-23 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. Let cool and then remove cakes from pans. Set aside.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- In a mixing bowl, cream together softened butter and cream cheese for 2-3 minutes. Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla.
- Once the cake layers have cooled, spread each layer with cream cheese frosting.
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
For the frosting you have it incorrect. It’s 1/2 cup of butter or 1 stick; you state 1 cup of butter for the round pumpkin cake recipe with three 9” round cakes. This was way too much butter and I took it to a Thanksgiving family dinner. The cream cheese flavor was lost. I’ve never made this cake so I wouldn’t have known but when I came back home I decided to check because the flavor of the cream cheese just wasn’t there. I have some extra frosting left over, so I’ll try adding more cream cheese to balance it out. Otherwise the pumpkin 🎃 cake was delicious!
I checked other recipes and the ratio is 1/2 cup of butter to 8 oz of cream cheese. Please correct your recipe for others online.
Thanks.
Amazing cake recipe!