This deliciously moist Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is the perfect fall dessert. Packed with all the flavors of fall, spiced perfectly, baked to perfection, and frosted with an incredible creamy frosting.
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I love pumpkins. I love to decorate with them and I love to carve them at Halloween. Most of all, though, I love to cook with them. From fresh pumpkin to pumpkin puree, I just love to make all kinds of pumpkin recipes with all kinds of pumpkin options.
This pumpkin dessert is a classic! It combines a rich, tender, moist pumpkin spice cake loaded with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg for that sweet, earthy flavor, and finished off with a homemade cinnamon cream cheese frosting.
The frosting is decadent, sweet and tangy, and adds even more cinnamon kick to the recipe. What I end up with is a tender pumpkin cake that’s ultra-moist and topped with a frosting that will have you licking your lips and coming back for seconds and thirds.
For more fall flavors try my apple bundt cake and butter pecan pound cake! I think you will love them too!
Why You’ll Love This Pumpkin Cake Recipe
- Tastes So Good. The cake cooks up so moist and delicious thanks to the pumpkin and the spices infuse it with flavor while the frosting pairs perfectly. It’s perfect for fall but also a dessert you can make any time of year.
- Everyone’s Favorite Pumpkin Cake Recipe. Personally I think this is thanks to the creamy, tangy cinnamon frosting but the cake is great too!
- Enjoy the Aromas of Autumn. Your entire house smells AH-mazing after you bake it! This cake is perfect for all your fall entertaining needs as well as Thanksgiving and Halloween events.
Ingredients
This cake uses simple ingredients that you can find easily at your local grocery store.
- Baking basics: All-purpose flour gives the cake its structure while baking powder and baking soda give it plenty of lift.
- Cinnamon: Adds sweet subtle spice to the cake and frosting.
- Ground cloves and nutmeg: Blends great the cinnamon while making the fall spice flavors more complex and interesting.
- Shortening: This is the secret to a tender cake.
- Sugar: White granulated sugar sweetens the cake perfectly while powdered sugar helps create the perfectly creamy frosting texture.
- Vanilla extract: Adds warmth and aroma to the cake and the creamy frosting.
- Large eggs: Eggs add moisture and bind all the ingredients together.
- Pumpkin puree: You can’t have pumpkin cake without puree. Feel free to use canned or homemade. Make sure you don’t grab pumpkin pie filling by accident — it’s not the same thing.
- Pecans: My favorite nut to pair with pumpkin but walnuts work well too.
- Cream Cheese: For the frosting. Use a high-quality brand such as Philadelphia for the best flavor.
- Butter: For the frosting. It makes adds a rich, buttery saltiness that makes it taste divine.
For the full list of ingredients including the quantities of each, check the recipe card at the end of the page.
Variations
- Chocolate + Pumpkins: Add a half cup of chocolate chips for a fun kick of flavor to the pumpkin cake.
- Dried Fruits: Stir in raisins or dried cranberries into the cake batter with the nuts.
- Snack Cake: Leave off the frosting and dust with powdered sugar for a simple pumpkin snack cake.
How to Make Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Making this cake is just as easy as a shopping trip to get the ingredients. It’s a simple recipe that even beginners can make!
- Step 1: Prep. Gather all your ingredients, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F, and grease and flour a 13×9 baking dish.
- Step 2: Combine the Wet Ingredients. Beat the shortening, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin puree together until creamy in a large mixing bowl.
- Step 3: Combine the Dry Ingredients. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a separate bowl.
- Step 4: Make the Batter. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Then, gently stir in the chopped pecans. The batter will be thick.
- Step 5: Bake. Spoon the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for about 60 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely.
- Step 6: Make the Frosting. Beat the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy. Then, add the vanilla and cinnamon and mix well. Slowly add the powdered sugar, beating until you have a creamy frosting.
- Step 7: Frost the Cake. Evenly spread the frosting over the top of your completely cooled cake. Enjoy!
Expert Tips
This is a very easy recipe to make, but as with all recipes – especially baked goods – there are a few things to know to ensure you get an amazing final product. I also have some great variations I think you’ll love, as well.
- Measure Properly. Gently scoop the flour out with a spoon and pour it into your measuring cup until it’s overflowing. Then, level it off with the flat of a knife. This keeps the flour from packing and makes sure you use the proper amount of flour.
- Don’t Overmix. Mix your wet and dry ingredients until just combined to limit the amount of gluten in the dough to keep it tender.
- Cool the Cake. Always let your cake cool completely before frosting it or the frosting will simply slide right off the cake.
- Storing Tips: Store the cake in a cake container or large airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. For longer storage, you can place it in the freezer and freeze it for up to a month.
Recipe FAQs
If you have questions about this recipe, then read on. The following FAQ answers the most commonly asked questions about cake.
Canned pumpkin is simply a can full of pumpkin puree. Pumpkin pie filling, on the other hand, has all the ingredients you need for a pie filling. That means it contains spices and sugar.
Yes! While pumpkin cake on its own will last for a couple of days at room temperature, this cake is frosted with cream cheese so it must be refrigerated.
There are two main reasons to let your cake cool before frosting. First, a hot cake will actually cause the frosting to melt, leading to a sloppy mess. The second reason is that the hot or warm cake is very fragile, and you can break it apart if you attempt to frost it at this point.
You sure can. Actually, you can freeze almost any cake. Just let the cake cool completely. Then open-air freeze it until solid. Finally, wrap it in a double layer of cling wrap and another layer of foil. Freeze the cake whole or in individual pieces. Cakes that have a frosting made with cream cheese can only be frozen for up to a month. After that, the texture of the frosting will begin to change.
Try This Pumpkin Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Today
This deliciously moist, incredibly tender pumpkin spice cake is overflowing with our favorite pumpkin flavors and topped with a rich creamy frosting accented by a touch of cinnamon. It’s a rich, decadent dessert that’s so delicious and so easy to make. Try this recipe just once, and I know you’ll be serving it over and over again to your friends and family. It’s just that good!
More Pumpkin Dessert Recipes You’ll Enjoy
And, try this Pumpkin Roll from Great Grub, Delicious Treats. It’s layered with maple cream cheese frosting and then rolled into a giant roll to create a beautiful cake roll.
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Pumpkin Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon cloves
- ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ⅓ cups shortening
- 2 ½ cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
For the Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounce cream cheese
- ½ cup butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
For the Pumpkin Cake
- Preheat the oven to 300° and grease and flour a 13×9 baking dish. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat shortening, sugar, eggs, vanilla and pumpkin puree together until creamy.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together.
- Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients until combined. Stir in chopped pecans and spoon cake batter into the prepared baking dish (batter will be thick).
- Bake for approximately 60-70 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool completely.
For the Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and cinnamon, mix well.
- Slowly add powdered sugar and beat until creamy.
- Let cake cool completely before adding frosting.
Notes
- Measure Properly. Gently scoop the flour out with a spoon and pour it into your measuring cup until it’s overflowing. Then, level it off with the flat of a knife. This keeps the flour from packing and makes sure you use the proper amount of flour.
- Don’t Overmix. Mix your wet and dry ingredients until just combined to limit the amount of gluten in the dough to keep it tender.
- Cool the Cake. Always let your cake cool completely before frosting it or the frosting will simply slide right off the cake.
- Storing Tips: Store the cake in a cake container or large airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. For longer storage, you can place it in the freezer and freeze it for up to a month.
