bonappetit4.0
Perfectly Spiced Pumpkin Cake
This easy pumpkin cake recipe delivers tender crumb, rich fall flavor, and a tangy cream cheese frosting—no mixer required.
👥 9 Servings🔥 Cook: 30 min👤 Dawn Perry📖 bonappetit
🥘 Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you prepare them:
🍳 Cookware
- ●pan
- ●bowl
- ●whisk
- ●oven
- ●cutting board
📝 Preparation Steps
1
Cake
2
Position a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°. Lightly coat an 8x8" square metal baking pan with nonstick vegetable oil spray and line with parchment paper, leaving a 2" overhang on all sides. Whisk 1¼ cups (156 g) all-purpose flour, ½ cup (63 g) whole wheat flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1 tsp. ground ginger, ¼ tsp. ground allspice, a pinch of ground cloves, and a pinch of ground nutmeg in a large bowl.
Nonstick vegetable oil spray (for pan)¼ cups (156 g) all-purpose flour1¼ cups (packed; 250 g) dark brown sugar1. baking powder2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt1 tsp. ground cinnamon1 tsp. ground ginger1 tspPinch of ground clovesPinch of ground nutmeg
3
Whisk 2 large eggs, room temperature, 1¼ cups (packed; 250 g) dark brown sugar, 1 cup pure pumpkin purée, and ½ cup (1 stick ) unsalted butter, melted, in a second large bowl until smooth. Mix in dry ingredients. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top.
large eggs, room temperature2¼ cups (156 g) all-purpose flour1¼ cups (packed; 250 g) dark brown sugar1pure pumpkin purée1 cup
4
Bake cake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 30–⏱️ 35 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cake cool in pan ⏱️ 20 minutes. Using parchment, lift cake and transfer to a cutting board. Let cool completely.
5
Frosting and assembly
6
Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature, and 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature, in a medium bowl just to combine. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in ⅔ cup (73 g) powdered sugar, sifted, then a pinch of kosher salt until smooth. Spread frosting over top of cooled cake. Editor’s note: This pumpkin cake recipe was first printed online in October 2014 as “Pumpkin Cake With Maple Cream Cheese Frosting.” It has been updated to adjust the spicing and sugar level, and to remove the maple syrup from the frosting—if you’re missing the maple flavor, serve slices with a drizzle of maple syrup to finish. Head this way for more of our favorite recipes with pumpkin purée →
. cream cheese, room temperature4 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature2 TbspPinch of kosher salt
Reviews & Ratings
Share your thoughts and feedback about this recipe
Write a Review
Community Feedback
0 ReviewsLoading reviews...