Pumpkin spice cake is one of those recipes that never fails to disappoint. It’s super moist, packed with real pumpkin flavor, and has that perfect balance of warm spices without tasting like a candle.
This pumpkin spice cake recipe has been a Sugar Geek Show favorite for years because the cake layers stay incredibly soft even after chilling, and the tangy cream cheese frosting adds just the right amount of richness. Whether you're making a homemade cake for a holiday party or this is your first time baking anything with pumpkin, this one earns a permanent spot in your recipe box.
My Inspiration
Every year around fall, I get flooded with messages asking for the best pumpkin cake, pumpkin sheet cake, pumpkin bundt cake, and pumpkin cheesecake bars. But the only thing I ever crave is a really good pumpkin spice cake recipe that tastes like it came straight from a bakery.
I developed this one back when Avalon was tiny and obsessed with fresh pumpkin everything. It was the first time I realized you could get amazing results from pure pumpkin puree without needing tons of oil or sweetness to cover it up. And since then, this has become the base for all of my favorite pumpkin recipes.
Ingredient Breakdown
This pumpkin spice cake uses common baking ingredients you probably already have around your house.
All-purpose flour is the structure of the cake. We weigh it so the cake batter stays balanced and you don’t accidentally dry it out. You can use a gluten-free blend but expect a softer, more tender crumb.
Baking soda and baking powder give the cake layers lift. Because pumpkin puree is heavy and full of moisture, you really need both.
Ground cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and a little salt bring the whole pumpkin spice vibe to life. You can also replace the individual spices with pumpkin pie spice if that’s what you have. Just don’t use pumpkin pie filling by mistake—it already has spices and sugar in it.
Granulated sugar and brown sugar work together to keep the cake soft and add deeper caramel notes.
Eggs at room temperature whip up nicely and help emulsify the batter.
Pure pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin works perfectly) gives the cake its signature pumpkin flavor. You can even make your own homemade pumpkin puree. The flavor is SO good!
Vegetable oil keeps the crumb tender, even after the cake cools. You can swap it for melted coconut oil or any neutral oil.
Melted butter adds richness and flavor. I like using both butter and oil together so the cake stays moist without being greasy.
Buttermilk at room temperature is the secret to getting that beautifully soft, fluffy texture. You can make your own by combining milk with a tablespoon of white vinegar and letting it rest for five minutes.
Vanilla extract ties the spices together so the pumpkin doesn’t overpower everything.
For the cream cheese frosting, you only need cream cheese, butter, icing sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. The combination creates that perfect tangy cream cheese frosting that pairs so well with pumpkin. If you want a whiter frosting, add a drop of white food coloring. If you want a maple frosting twist, replace part of the vanilla with a tablespoon of maple syrup. Replacing some of the butter with browned butter can really elevate this recipe as well.
Tips & Tricks
- Use room temperature ingredients so the batter emulsifies properly.
- Line the bottom of your baking pan with parchment paper to help the cake release cleanly.
- If you want extra sturdy cake layers for carving or stacking, chill them on a wire rack or cooling rack before trimming.
- If your pumpkin puree is watery, strain it or use canned pumpkin for consistency.
- Don’t over-mix once you add the flour mixture. Pumpkin cakes can get dense fast.
- Freeze your cake layers before stacking for the cleanest cuts, especially on the top of the cake.
- Leftover pumpkin puree freezes beautifully—store it in an airtight container so you can use it later.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF and prepare three 8x2 cake pans with cake goop. You can also use two 9-inch pans if that’s what you have. Line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and salt.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix your room temperature eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract on medium to medium-high speed for about a minute.
- Add the pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, melted butter, and buttermilk. Mix just until smooth.
- Add the flour mixture slowly, mixing on low speed so you don’t overwork the cake batter.
- Stop as soon as everything looks fully incorporated.
- Divide the batter evenly between your pans and smooth the tops.
- Bake for 30–35 minutes or until the center bounces back when lightly touched and a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Trim the domes with a serrated knife once the cake layers are fully cool.
- To make the cream cheese frosting, cream the room temperature cream cheese with the paddle attachment until smooth.
- Add the butter and mix again until smooth.
- Then slowly add the icing sugar one cup at a time.
- Finish with vanilla and salt and mix on low for 5–6 minutes until silky.
To decorate, crumb coat your chilled cake layers and refrigerate for about 20 minutes. Add your final layer of frosting, smooth the sides, and clean the top of the cake so it looks sharp. Pipe dollops around the top if you want extra texture or height.
Store the finished cake in the fridge. For the best texture, let it sit at room temperature for about two hours before serving.
Final Thoughts
This really is the best pumpkin cake if you love big fall flavor without a dense, heavy crumb. It’s easy enough for beginners but produces a bakery-quality result every single time. You can turn it into a pumpkin sheet cake, a pumpkin bundt cake, cupcakes, or even the base for pumpkin cheesecake bars. The formula is just that dependable.
FAQ
Pumpkin pie filling is sweetened and spiced. Pure pumpkin puree is just pumpkin.
You can, but the bake time will be much longer and the center may dry out.
Yes. Freeze the cake layers wrapped tightly, and freeze leftover frosting for up to six months.
Cold ingredients don’t emulsify properly and can make the cake dense.
Yes—bake at 350ºF for 18–20 minutes.
RELATED RECIPES
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
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Cups of Batter Needed
8 cups
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5 cups
Note: measurements are estimated based off the vanilla cake recipe using standard US cake pans and sizes. Measurements used are for 2" tall cake pans only. Your results may vary. Do not overfill cake pans above manufacturer's recommended guidelines.
Recipe
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with paddle attachment, hand mixer or whisk
- three, 8"x2" cake pans (or two pans)
- Piping Bag
- Modeling tools
- #3 Round Piping Tip
- Medium leaf pipnig tip
Ingredients
Pumpkin Spice Cake Ingredients
- 18 ounces All Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons Cloves
- 2 teaspoons Nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon Ginger
- 1 ½ teaspoons Salt
- 8 large Eggs room temperature
- 14 ounces Granulated Sugar
- 3 ounces Light Brown Sugar
- 15 ounces Pumpkin Puree
- 4 ounces Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 5 ounces Buttermilk room temperature, or combine milk with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and rest for 5 minutes.
- 6 ounces Melted Butter
Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
- 16 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 8 ounces unsalted butter room temperature
- 32 ounces powdered sugar sifted
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF (177ºC) and prepare three, 8"x2" cake pans with cake goop or another preferred pan release. You can also use two 9" pans, just bake for longer. Measure out your ingredients with a scale and bring eggs and buttermilk to room temperature.
- In a large bowl, add your flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and salt and whisk together to combine. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, add your room temperature eggs, white sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Mix on medium/medium-high with the paddle attachment for 1 minute. You can also do this with a hand mixer, just mix for longer and go by look instead of time. It should look aerated and bubbly.
- Add in your pumpkin puree, oil, melted butter and room temperature buttermilk and mix until combined.Make sure you're using pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling, which has added spices and flavors.
- Slowly add in your flour mixture and mix on low until all your dry ingredients are just incorporated and your batter is smooth. Do not over-mix.
- Pour batter into three, 8"x2" prepared cake pans and smooth out. Bake the cakes for 30-35 minutes or until the center of the cake bounces back when you touch it and a toothpick comes out clean.Cool the cakes for ten minutes in the pan and turn out onto a wire rack to cool fully before frosting. I like to trim off the domes of my cake to make it easier to stack. You can wrap the cakes in plastic wrap and freeze to chill them faster.
Frosting Instructions
- Cream the softened cream cheese with the paddle attachment until smooth. Add in your softened butter and continue creaming on low until fully incorporated and smooth.
- Slowly add in powdered sugar one cup at a time, letting fully incorporate before adding the next cup. Add in vanilla and salt. Mix at low for 5-6 minutes until smooth.
- For a whiter frosting, add white food coloring. Store leftover frosting in the fridge for up to a week or freeze up to 6 months.
Marzipan Pumpkins
- Divide your marzipan into 5-7 sections and color them with food coloring. I used egg yellow, orange, red, green, white, and brown for the pumpkin stems.
- Roll a piece of marzipan into a ball and use a modeling tool to add lines to the side.
- Form a small stem for the top of the pumpkin
- Dust the lines with some edible food coloring dust to add shading. I used a dark reddish orange for the orange pumpkins and dark green for the green pumpkins and the white pumpkins.
Decorating Your Cake
- Trim the domes off your cooled pumpkin layers
- Fit a piping bag with a coupler so that you can easily switch between a round piping tip and a leaf piping tip.
- Add a layer of cream cheese frosting with your offset spatula. Try to keep the layer nice and even, I shoot for about ¼" thick frosting.
- Add your second layer of cake. Add more frosting and finish with the last layer of cake on top.
- Cover the whole cake in a thin layer of your cream cheese frosting. This is called the crumb coat and seals in the loose crumbs. Place into the fridge or freezer for about 20 minutes to firm up the frosting.
- Add your final layer of buttercream with your offset spatula. Smooth the sides with a bench scraper to make the sides smooth and then smooth the top with your offset spatula. (see the video in the recipe card for more visual instructions)
- Use your piping bag to add some wood grain to the sides of the cake and pipe a border around the top of the cake of some dollops of frosting.
- Add your marzipan pumpkins on top of the frosting dollops
- Fill in the spaces with piped leaves using a leaf piping tip.
- Store your finished cake in the fridge until it's ready to be served but the cake will taste the best if you take it out of the fridge two hours before serving to allow it time to warm up.
Samantha says
This looks so good! I definitely want to try it! Do you think for a 6” round 2” tall layers it would take the same amount of time to bake?
These moments with your daughter are so sweet ?
Katrina J says
Liz, I have watched a lot of your tutorials over the past few years. And this one is, hands down, my favorite. Got me over here missing the snot out of my daughter, who is only at school. I do have an urge to go sign her out early and bring her home to bake something. Avalon is so adorable, and she did an outstanding job. This cake is now on my list of things to do this week. Thank you.
The Sugar Geek Show says
Awww thank you so much! I think we will do this again together, it's a lot more fun with her than the typical just film the bowl style lol. I'll be sure to prepare myself and my kitchen a little bit better lol
Joy Fonseca says
I'd like to do this cake in a bundt pan with a glaze. How would you adjust baking temp and time for a bundt pan?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Hard to say but I imagine it will take much more time to bake, at least 70 minutes
Paula Wallace Forrester says
Loved the video!?Avalon was great!! Made this cake more interesting!! Thanks for the recipe!!!
Shirley B. says
This is absolutely precious! Well done, mama! You will never regret taking time with your littles as all TOO FAST they grow up!
Brenda Jarmusz says
Lizzo,
You my sweet friend are amazing, I know I have told you that many times before but I just feel the need to say it again. I totally understand being tired and busy and sometimes not wanting to make a mess and have to clean up after but I also get being a mom and making memories with my children, you are a real superwoman!!! I love how you are a boss/owner/ wife/mom/ friend/ cake designer/ cake decorator and much much more. I have always loved and admired and appreciated you and your tutorials on sugar geek show and I'm very proud to be a sugar geek elite but I have to tell you it brought pure joy and love to my heart watching you teach and bake with Avalon. My mom passed away when I was 10 , she had cancer all over her body and when i was 7-9 she would show me how to cook and bake as she sat in her wheelchair she showed me what to do next and that is my greatest memory of all. I had told you before about her recipe for a chocolate mayonnaise cake with mint icing. Anyway I just wanted to say thank you. Not only thank you for always sharing your ideas, knowledge and best recipes but also showing us the beautiful bond between a mother and daughter and how special and important these times are together for you both, they grow up so fast and it's nice to have those moments to look back on. You are a wonderful lady and sweet friend. Thank you again for all you do. I cant wait to try this recipe. Tell Avalon she did an awesome job!!!!!
The Sugar Geek Show says
Thank you for sharing Brenda <3 I am so glad you have those wonderful memories of your mother to cherish. I do have one memory of my mother baking a blackberry sponge cake that was always so good and a favorite in our family but she rarely baked anything else that I can remember. I cherish that one recipe and wish we would have had more time together before she passed when I was 19. Unfortunately she was ill for most of my childhood so I don't have many memories of her. Baking really does bring families together <3
Jessica Lycholat Cain says
This looks amazing. Could the flour be swapped for Bob's Red Mill 1:1 GF flour successfully you think?
The Sugar Geek Show says
I think it would work fine for this recipe but I would use the 1:1 baking blend for a finer texture
Amy says
Saved and printed! Did you use unsalted butter? Thanks!
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes unsalted 😀
Terryann Bernard says
Liz,
Let me give you some mommy advice (if I may)! Avalon is only going to be four, for a short time, the best I can say as a mother of three boys, is enjoy every single moment that she wants to spend with you, you are her greatest teacher, when my boys were little they loved to help me cook and bake so much so that today they are men (30, 28, &26) who not only love to cook (my middle son is a chef), but love to bake as well. Our family Sunday dinners are about whose cooking who’s preparing but most importantly the boys tell stories about when they were little and mommy taught them how to make all sorts of things. We will never get back those times so make them worth every minute I promise you that someday in the future your daughter will think of you as her hero, especially that you own and run your business take care of your family. I give you a lot of credit for doing what you do so never give up and enjoy each and every memory making minute that’ll be you most precious masterpiece.
A fan forever,
Terryann
Terryann Bernard says
Btw this recipe is the Bomb!!
Terryann Bernard says
OMG
I just watched the video, Avalon you are Beautiful!!! And keep baking with mommy so we can watch more of you as you grow up. Mommy is pretty terrific too! ???❤️?
Krissy krueger says
How well does this recipe hold up for cupcakes?
Ogunka grace says
Wonderful recipe
The Sugar Geek Show says
Thanks so much!
Jody says
I don’t see any room temp ingredients noted on the cake recipe. Only the frosting. But the but the Super Important note about room temp ingredients is in cake directions, so I just wanted to verify!
Brittany H says
I’m looking for more of a spice cake recipe, I don’t want a lot of pumpkin flavor. Can I leave out the pumpkin or substitute it for something?
The Sugar Geek Show says
I dont know for sure since I haven't tried that. I don't think it would be the same. What I usually do is just add spices to my vanilla cake recipe 🙂
Maria C. says
Liz,
What did I do wrong??? My cake came out too oily. I had a little bit of extra batter (like in your video) and made 4 cupcakes - even those were an oily mess. I followed the recipe to a T, used room temperature ingredients, weighed all the ingredients, baked at 335 for 45 minutes...By the way, the toothpick came out oily, but clean. However, I think the cakes are a little bit undone. What could have happened? Anyone else had this problem?
The Sugar Geek Show says
The cake is a bit oily when it first bakes up but after a day in the fridge that oil is important to making the cake taste moist. I hope you didn't throw it out! It's so yummy!
Jewel B says
I can’t wait to try this recipe it’s looks delicious and Avalon did a fantastic job, she’s so stinkin’ Adorable, my 5 year old son Ben has been my bakin’ baby since he was one, I love including him in the videos.
Sally says
I love this recipe! But I have one concern, it does come out oily and when I make it into cupcakes the liners are very greasy. What type of liner should I use to help in this or should I cut back on butter or oil.
The Sugar Geek Show says
I would remove half or all of the oil for cupcakes. I hate making cupcakes lol.
Phillippa Cheshire says
Hello
I am really excited to make this cake, what icing nozzles did you use for the "roses"?
Thanks,
Pip
The Sugar Geek Show says
I just updated it for you 🙂
Natalie C says
Will this cake hold up under fondant? Plan on using easy buttercream because the cake will be sitting out for a few hours.
The Sugar Geek Show says
Absolutely, it's a very firm cake 🙂
Natalie C says
Great! Thank you!!
Bonnie says
I'm looking for a sturdy cream cheese frosting so I will try this. I would also like it to be a little tart. Do you think I can get away with adding a little extra cream cheese to it, or would it become too soft?
Thanks,
Bonnie
The Sugar Geek Show says
The reason it's so sturdy is because of the extra powdered sugar. You can definitely add more cream cheese but it will affect the stability
Alo says
I’m planning on doing this the evening before thanksgiving. How does it taste if left in the fridge over night? Do I have to cover it?
Thank you!
The Sugar Geek Show says
It tastes amazing the next day! You don't have to refrigerate it but you can. If it's not cut then no need to cover
Melissa says
I made this for my family this Thanksgiving, and it’s a KEEPER! I brushed each layer with a little pumpkin spice coffee creamer for extra flavor. Super moist and delicious!
Sarai says
Would it work if a I want to make it as loaf ?? Can I do 1/2 cake flour and 1/2 AP flour
Thank you ?
The Sugar Geek Show says
I'm not sure about the flour but you can definitely make it as a loaf. I would cut it in half 🙂
Lisa says
My God there is heaven in a pan! My house smells like fall. My taste buds are dancing. This is soooo good! Moist. Perfect amount of flavors.