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It's autumn—the season of pumpkins and spice—which means it's the perfect time to cosy up with a slice of this pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. Add this delicious pumpkin cake recipe to your fall dessert menu to impress everyone! 🎃

It’s so incredibly moist and soft, you won’t be able to stop eating it! It's packed with all the pumpkin goodness, warm autumn spices and finished with the best cream cheese frosting that has LESS SUGAR! Plus it's so easy to make and pairs perfectly with a cup of tea or coffee. Cream cheese frosting and pumpkin go hand in hand so this classic combo is a favourite around here. The best of fall in a cake! 👌

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WHY YOU NEED TO TRY THIS CAKE!

• It’s packed with all warm autumn spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, allspice and cloves.
• It’s a super soft and moist cake due to pumpkin puree.
• It is finished with the best and most stable cream cheese frosting with very less amount of sugar.

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INGREDIENTS YOU'LL NEED!

Here are the ingredients required to make this delicious cake. Scroll down to the recipe card for exact quantities.

FOR THE CAKE

• Plain Flour/all-purpose flour: Make sure to measure it correctly. The best way to measure all-purpose flour is by using a digital scale. If you don’t have then spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then scrape a knife across the top of the measuring cup to level the flour.
• Pumpkin puree: The star ingredient! Adds moisture and makes the cake rich and soft. I used canned 100% pure pumpkin puree, not a pumpkin pie filling. I highly recommend using Libby’s 100% pumpkin puree as it’s not too wet (see FAQ on how to strain water from pumpkin puree). If you don’t have it on hand you can make pumpkin puree at home easily. I have a complete blog post on how to make homemade pumpkin puree here.‍
• Baking powder & baking soda: These are used to make the cake rise.‍
• Brown sugar & granulated sugar: In this recipe, I used both light brown sugar and granulated sugar. Granulated sugar adds sweetness and gives texture to this cake and brown sugar helps to keep this cake soft and moist. It also gives caramelised flavour. I used here light brown sugar but you can use dark brown sugar instead.‍
• Vegetable oil: It keeps the cake moist. I used sunflower oil, you can use any vegetable or neutral oil.‍
• Pumpkin spice mix: I used homemade pumpkin spice mix (see FAQ on how to make the spice mix). You can substitute it with store-bought.

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FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

• Cream cheese: It should be COLD. Always use full-fat cream cheese as it gives the frosting a creamy consistency. I used Philadelphia original here.
• Unsalted butter: Softened to room temperature.
• Icing sugar/powdered sugar (sifted): This sugar is great for frosting. It is light and fine, blends into the cream cheese easily and makes the frosting fluffy.
• Vanilla extract: For flavour   

EQUIPMENTS REQUIRED

• 9 x 9 inch baking pan.
• Offset spatula
• Electric mixer

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HOW TO MAKE THIS CAKE STEP BY STEP!

STEP 1: PUMPKIN CAKE

• Grease a 9x9 inch square pan with butter, line it with baking paper leaving it to overhang on two sides. It’s important because it is easy to remove the cake safely from the pan. Preheat the Fan oven to 155C/311F (for conventional oven 175C/347F).
• In a large bowl, sift together the plain flour/all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon and pumpkin spices. Whisk together and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and both the sugar on medium speed until well combined(about 2-3 minutes), scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add in the vegetable oil and vanilla extract, and beat them to combine. Add in the reduced pumpkin puree (see the FAQ to drain water from the puree) and beat again to combine.
• Just fold in the dry ingredients until just combined, be careful not to overmix the batter if you want light and airy crumbs.
• Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Tap the pan on the counter to remove the air bubbles.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and let it rest in the pan for 45-60 minutes to cool completely at room temperature.

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STEP 2: THE BEST AND MOST STABLE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING WITH LESS SUGAR THAN USUAL!!

Baking is a science. To make cakes, muffins, dough or frosting, we have to be careful about the exact amount of ingredients. The other important thing is that the ingredients have to be added in a specific order to achieve the perfect and best result. The same rule applies to cream cheese frosting. Most recipes use a ton of icing sugar to stabilise the cream cheese frosting but I always wanted to create a recipe that requires less sugar but has a stable consistency. 

After many trials, I found that if we CHANGE THE MIXING ORDER of the ingredients and use COLD cream cheese, we can get the perfect consistency of cream cheese frosting with less amount of sugar.

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Here's how you can make the cream cheese frosting,

• Cream the softened butter on medium speed (with a hand mixer or stand mixer) until smooth and light in colour (about 2-3 minutes).
• Add in the vanilla extract and 1 cup of icing sugar/powdered sugar (sifted). Mix with a spatula then beat on low speed until well combined, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.
• Take out the COLD cream cheese straight from the fridge, shift to a small bowl, give it a good mix using a spoon or a hand mixer then add in the above butter mixture. Beat it until combined and fluffy. 
• Then add the remaining 1/3 cup of icing sugar/powdered sugar and beat until fluffy and well combined. Be careful, not to overbeat the frosting as it becomes runny. Use it right away.

STEP 3: ASSEMBLY

• Once the cake has cooled completely, use the baking paper overhangs to lift out the cake carefully and place it over a serving tray or board.
• Frost the top of the cake with a thick layer of cream cheese frosting and make swirls, using an offset spatula. You can also make different designs using any nozzle of your choice as it’s a very stable and pipe-able frosting.
• Dust with ground cinnamon. Garnish with sprinkles.
• Make 9 or 16 slices, using a sharp knife.
• It is best served when cold, pop it in the fridge before serving.

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TIPS TO MAKE THE PERFECT PUMPKIN CAKE!

• All ingredients should be at room temperature.
• Don’t forget to strain the extra water from the puree (see FAQ).
• Don’t over-mix the batter. Once the dry ingredients are combined into the wet ingredients, stop mixing too much, otherwise it results in a dense cake.

TIPS TO GET THE BEST STABLE FROSTING WITH LESS AMOUNT OF SUGAR!

• Use softened butter and COLD cream cheese, straight out of the fridge.
• Just change the mixing order of the ingredients to get a stable frosting but with less amount of sugar. You don’t need to add tons of icing sugar to make it stable.

FAQ

How To Make Homemade Pumpkin Spice Mix?

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You'll need 4 tbsp ground Cinnamon, 2 tsp ground ginger, 2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom, 1 tsp ground cloves, and 1 tsp ground allspice. Whisk together all of the above ingredients in a small bowl until well combined. Store in a small jar or airtight container. It stays fresh for up to a year.

How To Remove The Excess Water From The Pumpkin Puree?

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Mostly canned purée has lots of added water in it that can affect the texture of the cake which is why I highly recommend using Libby’s 100% pumpkin puree as it’s not too wet! If the pumpkin puree is too runny or has too much water, you can remove it by using a cheesecloth. Fold it first then scoop the puree into the cheesecloth, wrap it around the puree and wring out the excess water over the kitchen sink. Now you can add it to the cake batter.

No need to remove the water from the homemade puree if you're using the oven roasting method since it has a drier consistency! I have a complete blog post on how to make homemade pumpkin puree here.

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How To Store This Cake?

Store any leftover cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. You can store any leftover frosting in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2-3 days. Before use, give it a short whip so it will be fluffy again.

I hope that you'll try this recipe and you'll love them as much as my family and I do! If you make this recipe then be sure to tag @kaotickrunch on Instagram. We'd love to see your creations!

Happy baking and eating! 😊