ultimate pumpkin cake

Pumpkin Cake has stick-to-your-fork moist layers of a spiced, one-bowl pumpkin cake, filled with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting, Salted Caramel Sauce, and Candied Cinnamon Pecans & Pepitas. It’s full of delicious flavors and delightful textures. This show stopping dessert is perfect for Thanksgiving, Halloween, or any fall celebration!

this recipe

Why you’ll love this Pumpkin Cake:

• Moist Pumpkin Layer Cake – I defy you to find a more moist cake than this one! It’s made in one bowl, too, with no mixer for total ease! And, it’s full of pumpkin flavor and a pumpkin pie spice blend.
• Salted Caramel Sauce – My Salted Caramel Sauce takes just 4 ingredients and 10 minutes to make and is perfectly balanced.
• Candied Pecans & Pepitas – These add a beautiful crunch to contrast with the fluffy pumpkin cake, and come together in a skillet in less than 10 minutes.

Ingredient Overview:

As always, the full recipe with measurements & directions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Use the table of contents (back at the top, below the first image, to navigate).

• Vegetable Oil – Vegetable oil keeps this cake ultra moist!
• Butter – I always use salted buter for the best flavor, but feel free to use unsalted butter if you prefer. This is not used in the cake, but in the frosting & caramel sauce.
• Vanilla extract – Use real vanilla extract for best results.
• Canned Pumpkin – This cake calls for canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling), but you can use homemade pumpkin puree if you aren’t able to purchase this in your local grocery store.
• Eggs – Be sure to buy large eggs for baking, always.
• Maple Syrup – Be sure to use real, pure maple syrup for best results.
• All-purpose flour – Spoon your flour into the measuring cup, then level it with a flat utensil for best results, or use a scale. Scooping the measuring cup directly into your flour will lead to too much flour, and a potentially dry bake.

Recipe Substitutions & Variations:

• Dairy-free – This cake is already dairy-free. Use your favorite dairy-free cream cheese & butter in the frosting. Use dairy-free heavy cream for the caramel.
• Brown Sugar – You can use dark brown sugar if you want a deeper flavor.
• Fewer Steps – Feel free to omit the salted caramel sauce and/or the candied nuts if you want more of a classic pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, and fewer steps. Although I truly believe nothing compares to homemade salted caramel sauce, feel free to use your favorite store-bought in a pinch.
• Quick Cake Variation – If you’re pinched for time, you can use a pumpkin cake mix (I know Pillsbury has one) to make the cake and then decorate it with the other elements from this recipe.
• Brown Butter – I adore the flavor of brown butter in frosting, especially on this cake, but you can skip this step if you’re short on time. Add a little extra cinnamon to the frosting instead, for extra flavor.

How to Make this Pumpkin Cake:

Step 1: Make the Caramel Sauce. This comes together in just 10 minutes! Follow my post on how to make salted caramel sauce. Let this cool while you make the cookies.

Step 2: Make the Candied Pecans & Pepitas. Add brown sugar, water, cinnamon, and salt to a saucepan and cook for 1-2 minutes until you have a bubbly sauce. Stir in the pecans and pepitas, then transfer to a baking sheet to cool.

Tip: Make extra, and include them in your thanksgiving table decor as an edible treat, or to include on holiday cookie plates & tins!

Step 3: Make the Delicious Pumpkin Cake & Bake. In a large bowl, whisk the wet ingredients – real pumpkin, oil, eggs, & sugar. Add the dry ingredients. Divide batter between your prepared cake pans & bake as directed in the recipe card below.

Step 4: Make the Frosting. Cream together butter and cream cheese, then mix in cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt. This frosting is a fall dream!

Step 5: Assemble the Cake. Stack your cooled cake layers with a filling of our cinnamon cream cheese frosting, salted caramel sauce, and candied pecans & pepitas.

Full directions with tips on this process are in the recipe card below, and the piping tips and tools I used are linked below.

You will go pumpkins (get it – like going bananas? Ok, terrible joke) for this perfect fall dessert! The layers are spiced, flavorful, and moist. The frosting is ultra creamy, and the salted caramel sauce and candied nuts add beautiful salty sweet contrast to the frosting, with an added crunch.

Serving + Storing:

Chill the frosted cake for 30 minutes or so before serving to help everything set up nicely. Store the leftover cake in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days. I recommend putting plastic wrap over the cut part of the cake as extra insurance, too.

Can’t stop the pumpkin cravings? Make my Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake or my Classic Pumpkin Bread next!

Expert Success Tips:

• Break Up the Steps – This cake & each element is simple to make, but can feel like a lot if you try to do it at once. I recommend making the nuts and caramel a few days ahead (up to 2 weeks ahead for the caramel). Then, bake the cake layers and either frost and assemble the same day, or the next day. This makes the whole process manageable!
• Avoid Runny Frosting – People often over-soften their butter & cream cheese, ending up with frosting that’s too soft or even runny. Cream cheese can be mixed cold, into the frosting. Adding it last also helps prevent weeping! If your frosting becomes weepy at any point, pop it in the fridge or freezer to help stiffen it.
• Brown Butter Frosting – Browning the butter for your frosting is an easy way to add even more flavor! If you are a frosting pro and aren’t worried about weepy frosting, beat the room temperature liquid brown butter into the cream cheese, then add the remaining frosting ingredients. If you’re not there yet, bring the butter back to room temperature consistency before mixing up the frosting, so that you can beat in the cream cheese last.
• Frosting the Cake – Remember to never frost a warm cake, as everything will melt and it will be a disaster (not that I’ve done it or anything, heh)!
• Oven Thermometer – An oven thermometer will tell you if your oven is actually running at the temperature you set it to. Your oven may not be accurate. Accurate oven temperature is crucial for most bakes, so I leave an oven thermometer in at all times to keep an eye on my oven’s calibration.
• Kitchen Scale – A food scale is the best way to make sure your flour is at the proper weight, since amounts will vary SO widely based on how you measure it, as well as the measuring cup you use, as they are not standardized.

FAQs:

Special Tools:

(Affiliate links)

• Offset Spatula – Offset spatulas make frosting a cake so easy! They can also be used for spreading cake and brownie batters evenly.
• Cake Turntable – If you make even a few cakes a year, a cake turntable makes the frosting process a breeze!
• Piping Bag & Piping Tip – I like to use a reusable piping bag and a Wilton 1A or 2A piping tip for piping the borders between layers, but you can use a plastic bag with the corner snipped off in a pinch. I used a Wilton 1M piping tip for the swirls.

More Favorite Pumpkin Recipes:

• Pumpkin Streusel Muffins with Maple Glaze
• Pumpkin Snickerdoodles with Rum Caramel
• Pumpkin Cupcakes with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
• Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake
• Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
• Mom’s Best Ever Pumpkin Bread
• Pumpkin Pasties with Maple Glaze
• Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

More Layered Cake Recipes to Love:

• White Forest Cake
• Gingerbread Cake
• Perfect White Birthday Cake
• German Chocolate Cake
• Raspberry Chocolate Ganache Cake
• Best Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

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