The Best Ever Pumpkin Cake
Soft & moist cake with a delicious cream cheese frosting
I am all smiles, all smiles, because I am so excited to share this one with you! :)​
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Sometimes​ a recipe makes me so very very happy that I imagine in my head how happy it will make all of you who will try it out. Then I sit around smiling and get nothing done :D Well, you know, you got to enjoy the moment once in a while. This recipe is like this, it is very special in that way, because I loved it so much I just couldn't wait to get it perfected to share it.
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This is actually an old recipe that I filmed a year ago for a project. This year I thought I would come back to it, tweak it a little and make it shine on its own. I wanted to keep the cake itself very simple, so that it would highlight the flavour of the pumpkin and the spice in the pumpkin spice. Also I didn't want to complicate it and so I decided to just make it with a simple, but delicious cream cheese frosting. And so what you have is a finger licking good pumpkin cake, which has lasted no longer than two days in our house of two, the three times I've made it. It should take no more than 30-40 minutes prep time for you (obviously excluding the baking and cooling time) and you don't need any special equipment for it. I would however want to mention the Nordic Ware Bundt Pan that I use for all my Bundt cakes, as I love it so much! :) If you want one that is not pricey, but has still a really good quality, then you can find the one I use here, in my favourite products, in my amazon shop.
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I am going to be honest with you, the first time I re-baked the cake it didn't turn out well. Well, my boyfriend didn't agree with me and we had a long discussion over, how can it be that it didn't work out if it tastes so good? :D Let me just say, if the cake is raw and dense inside, I can't say it is good even if it tastes good.. But you know, maybe that's just how I am :D So I had to re-bake it to make sure I can solve the issues and so I did, two times, just to be sure :) The problem was first of all that I added my homemade pumpkin puree while it was still warm to the batter, also I mixed with a mixer up until the end, even though it would have been better to use a spatula, and finally I kept on opening the oven door too early and the cake sank. So, what do we learn from all this? Add the pumpkin puree when it has had time to chill (if using homemade), follow the recipe and use the mixer only at the beginning and allow the cake to bake for at least 1.5h before checking on it and opening the oven door. Did that on the two last test bakes and the cake turned out perfect.
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If you make this cake, I promise, you will fall in love with it already when the aroma of the spices starts filling your house while the cake is baking. Just thinking about it, makes me smile and want to make it again! :)
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If you want to make everything from scratch for this cake I have a really easy tutorial on how to make homemade pumpkin puree for you here and also a recipe for the pumpkin pie spice here. By the way the pumpkin pie spice is so good you will not be able to keep your hands of it :)
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Happy Baking and Happy Holidays Lovelies!
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Step by Step Video
RECIPE
The Best Ever Pumpkin Cake
Soft and moist cake with a delicious cream cheese frosting
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​INGREDIENTS
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100g soft butter
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100g brown sugar
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2 eggs
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210g all purpose flour
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1tsp baking powder
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1tsp baking soda
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1tsp pumpkin pie spice (recipe here)
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150g natural flavour yogurt (minimum 10% fat content) or sour cream
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300g pumpkin puree (unsweetened)
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300g philadelphia cream cheese
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50g powder sugar
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1/3tsp pumpkin pie spice (recipe here)
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DIRECTIONS
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With a hand mixer beat the softened butter and the sugar for about five minutes until soft and pale.
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Add eggs one at a time beating for about a minute after each addition.
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In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients. And in another bowl combine yogurt with pumpkin puree.
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Sift about one third of the dry ingredients to the butter and eggs, and fold in shortly with a spatula. Then add about a third of the pumpkin puree with yogurt and fold in again shortly. Repeat until all dry ingredients and the pumpkin puree with yogurt have been added. Fold in until the batter is smooth and you have no dry spots of flour.
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Butter a 1,5 litre (6 cup) bundt cake pan and transfer the batter into it. You can also flour the pan after buttering it to make sure the cake comes out of the pan easily. Even out the top.
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Bake the cake in 170°C bottom top heat at the bottom shelf of the oven for about 1.5-2 hours. Make sure not to open the oven door in the first one and a half hours of baking the cake. Check with a wooden skewer before removing the cake from the oven. If the top of the cake starts turning really dark you can cover it with some aluminium foil or parchment paper.
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Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes before removing the cake from the pan. Then remove from the pan and allow to cool completely on the cooling rack before frosting.
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To make the frosting, using a spatula combine the cream cheese with the icing sugar and the pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl. Once soft and smooth spread over the cooled cake with a spatula or a spoon.
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Any leftover cake should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge.