This Pumpkin Layer Cake comes together in less than an hour and is the perfect fall treat. The cake itself is incredibly fluffy and moist, thanks to the rich pumpkin and blend of spices. Baked to perfection, it’s then layered with a creamy cinnamon cream cheese frosting that adds a tangy sweetness. This cake will make it feel like fall, even if the Southern heat hasn’t died down yet.
Soft and Moist Pumpkin Layer Cake
Pumpkin in a cake doesn’t just add flavor. It makes the crumb unbelievably soft, the kind of texture you can only describe as melt-in-your-mouth. Not dense. Not heavy. Just tender and moist. It bakes up while your oven preheats, which still blows my mind.
The spices are what make it sing, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, each one giving a little nudge of warmth. I like to measure them out myself instead of grabbing a pumpkin spice jar. It gives me room to adjust. More cinnamon? Yes. Skip the allspice? Why not. That’s the beauty of it.
Let’s Talk Cinnamon Frosting
And then there’s the frosting. Rich cream cheese, whipped until fluffy, laced with cinnamon. The tang balances the sweetness so the whole thing doesn’t lean too far into sugar overload. If you’ve tried my pumpkin cream cheese muffins or those soft pumpkin cookies with cream cheese icing, you already know pumpkin and cream cheese are a duo that never fails.
This cake was actually born out of a bakery in Greenville, SC. They had a sweet potato cake that I loved but could never quite nail at home. I swapped the sweet potatoes for pumpkin and, while the flavor changed, the texture was exactly what I’d been trying to re-create, moist, soft, almost velvety.
It reminded me of fall dinners growing up in the South, where dessert was always on the table.(I have since re-created their wonderful sweet potato cake!)
What You’ll Actually Need
A few big players do the heavy lifting:
- Pure pumpkin puree
- A blend of warm spices
- Cream cheese for the frosting
Everything else is your basic pantry lineup. Full details are in the recipe card.
Making a Moist Pumpkin Cake Is A Breeze
Step One: A little Prep
Preheat your oven and line cake pans with parchment paper, and butter and flour the bottoms and sides.
Step Two: Make the Batter
Step Four: Bake the Cake
Pro tip: When making a layer cake, weigh each layer on a food scale so that you get an equal amount of batter in each pan, this will create perfectly even layers.
Step Five: Make the Tangy Cream Cheese Frosting
Step Six: Assemble
Place one cake layer on a cake plate, if it’s uneven, use a serrated knife to cut off part of the top. Frost by first piping a rim of frosting around the edges then fill in the center. By adding a rim of icing around the edge, you avoid the frosting oozing out when you add the 2nd layer.
Refrigerate so that the frosting can set before serving.
I made this a naked cake so that the layers are visible. However, you will have plenty of frosting to fill in the outside if you choose. Or try making it even more pumpkiny with a pumpkin spice frosting.
A Few Fun Twists
- Add chopped pecans for crunch.
- Freeze the layers ahead if you want to prep.
- Try a caramel or brown butter cream cheese frosting for something richer. It’s what I typically frost my banana layer cake with.
Don’t Forget!
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Ingredients
Cake
- 3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon cardamon
- 1 15 ounce can pumpkin
- 1 ½ cup sugar
- 1 ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
Frosting
- 12 ounces cream cheese room temp
- ½ cup butter room temp
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350º. Line 2 9 inch cake pans with parchment paper and butter and flour the bottom and sides. Tap out any extra flour.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda and powder, and all the spices in a large bowl.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the pumpkin, sugar and oil. Beat until well combined then beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 30-33 minutes, until a toothpick comes out dry. Let cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Take an offset spatula around the edges to loosen the cakes and turn them over onto a metal rack. Let cool completely.
Frosting
- Combine the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high until creamy and smooth, about 1 minute. Add the cinnamon and salt and mix until combined. Next add the powdered sugar and beat on low until it is incorporated then turn to high and beat until it is smooth and creamy.
To assemble
- Place 1 layer on a cake plate and even the top with a serrated knife. Pipe a ridge of frosting around the outside of the top and then fill in with more frosting. Even out the second cake layer with a serrated knife and flip it so that the bottom of the cake layer is facing up. Place most of the frosting on top and use an offset spatula to spread it down the sides. Once the sides are covered, spread it evenly across the top.
Notes
- If the frosting is not thick enough, add more powdered sugar. If too thick, add a little milk.
- Refrigerate the cake before slicing to allow the frosting to set.
- Make sure the cake is completely cool before frosting.
