Homemade pumpkin cake filled with cosy spiced flavour is both easy and quick to make. Decorated with a vanilla cream cheese frosting and dusted with extra cinnamon, this cake is a quintessential autumn treat.
Autumn is well and truly here now with the arrival of the cooler weather and darker evenings. We’ve said goodbye to summer and now we’re all looking for comforting, cosy and warming recipes. I’ve already been indulging in lots of my favourite autumnal recipes and I always look forward to the start of a new season.
I love all seasons, but spring/summer are my personal favourites. In summer we’re eating lighter meals that aren’t too heavy, whereas in the autumn and winter months it’s all about devouring (savoury and sweet) pies, stews and indulgent desserts and puddings – I’m certainly not complaining about the last part…
A recipe I think is just perfect for autumn is this pumpkin cake and if you’re a lover of carrot cake then this cake will hit the spot for you! I really enjoy cakes that are full of spices, so much so that I shared this Spice Loaf Cake recipe earlier this year and after sharing that recipe I wanted to make a pumpkin spice traybake for my blog.
Compared to carrot cake this pumpkin version is SO much easier and quicker to prepare, no peeling and grating carrots and best of all it takes a matter of minutes to rustle up and have in your oven baking!
Whilst this cake is scrumptious on its own, my favourite part of this recipe is still the incredible frosting that tops it. For me, no frosting pairs better with pumpkin cake than cream cheese frosting does.
My cream cheese frosting is rich and smooth, it’s not too sweet and pipes wonderfully – this is a recipe I learnt while studying at culinary school and it’s totally fail-proof if you follow the instructions closely and take your time while preparing it.
This truly is one of my family’s favourite cakes, it’s always a huge hit with everyone and goes down a storm (it’s definitely something to do with the amazing cream cheese frosting)! Perfect for an autumn treat, serve the cake at Halloween parties this week, take along to a firework display on Bonfire Night or for any readers celebrating Thanksgiving in the States next month, this could be your showstopper dessert to serve on the special day!
(Serves 12-20)
Ingredients:
Pumpkin Cake:
4 large free-range eggs, at room temperature
350g caster sugar
240ml vegetable oil
425g (15 ounce) can pure pumpkin
300g plain flour
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
Cream Cheese Frosting:
100g butter (salted or unsalted), softened
100g icing sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
300g full-fat cream cheese, softened – I leave mine out at room temperature for an hour to soften
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33cm) tin with parchment paper.
- To make the cake: In a large mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil and canned pumpkin until well combined. Now over the top of bowl sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and mix until all the ingredients are completely incorporated.
- Pour the cake batter into the cake tin and smooth the top over evenly with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake – my cake took around 35 minutes before I was happy with it being baked all the way through. Now leave the cake to cool in the tin completely before preparing the frosting.
- To make the cream cheese frosting: Cream the softened butter in a stand mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes to soften. Now add the sifted icing sugar and vanilla and starting on a low speed mix to combine. Continue to cream for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Once creamed add the softened cream cheese. Turn the mixer up and whisk on high speed for another 1-2 minutes or until the frosting is creamy, thick and smooth. You need to use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer with a whisk attachment to make sure the frosting reaches the correct consistency.
- Decorate the cake as desired, either spread the top of the cake with the cream cheese frosting or slice the cake up into pieces and pipe the top of each piece with the frosting.
- This cake will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days – without the cream cheese frosting the cake itself will last for up 5 days. We prefer ours chilled and eaten straight from the fridge, but it’s also great served at room temperature.
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