• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Recipe Index
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
Celebrating Sweets
  • All Recipes
  • Dessert
    • Brownies & Bars
    • Cake & Cupcakes
    • Cookies
    • Ice Cream/Frozen Desserts
    • Pies & Tarts
  • Drinks & Cocktails
  • Main Dishes
  • Breakfast
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Recipe Index
  • Fall Favorites
  • Holiday Recipes
  • Drinks & Cocktails
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
×

Home » Fall Favorites » Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Published: Sep 22, 2021 · Modified: Jan 7, 2022 by Allison · 10 Comments

  • Share
  • Email
Jump to Recipe

This perfect Pumpkin Bundt Cake is a crowd-pleasing dessert that is great for the holidays and the fall season. It is packed with pumpkin and warm spices and drizzled with cinnamon cream cheese icing. It’s incredible!

Pumpkin bundt cake drizzled with white icing sitting on a white plate next to gold forks.

Pumpkin Bundt Cake! Definition: Thick and tender cake flavored with pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, and vanilla. The whole thing is drizzled (generously, of course) with cinnamon cream cheese icing. Is it beautiful? Yes. Incredibly delicious? Yes. Perfect for feeding a crowd? Obviously. Let’s make it!

Prefer apple? Try our Apple Cider Donut Cake. Prefer orange? Try our Orange Bundt Cake.

Jump to:
  • Recipe overview
  • What makes this recipe work
  • Recipe tips
  • Serving and storage
  • More pumpkin recipes
  • Recipe
Slice of pumpkin bundt cake on a white plate with a gold fork.

Recipe overview

Pumpkin cake: Begin by making the cake batter. Beat butter, oil, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, and, butterm po a whole can of pumpkin puree. Beat in dry ingredients (a combination of flour, leavening, spices, and salt). Pour the batter into a greased bundt pan and bake.

Cinnamon cream cheese frosting: A combination of cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. I thin out the frosting with a couple tablespoons of milk to make it easy to drizzle over the cooled cake.

Pumpkin bundt cake batter in a large bowl and in a bundt pan.

What makes this recipe work

A combination of butter and oil. Butter for flavor and oil for moisture.

One whole 15-oz can of pumpkin puree makes this cake a beautiful shade of orange and adds flavor and moisture.

The best spice mixture. I use a combination of pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and ground star anise to complement the pumpkin perfectly.

Cinnamon cream cheese frosting! Cream cheese frosting is an incredible pairing with pumpkin cake and the addition of cinnamon makes it even better. I like to thin out the frosting so that it can be drizzled over the cake and drip down the sides.

Recipe tips

Grease your bundt pan really well. I find that a non-stick spray that contains flour works the best. Wait to spray the pan until right before you add the batter.

Use a 12-cup bundt pan. This cake is quite large so a 12-cup pan bundt pan works best.

Use canned pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling. Libby’s is my favorite brand because it always consistent in terms of color, flavor, consistency, and moisture content.

Allow the cake to cool completely (several hours) before adding the icing.

Slice of pumpkin bundt cake on a gold spatula.

Serving and storage

SERVING: The flavor and texture of this cake is best when served at room temperature.

STORAGE: This cake can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, bringing slices to room temperature before serving. Individual slices can be frozen for up to three months. If freezing the whole cake I would do so without the frosting and add it after thawing. 

More pumpkin recipes

  • Pumpkin Muffins – Soft and fluffy pumpkin muffins with a brown sugar crumble.
  • Pumpkin Pudding Cake – A pumpkin spice cake that magically bakes up with a brown sugar caramel sauce right underneath it.
  • Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars – A combination of pumpkin pie and creamy cheesecake on a graham cracker crust.
  • Pumpkin Pie Bars – An easy twist on traditional pumpkin pie!
  • Pumpkin Cupcakes – Fluffy and moist pumpkin cupcakes topped with maple cream cheese frosting.

Recipe

Pumpkin bundt cake drizzled with white icing sitting on a white plate.

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

This perfect Pumpkin Bundt Cake is a crowd-pleasing dessert that is great for the holidays and the fall season. It is packed with pumpkin and warm spices and drizzled with cinnamon cream cheese icing. It's incredible!
5 from 3 votes
Print Pin
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 14
Calories: 444kcal
Author: Allison – Celebrating Sweets

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 2½ cups all purpose flour*
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground star anise, optional
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
  • 1¼ cups granulated sugar
  • ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 15 oz can pumpkin puree (not pie filling)

Frosting:

  • 4 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1½ cups powdered sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • milk (a couple tablespoons), to thin

Instructions

Cake:

  • Preheat oven to 350°F with a rack in the center of the oven.
  • In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a hand mixer), beat butter, oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until combined. Add the eggs, beat until combined. Add the pumpkin puree and vanilla, beating until combined and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the flour mixture and beat until no streaks of flour remain, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
  • Thoroughly grease a 12-cup bundt pan (I use nonstick baking spray with flour). Pour the batter into the pan and spread it into an even layer. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until a long toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then carefully remove the cake from the pan and place the cake directly on the wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting:

  • Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth and combined. Add powdered sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla, beating on low speed then increasing to high (scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed). Once well combined, begin adding milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency. I used between 2-3 tablespoons, I wanted the frosting thin enough to drizzle. To frost the cake as I did, add the frosting to a piping bag with the edge snipped off (I did not use a tip). Beginning on the interior of the bundt, squeeze the frosting while bringing the bag up the cake and over the side, then back up again (in a back and forth-zigzag type of pattern). Store in the fridge or at cool room temp.

Video

Notes

*To measure the flour: fluff the flour several times with your measuring cup, scoop a heaping portion and level it off with the back of a knife.
SERVING: The flavor and texture of this cake is best when served at room temperature.
STORAGE: This cake can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, bringing slices to room temperature before serving. Individual slices can be frozen for up to three months. If freezing the whole cake I would do so without the frosting and add it after thawing. 

Nutrition

Calories: 444kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 207mg | Potassium: 187mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 40g | Vitamin A: 5191IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 63mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
« Vanilla Extract Substitutes
Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies »

Never Miss a Recipe

Get NEW POSTS delivered to your inbox!

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. Nellie Tracy

    September 22, 2021 at 11:18 am

    5 stars
    Fantastic bundt cake recipe! Can’t wait to make this all fall long!

    Reply
    • Judith

      September 24, 2021 at 8:09 am

      Hu! I am excited to make this cake! Just wondering if the start anise has adds a licorice taste to the cake? It doesn’t seem like a lot but it says it’s optional so just wanted to see how noticeable it is.

      Reply
      • Judith

        September 24, 2021 at 8:10 am

        Sorry, apparently I don’t type well😂

      • Allison

        September 24, 2021 at 11:04 am

        Hi, Judith. I find that the star anise does add a very slight licorice flavor. I think it works really well when used with the other spices in this recipe. I served this cake at a gathering and no one commented about any licorice flavor. If you’re worried about it you can use less or just leave it out. Enjoy!

  2. I. Lindberg

    November 14, 2021 at 7:51 am

    5 stars
    The only change I made was I had real pumpkin and used 2 cups and no ground star anise.

    Reply
    • Allison

      November 14, 2021 at 10:55 am

      I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Jerry

    November 16, 2021 at 2:24 pm

    Hey Allison thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I’m really excited to make this cake. However, I’m unsure whether it’d be wise to bake it a day in advance and then the day I’d serve pipe on the icing. Would love to hear back thank you!

    Reply
    • Allison

      November 17, 2021 at 8:28 am

      Hi, Jerry. Yes, that will work just fine. Enjoy!

      Reply
  4. Rose

    November 27, 2021 at 11:34 am

    5 stars
    Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I made this for my family this Thanksgiving and they absolutely loved it! I reduced the sugar just a bit and added maple extract to the frosting, and it was still delicious! It had just the right amount of spice. This recipe is definitely a keeper! Thank you!!!

    Reply
    • Allison

      November 30, 2021 at 7:50 am

      You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed it!

      Reply

Primary Sidebar

About

aboutHi, I'm Allison! I'm a busy wife and mom with a passion for cooking and baking. This is where you'll find my favorite homemade recipes, designed to help you make every day delicious! Read more....

Dessert Recipes

Scoops of strawberry shortcake ice cream in a white bowl.

Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream

Bowl of dip with fruit around it.

Honey-Vanilla Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

Stack of two pieces of churro cheesecake

Churro Cheesecake

Swirled cream cheese frosting on top of carrot cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Stack of three toffee bars topped with chocolate and toffee bits,

Toffee Bars

Closeup of chocolate chip cookie.

Malted Chocolate Chip Cookies

More Dessert Recipes...

Popular Recipes:

Whipped cream in a white bowl with strawberries.

Easy Homemade Whipped Cream

Loaf of banana nut bread cut open on a piece of parchment paper.

Banana Nut Bread

Stack of banana bread slices on a white plate.

Easy Banana Bread Recipe

A sandwich sitting on top of a wood cutting board.

Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches

Apple crisp on a white plate topped with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.

Apple Crisp

Pumpkin muffins on parchment paper

Pumpkin Muffins

More Popular Recipes...

Never Miss a Recipe

Get NEW POSTS delivered to your inbox!

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

.
Logo for country living, food network, buzzfeed, msn, delish, good housekeeping

Footer

Connect With Me

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Copyright 2013-2022 Celebrating Sweets

All images and content are copyright protected. Please contact me for permission to use my original images. If you want to republish a recipe, please re-write it in your own words, or link back to my post for the recipe.