Hands down – the best pumpkin cake you’ll ever try! This moist pumpkin bundt cake has a delicious pumpkin flavor, is filled with warm spices, and topped with a drizzle of cream cheese glaze. Way easier than making pumpkin pie – it’s the perfect dessert for fall.
I’ve made a lot of pumpkin desserts in my day, and I’ve taste-tested about 1000 more. But I can honestly say that this pumpkin bundt cake is my new favorite. It has:
- a pumpkin flavor that’s reminiscent of your favorite pumpkin pie
- a super moist, ridiculously tender cake crumb
- a little drizzle of sweet and tangy cream cheese glaze (but feel free to add a thick layer of cream cheese frosting instead).
I’ll happily bake this for an easy fall dessert, then eat the leftovers mid-morning the next day. And it fits the bill if you’re looking for a pumpkin dessert that’s easy, comforting, and makes everyone ask for a second piece.
Pumpkin Bundt Cake Recipe
This recipe is super straight forward (aka way easier than making pumpkin pie):
- Whisk together the dry ingredients – flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate large bowl beat together the oil, white sugar, brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla extract.
- Carefully beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients about ½ at a time. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and bake.
How do You Know When a Bundt Cake is Done Baking?
This is always a bit tricky – but I always use 3 methods:
- Insert a toothpick or cake tester. It should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Gently press on the top of the cake – it should feel slightly firm/ springy to the touch and you shouldn’t be able to make an indent.
- Look at the sides of the cake. They should be starting to pull away from the edges.
This cake will bake for 60-70 minutes. **Note that oven bake times can vary by 10-15%** When in doubt – bake the cake for a few more minutes. This cake is very moist so the chances of it drying out are slim/non-existent. If your bundt cake is gummy or starts to sink – that means it wasn’t baked for long enough.
If you’d like more handy dandy tips on making bundt cakes – you can also check out this post here too, where I go through more detail of how to get a bundt cake out the pan, freezing tips, choosing the right bundt pan, etc.
Can I Use Pumpkin Pie Filling Instead of Pumpkin Puree/ Pure Pumpkin?
No, unfortunately, canned pumpkin pie filling and pumpkin puree are not interchangeable. Pumpkin pie filling includes sugar, thickeners, and many other ingredients and therefore will not yield the desired results.
Variations of This Bundt Cake
- Frost the entire cake with cream cheese frosting instead of a drizzle of glaze. You can find my recipe for cream cheese frosting here.
- Make a chocolate chip pumpkin bundt cake. Add in 1 ½ cups chocolate chips and frost with chocolate frosting. (Or you could use the cream cheese glaze).
- Skip the glaze and serve with whipped cream.
- Or drizzle with chocolate ganache. You can find my recipe here.
Make-Ahead Instructions:
- Cake can be made 1-2 days in advance. Cool fully (inverting the cake after 20 minutes), then cover and store either in the fridge or at room temperature. Bring the cake to room temperature if you stored it in the fridge, then top with glaze the day you plan to serve.
- Unfrosted cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. Cool fully, then wrap tightly in plastic (go around the ring shape instead of over to prevent freezer burn). Thaw in the fridge, then bring to room temperature before topping with glaze.
For more pumpkin treats, be sure to try:
- No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
Pumpkin Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice *or make your own - see recipe notes
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup vegetable oil or canola
- 1 cup white sugar
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1 15 oz can pure pumpkin NOT pumpkin pie filling
Cream Cheese Glaze
- 1 tablespoon butter softened
- 3 oz cream cheese softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar or more as needed
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup capacity bundt pan, or brush with pan release.*
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate very large bowl beat together the oil, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, and pumpkin puree until smooth.
- Carefully beat the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture about ½ at a time.
- Spoon/pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and smooth the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 60-70 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean and the top feels slightly firm to the touch.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 20-30 minutes. Then carefully insert the pan, to let the cake slide out and continue cooling on a wire rack.
Cream Cheese Glaze
- In a medium bowl beat together the butter and cream cheese until soft. (Or whisk by hand).
- Beat in the powdered sugar followed by the milk.
- Beat in a little extra powdered sugar or milk if needed, until the glaze is thin enough to drizzle.
- Transfer the cooled cake to a plate, and drizzle the glaze on top.
- Slice into pieces and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Hannah
This turned out excellent! So moist and delicious. It reminds me of the pumpkin bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes. Definitely will make again.
Deborah
This cake was sooo delicious and moist. I will definitely be making this again as a go to receipe for a fall treat.
Lorien
My family and in relatives love this recipe! I have made it about 6 times, with some chocolate chips or berries in it, topped with whipped cream. A hit every time, no matter what time of year! It’s on our dessert rotation list!
Jen
Huge hit!
Hadasah:)
Legit the best recipie ever. It was so moist and tasted so good! I was a bit hesitant to freeze it as all my other attempts to freeze bundt cakes have made them so dry but this stayed so moist and delicious. I made them last week and they all got eaten I am making them again today. I definitely recommend this! You will surely enjoy!
Fiona
Thank you so much Hadasah! I’m so glad that you loved the cake, and that it froze so well for you too.
Lorien
My family and in relatives love this recipe! I have made it about 6 times, with some chocolate chips or berries in it, topped with whipped cream. A hit every time, no matter what time of year! It’s on our dessert rotation list!
Elaine
This cake turned out so beautiful, tasty & moist.. I will definitely make it again, although I will halve the recite for the cream cheese because it does make too much.
Kris
Can this recipe be used as a pumpkin bread?
Fiona
It would be too much batter for a loaf pan, unfortunately. But I’d recommend trying this pumpkin bread recipe instead (feel free to leave out the chocolate chips if you prefer)
Genevíe
SO. GOOD.
Alyssa
Absolutely delicious pumpkin bundt cake! I made this a couple of weeks ago, and my family devoured it. Its so moist, and flavorful, and yummy–autumn in a cake. We were so sad when it was gone. Thank you for the fabulous recipe! The only change I made was the glaze–I made a Nutella/hazelnut glaze that I found for a donut recipe instead of the cream cheese glaze listed here, as my husband isn’t a huge fan of cream cheese. The hazelnut, sort of maple-y flavor went really nicely with the warm spice of the pumpkin cake. Due to popular demand, I’m making this again for Thanksgiving 🙂
Becca
I added mini chocolate chips to this recipe. It came out real good, it’s moist and delicious!
I don’t know where to post a pic of my Bundt.
Kdoucet
This was great, I have a ton of fresh pumpkin so I made my own pumpkin purée, this recipe was delicious and perfectly moist. It was a thanksgiving favorite this year with the whole family.
Susan S. Miller
My son made this and it came out great. I just remade it and used about a cup of slightly chopped fresh cranberries leftover from Thanksgiving, and the look and the sour tang was a great addition. I love the way the cake fits perfectly into our bundt pan. Thank you!