One of the simplest ways to make a cake full of flavor is to blend boxed cake mix with canned pie filling and this pumpkin pie cake recipe is a fantastic example. It takes only a few minutes to whip up, stores well and anyone who takes a bite will be pleased with the taste. This is a very easy recipe and is great for beginners, especially those who really want to make an impressive dessert. This is a great cake for potlucks and parties but it’s also one you’ll want to make for regular snacks and desserts, too. Pumpkin might be a “fall flavor,” but this cake tastes too good to limit to one season. Enjoy it whenever you need to use up canned pumpkin want that lovely, spice-filled sweetness.
Pumpkin Pie Cake Ingredients
- Yellow cake mix: Use a regular-sized box.
- Large eggs: These bind the ingredients and add a little rising power to the cake.
- Canned pumpkin: Mix this in with the cake mix for moisture and flavor. Don’t use pumpkin pie “filling”; just get the plain puree.
- Ground cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg: These add a pumpkin-pie spice flavor to the cake.
- Vanilla frosting: Vanilla frosting provides flavor that doesn’t compete with the pumpkin flavor; the two pair very nicely.
- Chopped walnuts: These are the garnish for the sides of the cake. You can leave them out if you need to make the cake nut-free.
- More ground cinnamon: Use this as an optional decoration for the top of the cake.
Directions
Step 1: Mix the batter
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Mix the cake mix, eggs, water, canned pumpkin, 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon plus the ginger and nutmeg in a large bowl. Beat the mix on low for 30 seconds and medium for two minutes.
Step 2: Bake the cake
Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans well. Pour the batter into the pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes should come out clean when they’re done. Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes and then remove the cakes to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
Step 3: Assemble and frost the cake
Mix the remaining cinnamon (about 3/4 teaspoon) with the frosting and frost the layers of the cake (between the two and around the sides and top). Press chopped walnuts around the side of the cake, lightly. Sprinkle the top of the cake with more cinnamon if you prefer.
Pumpkin Pie Cake Variations
- Try using a cream cheese frosting: Use your favorite cream cheese frosting in place of the vanilla frosting.
- Try using chopped pecans instead of walnuts: You can switch the type of nuts you use or leave out the nuts completely if you want to make this nut-free. (Check that the cake mix and frosting don’t contain nuts or that they weren’t processed in a facility that also processes nuts.)
- Try using spice cake mix: Pumpkin and spice cake mix are delicious together, too. Try this pumpkin spice cake recipe if you want a change from yellow cake mix.
How to Store Pumpkin Pie Cake
It’s best to store this cake in the refrigerator (if you use the cream cheese frosting variation you definitely need to store this cake in the refrigerator within two hours of frosting it). Place it in an airtight container and eat the rest of the cake within five days.
Can you freeze pumpkin pie cake?
You can freeze the baked but unfrosted cake layers by wrapping them in two layers of plastic wrap and another one to two layers of foil and then placing each in a freezer bag. If you have leftover frosted cake, cut the cake into servings and freeze each slice individually on a pan for about 30 to 60 minutes. Then wrap each slice in those layers of plastic wrap and foil and store in a freezer bag or container for up to three months.
Pumpkin Pie Cake Tips
Can you use a homemade yellow cake recipe and homemade frosting?
You can definitely use a homemade frosting, whether it’s a vanilla flavor that you can mix with cinnamon or another flavor you want to try. As for using a from-scratch yellow cake recipe, you could try one, but remember that your homemade recipe includes eggs and milk or water. So you’re not substituting just for the boxed mix but for those other ingredients, too.
Can you use pumpkin pie spice mix?
The proportions of the spices may be different and many pumpkin pie spice mixes contain additional spices like cloves. Those would change the taste of the cake. Using pre-mixed spices would definitely be convenient but you’d have to find a mix with only the spices in the recipe. Plus, you wouldn’t know if the proportion of each spice was the same as what’s called for here.
Can you use milk instead of water?
Using milk would add a little more fat and it usually contributes to how moist cakes are. In this cake, you’re already adding smooth pureed pumpkin and while that doesn’t have the fat that milk does, it makes the cake batter more moist. Adding milk instead of water might make the cake too moist and dense in this case. It’s something you can experiment with, of course, but the taste and texture of the cake will be different than if you used only water.
