Moist Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (no butter)
This super soft and moist pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting is the perfect fall cake! The pumpkin cake layers are made with neutral oil, keeping the cake super soft with a tender crumb. It's frosted with my all-time favorite whipped cream cream cheese frosting, which uses a whipped cream base instead of butter. The whipped cream means the cream cheese frosting stays stable and doesn't get runny. I've topped the cake with the cutest mini pumpkins made out of edible sugar cookie dough!
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 628kcal
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cake
- 1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ½ cup + 2 teaspoons neutral oil
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
Cream Cheese Frosting
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup heavy cream cold
- 1 ½ cups cream cheese cold
Mini Pumpkins:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ tablespoon milk
- 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
- mini chocolate chips
Instructions
Pumpkin Cake
- Preheat the oven to 175°C / 350°F. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin purée, oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.1 15-oz can pumpkin puree, 4 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla, ½ cup + 2 teaspoons neutral oil , 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt, and gently mix just until no dry streaks remain. Don't overmix!¾ teaspoon baking soda, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans.
- Bake for 25–32 minutes, beginning to check around 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs!
- Let the cakes cool in their pans for 10–15 minutes, then turn them out onto a rack and cool completely. Make sure the cakes are completely cool before you start assembling the cakes.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or a large bowl with a handheld mixer, whisk the heavy cream, salt, sugar and vanilla on medium-low for 2 minutes. The sugar needs to have completely dissolved.⅔ cup granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 cup heavy cream, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Increase the speed to high and whisk for 2 minutes, until it looks very thick like Greek yogurt.
- While the mixer is running on a low speed, add the cream cheese a tablespoon at a time. Turn off the mixer, and scrape the entire bowl to make sure no cream cheese is left on the side. Turn the speed to high, and whip for 3 minutes until smooth.1 ½ cups cream cheese
Mini Pumpkins
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C. Pour your flour into a baking sheet or tray and bake for 5 minutes. The flour needs to reach 74°Celsius/165°Fahrenheit for the flour to be safe to eat. Let the flour cool completely.½ cup all purpose flour
- Pour the flour into a bowl and add the salt and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk and set aside.¼ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a hand mixer, whip up the butter, sugar and confectioners' sugar for 2-3 minutes until it is light and fluffy. Add your milk and vanilla and mix again.¼ cup unsalted butter, ¼ cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar, ½ tablespoon milk
- Pour in your flour mixture and use a rubber spatula to fold everything together.
- Roll dough into 1 tablespoon-sized balls (I like to use a small cookie scoop for this!) and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Use a toothpick or the edge of a knife to create the ridges for the pumpkin. If you want, you can roll in pumpkin spice sugar! To do that, whisk ¼ cup of granulated sugar with 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.mini chocolate chips
- Insert a mini chocolate chip or a broken piece of pretzel on top as the pumpkin stem.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes.
Assemble
- Place one cake layer down on your cake plate. Spread some of the cream cheese frosting on top. Place the second cake layer on top. Frost the sides and top of the cake.
- I like to decorate the top of the cake with mini pumpkins along the edge, and also pipe some frosting swirls using the remaining frosting!
Notes
My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. I have provided a conversion to US cups but please note that I haven't tested the recipe with this method. Just click on 'US Customary' above the ingredients to see the cup measurements.
Salt: If you don't have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt. I'm using Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt for reference, some other kosher salts are much more salty!
Storage: Keep tightly wrapped or in a container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Let it come to room temperature before eating.
Making Ahead: You can make the cake layers ahead of time. Bake them and then once completely cooled, wrap in plastic wrap tightly. Store in the fridge for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. If frozen, allow to defrost and come to room temperature before frosting the cake.
Nutrition
Calories: 628kcal | Carbohydrates: 75g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 123mg | Sodium: 484mg | Potassium: 129mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 48g | Vitamin A: 898IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 98mg | Iron: 2mg
