I’m not a big pie person, but I do love cake.
I started making this pumpkin spice cake a few years ago as an alternative to pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.
It was a big hit, and I’ve continued to make it ever since.
I used to use cake mixes for most of my cakes. It was an easy way to make a cake when I didn’t have much time.
Some of the doctored cake mix cakes were incredibly tasty (check out two of my favorites below!).
Even though I’ve gone to making most of my cakes from scratch, I still use a mix to make this pumpkin spice cake.
This is everything that a pumpkin cake should be.
It has good pumpkin flavor, is moist, and has a nice amount of spice to it.
It is super easy to make and is a great addition to any Thanksgiving dinner!
More cake mix cakes!
Pumpkin Spice Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 15 ounce package spice cake mix
- 1 ¼ cups pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 16 ounces cream cheese (regular or 1/3 less fat, at room temperature)
- 1/4 cup butter (at room temperature)
- 3-3 1/2 cups powdered sugar (sifted, plus additional if needed)
- 1-3 tablespoons milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350⁰F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Combine all cake ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl, increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula.
- Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, about 25-35 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes.
- When completely cool, frost with cream cheese frosting.
- To make cream cheese frosting, beat together cream cheese and butter until well-combined.
- Add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time, and beat on low for 30 seconds after each addition.
- Increase speed to medium and beat for 1-2 minutes or until combined well, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Add enough milk to make a spreadable consistency, and then stir in vanilla.
- Spread frosting onto cooled cake.
- Refrigerate leftover cake.
Notes
Nutrition Information
adapted from The Cake Mix Doctor
Linda says
Great recipe! Very easy too.
Kate says
Thank you! I’m so glad that you liked the cake. =)
Eileen says
Why did my cake come out like pumpkin pie and not cake
Kate says
Did you happen to forget to add the cake mix? That would give you something that’s more like pumpkin pie than pumpkin cake.