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This Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Cake is the perfect mix of moist chocolate cake and creamy pumpkin cheesecake. The combination of flavors and textures is delicious – even better than I expected! I think chocolate & pumpkin is my new favorite flavor combination thanks to this tasty layer cake!
Hungry for another delicious pumpkin and chocolate treat? You should try my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes!
Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Cake
So after our trip, it has been good to be back in the gym the last couple of days. I hadn’t worked out for almost a week, and I have absolutely no control when on vacay, so it has been much needed.
The only problem is that I’m a bit sore. Not from the gym, but from the trip. My niece was really into doing handstands while were there and it reminded me not only of my younger self, but of my cheerleading days. I cheered competitively for 8 years and it had me missing it.
So I made the brilliant decision to get up and do handstands with her. Which then turned into cartwheeling into a handstand. I hadn’t done those in like, a long time. It was actually a lot of fun and I could’ve kept on doing it. But surely I should have stretched or something first. My 29 year old body has clearly decided to punish me. That was Thursday, and my hamstring in my one leg is still sore. My shoulders are finally getting better. #ImNot10Anymore #ThisIs29Almost30 #Dangit #WhatHappenedToMyBody
Oh well! Cake makes it all better. And this cake in particular. Oh. Em. Gee. There are so man things about it to love.
Why I Love This Pumpkin Cake
First of all, it uses my favorite chocolate cake. It’s the moistest, most delicious chocolate cake ever. Moist for daaaaaays.
And the pumpkin cheesecake rocks. It tastes awesome and baking it is a breeze because it doesn’t need a water bath. Normally, I’d advise to use one because it makes a bigs a difference in the way a cheesecake bakes. This cheesecake is the one exception that I know of. And because it’s getting stacked into a cake, you don’t even have to make a crust. #winning
And then the pumpkin icing. It doesn’t get any better than this icing. So pumpkin-y but still thick and perfect for icing a cake. It’s so good I’m trying to think up a mother recipe to use it in so that I can make it again. Mmmmm…
If you’ve made some of my ice cream cakes or millionaire cakes, then it must be said that stacking this cake is even easier than those. Because the cake and cheesecake layers are nice and solid, you stack them just like any other cake. No need to stack them in a springform pan or anything like that. Just stack then with the ganache between the layers to help hold them together. Easy peasy.
Seriously, while the directions look like they might be tough at first glance, this cake really isn’t hard to make. There’s just more steps involved. Just trust me – it’s worth it. When you combine the delicious chocolate cake with the creamy pumpkin cheesecake and then add the pumpkin icing? Whoa. Just whoa. So good.
You might also like
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Layer Cake
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Cream Cheese Whipped Cream
Pumpkin Cookies with Cinnamon Glaze
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Butterscotch Pumpkin Cake
Shop the recipe:
Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Cake
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 53 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 18 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 Slices
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Cake is the perfect mix of moist chocolate cake and creamy pumpkin cheesecake. The combination of flavors and textures is delicious – even better than I expected! I think chocolate & pumpkin is my new favorite flavor combination thanks to this tasty layer cake!
Ingredients
CHOCOLATE CAKE
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup boiling water
PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE
- 3 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
PUMPKIN ICING
- 3/4 cup butter
- 3/4 cup shortening
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 + 1/8 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- Chocolate sauce, if desired (I used Hershey’s Fudge Topping)
CHOCOLATE GANACHE
- 4 oz chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
Instructions
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 1052
- Sugar: 97 g
- Sodium: 592.3 mg
- Fat: 62 g
- Carbohydrates: 121.1 g
- Protein: 10.7 g
- Cholesterol: 163.5 mg
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Enjoy!
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I made this for Thanksgiving last week. It was a huge hit! It was nice to venture away from traditional desserts and make something fun and dramatic. A few things……..
1. The pumpkin cheesecake was too thick for me. It did crack a bit in the middle, but I didn’t worry about that too much. But the texture was not light and fluffy and it could have used more pumpkin flavor.
2. The chocolate cake batter was VERY watery. This made me nervous. But I pushed ahead and was rewarded. The cake came out perfectly light and fluffy. It was not dry or dense at all.
3. I did not do the ganache layers in between because i thought it would result in TOO much chocolate. I will add it next time. The layers definitely needed something to help them stick together.
I made this for 2015’s Thanksgiving after searching through gazillions of other autumnal desserts and am glad I ultimately landed on this one. It was super delicious, moist, interestingly flavorful and well received by my family. It does take some time to make the multiple components, but all of the parts are pretty straightforward. If I made it again (which I plan to), I would probably double the ganache and maybe experiment with a different frosting (mine was fine but not stellar).
Thanks so much for this recipe. I made this for Thanksgiving dessert. It was declared as one of the best cakes I have made.
Awesome! 🙂 I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it!
Was in charge of bringing a dessert to my future mother in laws house for Thanksgiving! I love baking and this just looks amazing!! Can’t wait to try it out! Will most likely comment later about how amazing it tasted!!
I am in the process of making this amazing cake as we speak for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I’m wondering if the cheesecake layer needs to be refrigerated? Would it be best to wrap up the cakes, put the cheesecake in the fridge and then assemble tomorrow morning or could I assemble the whole thing and leave it covered on the counter till tomorrow?
The cheesecake definitely should be refrigerated. This cake actually will do well if you make it ahead and refrigerate it for tomorrow.
Can this be made with Hershey’s regular unsweetened cocoa?
Yes, it can.
This looks so good, I am. Planning on making this for Thanksgiving this year. What is the difference between pumpkin pie purée and pumpkin pie filling?
Thanks
Hmm, I’m not sure that there is a difference. You want plain canned pumpkin – nothing that already has sweeteners or anything added.
Hello, I’m exploring cheesecake recipes til I stumbled on your website and found this wonderful recipe. I have the cheesecake part baking in the oven now. I ran out of pumpkin purée because I made 2 recipes of the cheesecake since I had 6 8 oz cream cheese on the counter at room temperature. I have 1 set of chocolate cake already done and it looked denser than I was expecting. I think I’ll prepare the second set of chocolate cake differently. Instead of putting all the ingredients together, I’ll beat the oil and sugar first til fluffy, before adding the other ingredients, slowly, ala red velvet style . I’m also thinking of adding some cracked roasted pumpkin seeds on top instead of the chocolate sprinkles. I will be making SMBC with pumpkin purée for one cake and do your pumpkin frosting for the other since your cake is so smooth. I’m so excited to taste this cake since thanksgiving is just 2 weeks away from today. This would be the perfect cake to bring to my work when I go to work on thanksgiving day. Thank you for this. Your website has become my first stop when looking for something the holidays ahead. Looking forward to making your amaretto cheesecake too. Thanks again
I hope it came out as expected and you enjoyed it! Thanks Rosselle!
i’m going to make this cake but could i replace the pumpkin puree with sweet potato puree
I would think that should be fine, but I haven’t done it. As long as there isn’t too much more or less moisture, it should be fine.
What type of flour is best to use for the chocolate cake?
I have used both all purpose flour and cake flour and both work great. I typically use all purpose, since I have more of that on hand.
Hi Lindsay,
You must be a pro baker bc this might be one of the most perfectly gorgeous cakes I’ve ever seen!
I can’t eat refined/processed sugar…is there an alternative sweetener I can make this with? I want to make it sooo badly!
Thanks
Hi Cheri! I’m sorry, but I don’t have a lot of experience working with alternative sweeteners in baking so I’m not sure how to advise you.
I’m going to make this and I have a question. When the cheesecake is done, step 6 says to chill. Am I suppose to put it in the fridge or can I just leave it on a rack till cool?
You’ll want to refrigerate it. Not only will it cool faster, but it’ll get firmer in the fridge which will make it easier to handle when stacking with the cake layers.
Thought I’d let you know that I am making the cake today (I’ve going to make and keep these as 2 separate desserts so it’ll fit in the fridge!). I made it the first time for Thanksgiving, and it was well received. Found the recipe via Pinterest and have shared your recipe with friends.
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the recipe! Thanks so much for sharing it! 🙂
Going to make this cake this weekend for a Sunday night party. Can I make it on Saturday afternoon and it be just as good as freshly baked on Sunday? It looks wonderful!
You can definitely make it a day ahead! Enjoy it!
I made this cake for Thanksgiving. What a cake!!! Out of all the desserts displayed at the “Vienese Table”, this cake was the first to go. Everyone who ate it, loved it. It is fresh tasting and soooooooooo sinfully delicious! I did everything except for the chocolate sprinkles. I found that if you do the ganache dripping down the sides, it worked better than the hot fudge. The fudge was too thick, but perfect for the top of the cake. All I can say is…thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU for sharing such a wonderful recipe! If you haven’t baked this cake, you gotta try it. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!!! 🙂
Was pretty good, but I think the instructions should be changed to shorten the cooking time for the cheesecake by at least 15 minutes, to make it creamier. The 1:30 total is too long and dries out the cheesecake. Was really disappointed in the outcome (although, might just be perfect with the cake and frosting alone!) The frosting is awesome.