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This Pumpkin Pound Cake is dense, but tender and moist, just like a pound cake should be! It’s loaded with pumpkin and cozy spices for the most comforting pound cake that you’ll make again and again.
While pumpkin things start appearing before summer is really even over, it’s just beginning to feel like fall around here. Finally, within the last few days, it has started to get cool. If it wasn’t already, it’s now officially time to break out the pumpkin and spices!
This pumpkin pound cake has plenty of both. There’s more than a cup of pumpkin puree in the cake to make sure it has rich pumpkin flavor. And, the combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves gives it plenty of warmth to complement the pumpkin.
Why You’ll Love This Pumpkin Pound Cake Recipe
- Moist and tender. Every crumb of this pound cake is perfectly moist thanks to the eggs and pumpkin puree.
- Rich and sweet. The combination of rich pumpkin cake and sweet cream cheese icing is just divine!
- Perfect for fall. Filled with warm ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves, this cozy pound cake is just the dessert to make when the leaves start turning and the weather gets colder!
The bottom line is this: Pumpkin pound cake is soft and tender and totally addicting. When paired with the cream cheese icing, this cake disappears in no time. The simplicity of the icing also makes this a super simple cake to make. The perfect cake for Fall and the holidays!
Looking for more pumpkin cake recipes? Try this easy pumpkin cake, this cinnamon streusel pumpkin coffee cake, or this pumpkin roll cake!
What You’ll Need
The ingredients used here are fairly straightforward and you likely have most things on hand already.
One thing you won’t find in this pound cake is a leavening agent such as baking powder or baking soda. Since pound cake is meant to be dense, it’s not necessary to have something to help it rise and, in most cases, I prefer pound cake without it.
For the Pound Cake
- Unsalted Butter: This should be at room temperature before you start. If you have salted on hand, you can use that and just leave out the additional salt.
- Sugar: Sugar adds more than just sweetness and flavor, it also adds moisture and improves the cake’s texture. This cake uses both brown sugar and granulated sugar for the perfect mix.
- Eggs: To bind all of the ingredients together.
- All Purpose Flour: Be careful not to pack too much flour into the measuring cup!
- Spices: Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves gives this cake warmth and spice.
- Salt: Salt is key when it comes to adding flavor to your baked goods.
- Pumpkin Puree: I experimented with the amount of puree, and 1 1/4 cups is perfect. It provides optimal flavor, but does not overwhelm the cake with too much moisture.
- Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla extract is the way to go!
For the Icing
This is a fairly thin cream cheese frosting that should drizzle nicely on the cake, but not be too thin that it slides off.
- Cream Cheese: Make sure this comes to room temperature before you begin.
- Butter: Again, both salted and unsalted butter work!
- Powdered Sugar: The powdered sugar helps to thicken the icing.
- Heavy Cream: Only add as much cream as needed to thin out the icing. If it gets too thin, it’ll drip right off your cake. Test it by drizzling it down the side of a bowl or a cup to see if it’s thick enough.
- Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla is preferred here, too.
Tips For the Best Pumpkin Pound Cake
- Cream the butter and sugar well. When you’re creaming together the butter and sugar, don’t stop until the mixture lightens in color and texture. This indicates that it’s fully creamed. There’s no leavening in this cake, so the air added during creaming is important for the texture of the cake.
- Don’t add too much cream. You don’t want your icing to be so thin that it drips right off your cake. Only add enough to make the icing the right consistency for drizzling. You can always test it on a clean bowl or cup, as mentioned above.
- Grease the pan well. Make sure to thoroughly grease your bundt pan so that the cake doesn’t stick to the sides when you try to turn it out.
Variation Ideas
- Chocolate chips. Add some semi-sweet chocolate chips to the batter before baking, similar to what I did in this pumpkin bundt cake.
- Nuts. Gently toast chopped walnuts or pecans, then add them to the batter.
- Dried fruit. Mix in some dried cranberries or raisins.
Serving Suggestions
- Powdered sugar. If you want to skip the icing and just dust your bundt cake with powdered sugar instead, feel free!
- Ice cream. A scoop of vanilla ice cream pairs so well with pumpkin cake.
- Fresh fruit. A slice of pound cake with some fresh berries would taste great!
How to Store
- Store in the fridge: Pumpkin pound cake can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for 4-5 days. I would not recommend leaving this cake out at room temperature because of the icing.
- Can I freeze it? Sure! Once the cake has cooled completely and the icing has set, you can freeze it in an airtight container or tight layers of plastic wrap for 2-3 months. Remember to let the cake thaw overnight in the fridge before you serve it again.
Pumpkin Pound Cake
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 12-14
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This pumpkin pound cake is dense like classic pound cakes should be, but so moist and tender, too! Top it with a homemade cream cheese icing, and it’s officially irresistible.
Ingredients
Pumpkin Pound Cake
- 1 1/2 cups (336g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups (450g) light brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup (207g) sugar
- 5 large eggs, room temperature
- 3 cups (390g) all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups (291g) pumpkin puree
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups (201g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2–3 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C) and prepare a 10-14 cup bundt pan with non-stick baking spray.
- In a large mixer bowl, cream butter and both sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy, for about 5 minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing until well incorporated after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure things are well combined.
- With the mixer on low, carefully add the flour, spices and salt and mix until just combined.
- Add the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
- Spread the batter evenly into bundt pan and bake for 75-85 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out moist but clean.
- Allow the cake to cool for about 10 minutes, then invert cake onto cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
- When cake has finished cooling, make the icing. Beat the cream cheese and butter together until well combined and smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar and mix until well combined.
- Add the vanilla extract and one tablespoon of cream. Mix until well combined and smooth. Add additional cream, as needed, to get a drizzling consistency.
- Drizzle the icing over the cake and serve.
Notes
- To store. Pumpkin pound cake can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for 4-5 days. I would not recommend leaving this cake out at room temperature because of the icing.
- To freeze. Once the cake has cooled completely and the icing has set, you can freeze it in an airtight container or tight layers of plastic wrap for 2-3 months. Remember to let the cake thaw overnight in the fridge before you serve it again.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 578
- Sugar: 58 g
- Sodium: 230.5 mg
- Fat: 26.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 80.6 g
- Protein: 6.1 g
- Cholesterol: 132.5 mg
I loved the cake part of this recipe but I could not get the icing to thin out to a drizzle. I added about 10 tablespoons of cream and it was still thick.
Hmmm, that seems odd. I just made the icing last week and had no trouble. Could you have over measured the powdered sugar, which would mean you’d need to thin it more? Or perhaps the cream cheese was cold, and not at room temperature?
OMG! I made this last night and everyone absolutely loved it! My husband was eating the frosting out of the bowl! I don’t even like cake and I ate a whole piece! Took the rest to work today and it’s GONE! I think I’ll make it for Thanksgiving too!
Awesome! So glad it was a hit!
Indescribably Delicious! Light, moist, the spices are perfect and easy to make. My family loves this cake and wants me to make it into cupcakes without the icing. This recipe is a keeper once again. Thank you!
Awesome! So glad to hear that!
Absolutely Delicious! The flavor and texture are perfect. I made it in small loaf pans so I could give them to my neighbors, and next time I’ll make it in a bundt pan. I followed the directions to a tee, and this recipe did not disappoint!
So glad you enjoyed it!
This looks soooo good. Definitely want to try! Is it possible to use pumpkin purée for simplicity? If not, I’ll try as written.
The recipe does use pumpkin purée already. Am I misunderstanding the question?
I just made this and WOW! It’s SO good. Followed the recipe exactly as written. How should this be stored? Does it need to be Refrigerated and can I freeze it?
Did you forget a rising agent… there’s no baking powder or soda. The cake is very heavy.
Nope! I actually mentioned it within the post. There’s no rising agent and it’s not necessary in a pound cake. I much prefer it without one.
This recipe looks delicious! I was wondering, is it possible to bake this in a regular loaf pan? Would I have to half this recipe?
I would guess it’s possible, but I’m not sure how much to reduce it. You may only need 1/3 of it.
This recipe Rocks! love it!