Pumpkin Applesauce Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

You Will Love This Pumpkin Bundt Cake!

• This delicious cake is full of pumpkin flavor and pumpkin spice (like our gf df pumpkin bread.)
• Moist cake with the perfect fluffy and light texture.
• The perfect fall treat pumpkin season!
• It's an easy Thanksgiving dessert that is not pumpkin pie - just like our pumpkin cheesecake.
• An eggless pumpkin dessert anyone can enjoy - just like our egg-free pumpkin pie!
• Deliciously sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting makes the ultimate cake topping (like this Starbucks-inspired gingerbread loaf).
• No electric mixer is needed!
• It's a super easy pumpkin recipe even a beginner can bake - just like our yellow cake mix apple cobbler!

What is Pumpkin Cake Made Of?

• All-purpose flour or use gluten-free baking flour if needed.
• Salt, baking soda, and baking powder combine to create a delicious fluffy texture without using eggs.
• Pumpkin pie spice provides warm and pumpkin flavor.
• Canned pumpkin puree or homemade pumpkin puree. Use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
• Unsweetened applesauce or sweetened applesauce depending on how sweet you want the pumpkin cake to be. Applesauce is an egg replacement.
• Vanilla extract provides warm flavor.
• Refined coconut oil provides a fat source for moist texture. Use refined coconut oil to remove coconut flavor.
• Sugar provides additional sweet flavor to the cake. I like the flavor and texture combination that white sugar gives to this cake over using brown sugar or other sweetners.

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

• Powdered sugar sweetens the cream cheese frosting without giving it a gritty texture.
• Cream cheese or use Neufchatel cheese for a low fat version.
• Almond milk or dairy milk is added one tablespoon at a time to achieve the desired thickness
• Vanilla extract offsets the sweetness and adds a warm flavor.

How to Make This Pumpkin Cake Recipe

Below are step-by-step instructions for how to cook this recipe with the best results. The recipe card at the bottom shows the exact cooking time and temperatures.

Pumpkin Cake Method

1. Prepare a 9-inch bundt pan, baking pan, or cake pan by buttering the sides and then dusting it with flour. Alternatively, spray with cooking spray. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Add the wet ingredients to a separate bowl and combine.
3. Combine the pumpkin mixture and the dry ingredients by carefully pouring the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and mixing until just combined.
4. Pour the pumpkin cake batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350 F for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting Glaze Method

1. In a medium bowl combine the pumpkin cream cheese glaze ingredients, using 1 tablespoon of milk at a time. Stir until the cream cheese icing is the desired thickness. Add an additional tablespoon of milk for a thinner glaze.
2. Once the pumpkin applesauce cake has cooled completely, it is ready to ice. Place the icing in a Ziploc bag and snip the end. Drizzle the cream cheese frosting glaze over the top of the cake.

Storage and Freezing

• Store leftover pumpkin applesauce cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
• Leftover cake must be stored in the refrigerator if using the cream cheese frosting.
• Homemade pumpkin cake can dry out the longer it is stored in the refrigerator. To avoid dry cake, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then in foil, or use an airtight container.
• Freeze the entire, cooled cake by wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil before placing it in a freezer-safe container. Pumpkin cake can be stored frozen for up to 3 months. To freeze individual slices, cut the cooled cake into slices and store them individually wrapped.

Expert Tips

• Follow the recipe card as written with no substitutions for best results. Note that oven models vary, therefore baking time may vary depending on your oven.
• Let the pumpkin applesauce cake cool to room temperature before frosting.
• For more frosting, double the cream cheese frosting recipe. This will help to create a fully-frosted cake rather than a drizzled iced cake as shown.

Recipe FAQs