This is my go-to pumpkin Bundt cake recipe because the crumb is incredibly moist, the cake tastes perfectly spiced, and you can top it with anything from salted caramel sauce to cream cheese frosting. You can fill it with chocolate chips, a cinnamon swirl, chopped nuts, or leave it plain. I particularly love it plain with maple icing on top!
I originally published this recipe in 2017 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and more helpful success tips.
Moist and dense, this pumpkin Bundt cake delivers BIG. It’s not quite as heavy as a cream cheese pound cake, nor is it quite as light as my regular pumpkin cake. Instead, it meets somewhere in the middle and this place is called pumpkin euphoria.
I make this dessert recipe at least 2 or 3 times every fall season. It’s oh-so-easy, and I haven’t changed the recipe at all over many years of keeping this cake in my fall rotation. There are so many variations between add-ins and toppings, that you could make a different pumpkin Bundt cake practically every day for an entire year. (And you’ll want to… it’s *that* good.)
One reader, Janet, commented: “This was such a hit I’ve had to make it twice!! Was delicious and easy to make, my friends were very impressed! ★★★★★”
One reader, Sherri, commented: “This is the BEST pumpkin cake recipe ever. We leave out the chocolate chips and add pecans. I make the maple glaze recipe and add vanilla and pecans to it. It’s wonderful! ★★★★★“
Here’s Why I Know You’ll Love It
- I know pumpkin desserts. From the best pumpkin cupcakes to the perfect pumpkin pie, I know how to make this star ingredient shine. (And complement it with the right ingredients!)
- No mixer required, just 2 bowls and a whisk
- Conveniently uses 1 standard 15-ounce can of pumpkin
- Supremely moist—knife glides right through it
- Generously spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice
- Excellent so many ways: plain, filled, swirled, or frosted
Use These Key Ingredients
Like all of the recipes on my website and in my cookbooks, I endlessly tested various ingredients and ratios to develop a standout cake with excellent flavor and texture. Here are some key ingredients:
- Baking Soda: 2 teaspoons of baking soda seems like a lot, and it is a lot. But think about the size of a Bundt cake… they’re huge, and need to rise quite a lot in the tall cake pan. I remember trying this recipe with a mix of baking soda AND baking powder, and was never satisfied with the result. In addition to leavening, baking soda deepens a baked good’s color and neutralizes acids. (This cake is filled with acidic ingredients!)
- Spices: Generously spiced is not an understatement! On its own, pumpkin is quite bland, so you need a lot of spice to bring out its flavor. You could even swap some of the individual spices for pumpkin pie spice!
- Oil: You can use vegetable oil or olive oil here. Melted coconut oil works, too, but you’ll want to be sure that you bake the batter immediately after mixing (no standing around, please!) because the coconut oil will very quickly begin to solidify and thicken the batter.
- Eggs: Pumpkin, oil, and flour are big, heavy ingredients so you need eggs in the batter to lift and bind the ingredients together.
- Brown & White Sugars: Again, pumpkin is pretty bland without a little help, so you need plenty of sugar to help bring out its flavor. I use a mix of both brown and white.
- Pure Pumpkin: This Bundt cake conveniently uses 1 15-ounce can of pumpkin. For best results and flavor, I strongly recommend using canned pumpkin puree instead of homemade. I prefer Libby’s brand for this cake.
You also need flour, salt, and vanilla extract.
Substitution Tip
Like when making apple cake or chocolate cake, use oil in this Bundt cake recipe, so you’re guaranteed a super moist cake from the start. You can substitute unsweetened applesauce for half of the oil. (1/2 cup each.) Readers have told me they love the cake this way, and it’s just as moist.
Overview: How to Make My Pumpkin Bundt Cake
This recipe actually uses the same base batter as my pumpkin cream cheese Bundt cake. And, like I mentioned above, the process couldn’t be easier!
Combine the wet and dry ingredients separately, then whisk them together. Expect a very thick batter, almost like pumpkin pancakes batter:
And here’s the batter again, but with chocolate chips:
Instead of an add-in like chocolate chips, you could fill the pumpkin Bundt cake with the chai spice swirl from this chai spice cinnamon swirl Bundt cake, or try my cream cheese-filled pumpkin Bundt cake (same batter!).
Favorite Bundt Pan to Use
Do you make a lot of Bundt cakes? I do! You need a Bundt pan that’s 9.5 to 10.5 inches in diameter, and can hold 10 to 12 cups of batter. Let me share two favorite Bundt cake pan options with you:
- Anolon Bundt Pan: Super quality, heavy-duty, great price, never warps, awesome rubber grips. I’ve been using it for years and, honestly, it’s just as durable as day 1.
- Nordic Ware Bundt Pan: Outstanding quality, heavy-duty, and makes beautiful cakes.
Whichever Bundt pan you use, be sure to grease it very generously before adding the batter. Even if the pan is labeled nonstick, due to the size and weight of a Bundt cake, you NEED a lot of greasing so the cake easily separates from the pan when inverting it.
Pumpkin Bundt Cake Toppings
Like the best things in the kitchen life, we’ll shower this pumpkin Bundt with a glaze. There are so many options here (I love a good icing!), and I list my favorites below.
- Brown Butter Icing from my Peach Bundt Cake
- Maple Icing from Maple Brown Sugar Cookies (pictured above)
- Salted Caramel Sauce (pictured below)
- Chocolate Ganache
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Homemade Whipped Cream
- Brown Sugar Glaze from my Apple Bundt Cake
- Orange Glaze from my Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake
Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 65 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is my go-to pumpkin Bundt cake recipe because the crumb is incredibly moist, the cake tastes perfectly spiced, and you can top it with anything from salted caramel sauce to cream cheese frosting. You can fill it with chocolate chips, a cinnamon swirl, nuts, or leave it plain. I particularly love it plain with the maple icing from these maple brown sugar cookies on top!
Ingredients
- 2 and 3/4 cups (344g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 cup (240ml) vegetable oil (see Note)
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 15-ounce (425g) can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional add-in: 1 and 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped walnuts/pecans
Optional Topping Ideas
- optional topping: salted caramel, maple icing, or any listed below
- optional garnish: sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a 10–12-cup Bundt pan. (I like this one or this one.)
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice together in a large bowl. Set aside. Whisk the oil, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, pumpkin, and vanilla extract together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and use a mixer or whisk until completely combined. Fold in chocolate chips or nuts, if using. Batter is thick, and you’ll have around 5 cups total.
- Spoon/pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Bake for 55–70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean with just a couple lightly moist crumbs. This is a large, heavy cake so don’t be alarmed if it takes a little longer in your oven.
- Once done, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 2 hours in the pan set on a wire rack. Then invert the slightly cooled Bundt cake onto a wire rack or serving plate/cake stand.
- Allow to cool completely before drizzling with topping/icing and serving. On the pictured cake, I used the maple icing from these maple brown sugar cookies. I also sprinkled a homemade pumpkin pie spice blend on top of the icing before it set.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store at room temperature for a couple days and/or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can make the entire cake ahead of time (before topping with icing). Cover cooled cake and refrigerate it for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before icing and serving. Baked cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before icing and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Bundt Cake Pan (I like this one or this one) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Cooling Rack
- Mini Bundt Cakes: I’ve tested this recipe with mini Bundt pans before and while the mini Bundt cakes taste wonderful, they’re quite dense. If you’d like to try it, the recipe makes 24-30 mini Bundts but that depends on the exact size of your mini Bundt cake pan. Fill them only halfway with batter. The bake time is around 20 to 25 minutes. Instead, for better results with a lighter crumb, I recommend using my pumpkin cupcakes batter for mini pumpkin Bundt cakes. You’ll get about 16.
- Spices: Instead of 1/2 teaspoon each ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice, you can use 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. (You will still add the 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon.)
- Oil: You can use vegetable oil, canola oil, avocado oil, or olive oil. Instead of 1 cup of oil, try 1/2 cup (90g) unsweetened applesauce and 1/2 (120ml) cup oil. The cake is just as moist. If you want to use coconut oil, melt it first, and be sure that all of the other ingredients are room temperature. Bake the batter right away, because as the coconut oil begins to cool and solidify, it thickens the batter and could result in an overly dense cake.
- Pumpkin: For best results and flavor, I strongly recommend using canned pumpkin puree over homemade in this recipe. I found the flavor is much better with canned. I prefer Libby’s brand for this cake.
- More Topping Options: Brown Butter Icing from my Peach Bundt Cake, Chocolate Ganache, Cream Cheese Frosting, Homemade Whipped Cream, Brown Sugar Glaze from my Apple Bundt Cake, Orange Glaze from my Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake
Reader Comments and Reviews
This was amazing! It was so easy to make and so delicious! I used fresh pumpkin puree. I baked it for 55 minutes and it was perfect! My family loved it!
Thank you! What a great cake and easy recipe. I put a little chocolate ganache on top and it has almost disappeared in 2 days. Huge hit considering the rest of the family are not pumpkin lovers.
Question about temperature for dark cake pans:
I just received the Anolon bundt pan that I bought from Amazon through the affiliate link. It does not say anything about a lower oven temperature. Do you recommend lowering the temperature 25 degrees with this pan, for this cake or for any of your other bundt cakes? I’m planning to bake a number of bundt cakes for a church bake sale, and want to make sure I get the best results each time. Thank you for your help!
Hi Maria! We use the same Bundt pan and have not found the need to lower the temperature at all. However, if you find your oven runs a bit hot, you can certainly try lowering the temperature a bit and baking for longer. We hope you love this recipe!
Thank you so much, Lexi, for answering my question. I made this Bundt cake in the Anolon bundt pan at 350 and it came out absolutely perfect! Not a crumb left in the pan, beautiful subtle shape and color, and flavorful, moist, delicious cake. Outstanding recipe! I’ll definitely plan to make this cake for church functions over the holidays. I love Sally’s Baking Addiction!
Hi Sally! Do you think it would work if I did a layer of caramel running through the middle of the cake? Pour in half the batter, drizzle in some salted caramel, then pour the rest of the batter on top? I’m planning to do a cream cheese drizzle, but love the idea of caramel in there too.
Hi Shayna, Unfortunately we haven’t had any luck swirling or layering salted caramel inside baked goods, it virtually disappears when baked.
I have made this recipe so many times since I found it last year, it’s embarrassing. Amazing every single time! Today I made it with the chai spice swirl from Sally’s chai spice pound cake recipe. SO good!
I wanted to make this for my diabetic son-in-law. I planned to use Splenda which I’ve tried in other baked goods snd it works well. My question is if I should add as much Splenda as the two kinds of sugar your recipe suggests?
Hi Donna, We’d love to help but we are not trained in baking with sugar substitutes. For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a recipe that is specifically formulated for sugar substitutes. Thank you!
You’d be better off with coconut sugar than Splenda! Same ratio!
I chose this recipe out of many options, because I usually have great results with Sally’s Baking Addiction recipes. This recipe does not disappoint. It was perfect! Easy to make, looks beautiful, and tastes delicious! Super pumpkin flavor, just the right amount of spices, and wonderfully moist! Great recipe made as written!!!
How would I adjust cooking time for a Nordicware pan that makes 6 bundlettes?
Hi Jessica, we’re unsure of the exact bake time for the mini Bundt cakes. It will be less than a standard Bundt — keep a close eye on them. Enjoy!
Thinking of making this bundt cake today. Sounds delicious. I do have one question. After talking it out of the oven do you really keep it in the pan for 2 hours? That seems like a long time. Thanks so much.
Hi Garry, we do like to allow our Bundt cakes to cool for two hours before inverting, but you can certainly take it out earlier if you prefer and have had success doing so before. Hope you enjoy the cake!
This is one of the nicest bundt cakes I’ve made- really, really enjoyed the chocolate chip idea! It adds something a little different! I also liked that the baked cake takes up the whole pan, and doesn’t make one of those skinny, flat looking Bundts I’ve gotten from some recipes!
This is the first time I’ve seen this site and I’m sooo excited if all the recipes are this wonderful!
Can’t wait to make it for my pumpkin loving fiancé 🙂
I added four tablespoons of cocoa powder and it was soooo goood!!! Could still taste the pumpkin too!
I made this cake twice last year and it was fantastic! My friends and family loved it. This year I am thinking of making this recipe into cupcakes with salted caramel buttercream – will that work?
Sally, I love love love your recipes! This cake is in the oven right now making my house smell fantastic. All the SBA recipes I’ve made have been a hit with my family. So easy to follow and I love the variations you suggest! This one is going to be topped with salted caramel. Thank you!
Thank you for yet another absolutely fantastic recipe! Perfect flavours & texture, mine cooked in 60 mins.
Hi Sally,
Would mango purée work?
Hi Anila, Do you mean instead of the pumpkin? We haven’t tried that.
Freezer bags of pumpkin! Not the bags
This is always a hit no matter where we take it. I have been volunteered when we have dinner with friends as “the bringer of cake” and it’s because of this one! I will add that I do grow my own pumpkins and make purée. I have being using my 15 oz freezer bags in it with no issue at all. Still comes out top notch! Just wanted to share in case other farming friends are hesitant to use their homemade pumpkin in this recipe.
Thanks for all you do, Sally!!!
Hello Lexi,
My can is called Pure Pumpkin I didn’t buy Pumpkin Pie Filling.
My can is measured in mL and the fan says it has 796mL of Pure Pumpkin purée filling I don’t know what I’ll need in cups as I couldn’t find in store a 15 ounce can of Pumpkin Purée.
What would a 15 ounce can of pumpkin purée equal to in cups?
Hi Jess! A 15oz can of pumpkin is just under 2 cups (2 cups minus about 2 Tbs). Hope this helps!
Good morning Sally,
Does 1 15oz can of pumpkin equal to
2 cups of canned pumpkin filling for this recipe?
Hi Jessica, you only need 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree for this recipe, unless you are using homemade pumpkin puree (where we recommend 2 cups). You don’t want to use canned pumpkin pie filling — it has a different texture and includes different flavorings and sugars. See recipe notes for more details.
Can we make this cake using fresh pumpkin and how?
I used fresh pumpkin. Cut your pumpkins in half, take out the seeds. Then bake upside on a baking sheet for about 30-40 mins; it depends on pumpkin size. When they have cooked, remove the skin, and puree the pumpkin in a food processor. Done! You can reduce the oil in this recipe a bit if your pumpkin purée seems extra watery.
I weigh and freeze mine in 15 Oz freezer bags for convenience. It thaws very quickly in a bowl of hot water. I raised about 20 pumpkins last year, and I down to the last 4 bags!
Hope this helps!
Best recipe for pumpkin bundt! So rich, moist and the cake rose perfectly. Amazing crumb. Not surprised, as I find all your recipes easy to follow and hugely successful. Thanks for this!
Note: I added 3/4 cup of sweetened coconut and it was also amazing
All I have is Pumpkin pie filling Is there a way I can use this as a substitute and any adjustments that need doing
Hi Deborah, We recommend waiting until you can get pumpkin puree (canned or homemade). Pumpkin pie filling has a different texture and includes different flavorings and sugars.
Truly magnificent. If I wanted to substitute mashed bananas fit the pumpkin, how much banana do you recommend mashed and are there any other adjustments you suggest? Thanks—will be making this again!
Hi Daphne, For a banana cake you can use this recipe for Banana Cake and see the recipe notes for Bundt cake instructions. Happy baking!
This is the BEST pumpkin cake recipe ever. We leave out the chocolate chips and add pecans. I make the maple glaze recipe and add vanilla and pecans to it. It’s wonderful! Thank you!
Delicious and easy to make. I used less sugar and olive oil and it turned out great. Only needed 45 min at 350 degrees in convection oven. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Sally! This recipe looks really good and I’m planing to make it this weekend. Just wondering if I can use different oil instead of vegetable oil. I know this sounds weird but I want to know if there is a difference. Also if I can substitute oils then which other oil is best. Thanks! Also a big fan of your work ! 🙂
Hi Maya, Any vegetable based oil without a strong flavor will work. You an also use melted coconut oil but of course the flavor of the cake will change.
Hi Sally! 🙂 What should I change on the measurement of the ingredients to make it fit an 8.5 inch bundt pan? 🙂
Hi Bobbie, this blog post should help!
Can I use pumpkin spice instead of all the other ingredients. If so, do I still use the recipe amount of cinnamon? Thank you.
eileen
Hi Eileen, You can use 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. Still add the 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon.
OMG! This was amazing! I decided to make a pumpkin cake instead of pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, and I settled on this recipe. It’s the lightest pumpkin cake I’ve ever made, and also it was very moist and perfectly spiced. I left out the chocolate chips, and next time I may add chopped pecans because I do love nuts in baked goods!
I made a half-batch of cake, spreading it into three 6-inch cake tins. I frosted it with cream cheese frosting and used some caramel sauce, along with the cream cheese frosting between the layers. It was definitely a hit, and I think I will always use this recipe for future pumpkin cakes (which totally beat out pumpkin pie in our affections!)
Can this be turned into a 2 layer cake with Frosting?
If so, how would you do it?
Hi Cheryl! I recommend using my regular pumpkin cake recipe instead. See the recipe notes for turning into a 2 layer cake.
CROWD PLEASER! I made whipped cream with cream cheese for the topping and everyone loved it. So moist and delicious -thank you!