Pumpkin Spice Cake with Cinnamon Swirl
Pumpkin, spice, and everything nice is swirled together in this deliciously moist and fluffy cake. Perfect for snacking or served up as dessert à la mode!
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Spice cakes are a big hit in my family and I make one every year (usually Applesauce Spice Cake). This year I wanted to try something different. Enter "the pumpkin." Let me just say, this takes spice cake to a whole NEW level! Imagine if pumpkin pie were cake. Better yet, try it for yourself with my step by step recipe!
Why you’ll love Pumpkin Spice Cake with Cinnamon Swirl
TRULY moist - I know that is a weird word, but how else am I supposed to describe the perfectly-soft-and-fluffy-melt-in-your-mouth texture?!
Packed with everything you love in comfort food - warm pumpkin flavor, bold spices like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and pepper, and it will make your home smell so gooood!
Recipe Tips for the best Pumpkin Spice Cake with Cinnamon Swirl
The texture of cake is meant to be light, airy, and moist, which is exactly what this cake is! It can be difficult to tell when a cake is finished baking. To check if a cake is done, stick a knife or toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready to be removed from the oven.
Cake is not meant to be undercooked and undercooking a cake won’t help it be moist. Instead the cake will deflate and be noticeably runny in the center.
On the flip side, if you over bake the cake it can become dry and that is no fun either.
The trick is to check the cake frequently when it is nearing the end of bake time, that way you catch it as soon as the knife comes out clean and not a second longer!
Pumpkin Spice Cake with Cinnamon Swirl FAQ
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To remove eggs from this cake, all you need to do is mix together 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 tablespoon of vinegar (per egg - if the recipe calls for two eggs, add 2 teaspoons of baking soda and 2 tablespoons of vinegar) and add that to the batter at the same time you would have added the eggs. This is an egg substitute that works well in cakes and other baked goods that rise and are light and airy.
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Yes! I always use canned pumpkin because it is quick and easy. I prefer the unsweetened kind, as the cake already has added sugar in the recipe.
You can also use a fresh baking pumpkin, but you would need to cook the pumpkin first and make a puree before you add it into this recipe.
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Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger are all typically in a spice cake.
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Absolutely! You can add any dried fruit or nuts you like, however I would suggest roughly chopping them into smaller pieces so they distribute evenly throughout the cake.
These add ins can be mixed in at the very end, right before placing the batter in the pan.
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No. One of the great things about this cake is that it is moist enough on its own, and frosting is just an extra bonus! A lighter alternative to frosting is icing, which would pair nicely with this cake. That said, I usually enjoy this cake best without either to keep the sweetness level low.
Helpful Kitchen Tools
9 x 13 baking dish
parchment paper
small mixing bowl
medium mixing bowl
spatula
electric stand mixer with bowl and paddle
Ingredients
Cinnamon Swirl
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Cake
2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon Pumpkin Spice
1 1/2 cups Dark Brown Sugar
2/3 cup Unsalted Butter (Melted and Cooled slightly)
2 Eggs
1 15 oz. can Pumpkin Puree
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
How to make Pumpkin Spice Cake with Cinnamon Swirl
Prep
Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper and set aside.
In a small bowl, mix together granulated sugar and ground cinnamon to make the cinnamon swirl. Set aside.
Mix
In a medium sized bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and pumpkin spice with a fork. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add dark brown sugar and unsalted melted butter and mix together well using a fork. Add eggs, pumpkin puree, and pure vanilla extract to the mixture and mix together well, still using a fork.
Add flour mixture to sugar mixture and mix together with a fork.
Spread half the batter into 9 x 13 inch pan. It’s okay if the batter is spread a little lumpy. Now add a layer of cinnamon swirl over the first batter layer. Using the blunt end of a fork, trace swirls throughout the batter layer.
Now add the rest of the batter on top of the first layer and spread the batter as best you can - this is a little tricky because the batter will stick to the cinnamon swirl. Smoothing the batter out using a rolling motion helps! Add the remainder of the cinnamon swirl to the top layer of batter and repeat the fork method to swirl the cinnamon sugar throughout the batter (note: press the fork all the way to the bottom of the pan to do this).
Bake
Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until you can stick a toothpick or knife into the cake and it comes out clean. If the cake needs more time, check it agian with a tooth pick or knife every 5 minutes.
Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 - 15 minutes, then remove the cake by lifting it out of the pan using the parchment paper sides. Place it on a cooling rack to let it cool completely, about 1 hour.
How to Store
Store pumpkin spice cake with cinnamon swirl at room temperature in an air tight container for up to two days, or store in the refrigerator for up to five days. If stored in the refrigerator, let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, or pop in the microwave for five to ten seconds to warm to room temperature.
You can also freeze pumpkin spice cake with cinnamon swirl easily. Just place (fully baked and cooled) in an air tight freezer container and store in the freezer for up to three months. Remove from the freezer and place in the refrigerator 24 hours prior to serving.
Pumpkin Spice Cake with Cinnamon Swirl
Pumpkin, spice, and everything nice is swirled together in this deliciously moist and fluffy cake. Perfect for snacking or served up as dessert à la mode!
Ingredients
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together granulated sugar and ground cinnamon to make the cinnamon swirl. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and pumpkin spice with a fork. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add dark brown sugar and unsalted melted butter and mix together well using a fork. Add eggs, pumpkin puree, and pure vanilla extract to the mixture and mix together well, still using a fork.
- Add flour mixture to sugar mixture and mix together with a fork.
- Spread half the batter into 9 x 13 inch pan. It’s okay if the batter is spread a little lumpy. Now add a layer of cinnamon swirl over the first batter layer. Using the blunt end of a fork, trace swirls throughout the batter layer.
- Now add the rest of the batter on top of the first layer and spread the batter as best you can - this is a little tricky because the batter will stick to the cinnamon swirl. Smoothing the batter out using a rolling motion helps! Add the remainder of the cinnamon swirl to the top layer of batter and repeat the fork method to swirl the cinnamon sugar throughout the batter (note: press the fork all the way to the bottom of the pan to do this).
- Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until you can stick a toothpick or knife into the cake and it comes out clean. If the cake needs more time, check it agian with a tooth pick or knife every 5 minutes.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 - 15 minutes, then remove the cake by lifting it out of the pan using the parchment paper sides. Place it on a cooling rack to let it cool completely, about 1 hour.
*Nutrition is auto-calculated by recipes generator.
