This Perfect Heirloom Pumpkin Cake is in Your Future!

My aunt used to make a pumpkin cake. My late grandmother used to make the same pumpkin cake. This pumpkin cake was remarkable: moist, spiced perfectly, with its golden crust iced with tangy cream cheese frosting. Eating it meant envisioning angels, wishing for the recipe, and taking a second slice when no one was looking. (If there was any left.)

I think the recipe originally came from my grandmother’s aunt. But it was lost to me for years.

I seem to be the family historian, in possession of forgotten handed-down treasures on closet shelves that are just waiting for the days when I’m retired and can spend my time perusing recipes and working in the test kitchen. I found Grandma Ruth’s recipe box when I was looking for something else, and lost a few hours time-traveling through vintage recipes in her neat handwriting.

And BOOM! There was the pumpkin cake recipe!!

I wasted no time in testing out this treasure. I knew from my vivid taste memories that it would be a perfect dessert for the Celebration of Life for my father-in-law, who left us in February. He would have liked it. Nay, he would have LOVED it. Everyone who attended loved it, and everyone wanted the recipe.

My friends, that’s because this recipe is PERFECT. Just PERFECT. And as a bonus: it’s easy.

And by the way, pumpkin cake is NOT meant to be relegated only to the fall when everyone is frothing at the mouth with Pumpkin Spice Madness. No, my friends, not at all! This is a cake for all seasons, and it can go to a party, a potluck or a picnic, just as it is.

I made this sweet-tooth pleaser again a week later to bring to a friend’s party, and again, everyone wanted the recipe. This second time, I captured the process in pictures so I could add the recipe to the blog here and share it with the world.

Let’s do it!

Heirloom Pumpkin Cake Recipe

Heirloom Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

A treasured family pumpkin cake that’s wonderfully moist and warmly spiced, with a golden crust and tangy cream cheese frosting. An easy heirloom dessert that’s too good to save just for fall.

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Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 – 16

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Instructions Notes

Ingredients

  

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Heirloom Pumpkin Cake

• 3½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp salt
• 2¼ tsp baking soda
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil such as canola
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ⅔ cup water
• 1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree, just under 2 cups
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 lb. confectioners’ sugar
• 8 oz. cream cheese softened
• 2 oz. butter, ½ stick or ¼ cup, softened
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 –2 tsp milk or half-and-half plus more if needed

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Instructions

 

Make the Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a Bundt pan or 9 × 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray, or grease with butter and dust lightly with flour.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the 3½ cups flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp salt and 2¼ tsp baking soda until thoroughly combined.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the 4 eggs, 1 cup vegetable oil, 1 cup sugar, ⅔ cup water, 15 oz. pumpkin puree and 1 tsp vanilla. Mix until completely blended and smooth. A stand mixer, hand mixer or whisk will all work.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix just until thoroughly combined.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
6. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Begin checking at 60 minutes.
7. For a 9 × 13-inch cake, expect approximately 60–70 minutes of baking time. A Bundt cake may take as long as 75–80 minutes. Continue checking every 5–6 minutes as needed rather than baking strictly by time.
8. For a Bundt cake, let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 10–15 minutes. Place a serving platter upside down over the pan, hold the platter and pan securely together, and invert to release the cake. Let cool completely before frosting.
9. For a 9 × 13-inch cake, leave the cake in the baking dish and let it cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Make the Cream Cheese Frosting

1. In a large mixing bowl using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the 8 oz. softened cream cheese and 2 oz. / half stick softened butter together until smooth and completely blended.
2. Add the 1 lb. confectioners’ sugar and beat until smooth.
3. Add the 2 tsp vanilla and mix again.
4. If the frosting is too thick, beat in 1 tsp milk or half-and-half at a time until it reaches a smooth, spreadable consistency.
5. Spread the frosting over the completely cooled cake.
6. Refrigerate the frosted cake for about 30 minutes to help the frosting set. Remove it from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before serving.

Notes

• Heirloom recipe: This treasured family recipe came from Grandma Ruth’s handwritten recipe box and may originally have come from her aunt.
• Pumpkin: Use plain pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Pan choice: The cake can be baked as a Bundt cake or in a 9 × 13-inch baking dish. The baking time and removal method differ, so follow the directions for the pan you’re using.
• Doneness: Baking times can vary by pan and oven. Begin checking at 60 minutes and rely on the toothpick test rather than the clock alone.
• Frosting is optional: This cake is moist and flavorful enough to serve without frosting, although Grandma Ruth’s tangy cream cheese frosting makes it especially good.
• Serving temperature: Because of the cream cheese frosting, store the frosted cake in the refrigerator. For the best flavor and texture, let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving.
• For all seasons: Pumpkin cake doesn’t have to be a fall-only dessert. This one works beautifully for parties, potlucks, holidays and family gatherings any time of year.

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Join Me in the Kitchen

I forgot to take a picture of the completely frosted cake as we were rushing to head out to the very fun party at a friend’s house, a farewell to a colleague and friend who married, retired early, and is now moving to Portugal. So the photo shoot of the completed cake was the leftover slice we snagged to bring back home.

As I worked with it to display it in various ways with different complementary beverages, I learned that this cake is stellar with amaretto.

Which makes me think…even though this recipe is already perfect, perhaps a few slivered almonds or sugared pecans atop the icing? What would it taste like with amaretto in the frosting instead of—or in addition to—the vanilla?

Hmmmmmm…maybe there’s some work to do in the test kitchen.

April 2024 Update: This Cake is Popular!

Last week, more than a dozen of my international colleagues were in town and we welcomed them, along with our local communications team, to Glover Gardens for a non-work shindig: another party, another opportunity to make this cake—the third time in 30 days!

This time, I snagged a pic of the finished product, frosted and very simply garnished with mint.

Speaking of Cake…

Another marvelous cake that’s been here in the blog for quite a while was shared by my friend and colleague that the farewell party was for. Stacy is a consummate professional at anything she does, and her apple cake recipe has gotten lots of clicks.

Thank You for the Recipe, Grandma Ruth!

All these years later, to find that recipe in Grandma Ruth’s recipe box is simply another reinforcement of my favorite word: serendipity. She lived a long time, and her cooking legacy lives on when we make the pumpkin cake.

You can read more about Grandma Ruth in the post below. She was something else.

Cooking the Past Forward; 2026 Update

When I originally wrote this post in 2024, I hadn’t yet given a name to the vintage cookbook and recipe-history project that would become Cooking the Past Forward. But apparently I’d already been doing it for years. Finding Grandma Ruth’s handwritten recipe, following its path through generations of our family, making it again and preserving it here is exactly what the project is about: understanding where a recipe came from, honoring the people who carried it forward, and making sure it has a future.

Enjoy!

Let me know if you make the pumpkin cake or Stacy’s apple cake—and by the way, do you have a favorite heirloom dessert recipe?

© 2024, Glover Gardens