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Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

RuthAnne Strong
Perfectly soft and delicious pumpkin cupcakes topped with the most dreamy cream cheese frosting.
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Course Dessert

Ingredients
  

Pumpkin Cake

  • 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
  • 1 T. pumpkin pie spice
  • 3 large eggs room temperature
  • 1/2 C. sour cream room temperature
  • 1/2 C. buttermilk room temperature
  • 1/3 C. vegetable oil
  • 1 T. vanilla
  • 1 yellow cake mix sifted

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese right from fridge
  • 1 C. butter softened
  • 5-6 C. powdered sugar
  • 4 tsp. vanilla

Cinnamon Chip Drip

  • 1 C. cinnamon chips
  • 1/4 C. heavy cream

Instructions
 

Pumpkin Cake

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray 3, 6 inch rounds with cooking spray, put parchment paper round at bottom of pan then spray again with cooking spray or place cupcake liners in cupcake pan. Set aside.
  • Whisk together pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, eggs, sour cream, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.
  • When combined, sift in cake mix and stir until just combined. Do not over mix, but make sure all the dry ingredients have been incorporated.
  • Divide cake batter evenly between cake pans or (24) cupcake liners.
  • Bake cake layers for 30-35 minutes, or 14-16 minutes if you're making cupcakes, until center is baked all the way through. Do not over bake!
  • Let cool in pans for 10 minutes then flip out onto wire cooling rack until cakes are room temperature, if making cupcakes only leave them in the pan for a few minutes then move to cooling rack.
  • Wrap cake layers in plastic wrap and put in freezer. Stacking and assembly is SO much easier with frozen cakes!

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Mix cold cream cheese and softened butter until throughly combined. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until whipped and creamy.

Cinnamon Chip Drip

  • Combine chips and heavy cream in a bowl and microwave for 30 second increments until smooth.

Notes

-I love to make this recipe to make cupcakes, you don't need to worry about the frosting being too thin or stable enough to stack layers.  Candy pumpkins make the perfect, simple topper for cupcakes.
-If I'm decorating with cinnamon sugar pumpkin donuts I like to use Your Cup of Cake's Pumpkin Donuts recipe.
-The cinnamon chip drip is optional but so delicious on a stacked cake.
-I love to sprinkle or roll the bottom of the stacked, frosted cake with cinnamon sugar or sprinkle on cupcakes.