Pumpkin Cake with Cinnamon White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. Did you get all of that? Fall needs pumpkin cake and I’ve got our family favorite recipe.
A few years ago I posted Mom’s Pumpkin Cake and I’ll have you know, I totally messed it up at first, but it has become such a huge hit on the blog, like one of our most popular recipes in 9 years of blogging, so I totally had to make a reinvented version for you and it turned out RIDICULOUS.
Is Pumpkin Good for You?
Eating pumpkin is good for the heart.
The fiber, potassium, and vitamin C content in pumpkin all support heart health.
Studies suggest that consuming enough potassium may be almost as important as decreasing sodium intake for the treatment of hypertension, or high blood pressure.
It’s one of our all time favorites. You guys, you now have two options. First, if you want to you can make Mom’s original recipe which uses a cake mix (you can use yellow or spice cake) and it’s tender, moist, flavorful and oh so amazing served warm with a little dollop of whipped cream. Or…
You can serve my new version which is totally from scratch and we added a cinnamon white chocolate cream cheese frosting that uses a pudding mix so it’s super quick and easy to throw together.
What is White Chocolate?
White chocolate is a chocolate derivative.
It commonly consists of cocoa butter, sugar and milk solids and is characterized by a pale yellow or ivory appearance.
Both are delicious. Both get made often all year round in our house. And if you feel so inclined you can even try both and tell us which version you love the most. Or don’t because they are different enough there really isn’t a clear winner.
Can Cream Cheese Frosting be Frozen?
Cream cheese frosting is ideal for freezing.
It is sturdy, with plenty of fat, and it will do better in the freezer than a more delicate meringue-based icing.
Pumpkin Cake with Cinnamon White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Pumpkin Cake with Cinnamon White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 Cup Canned Pumpkin
- 3/4 Cup Buttermilk
- 1/2 Cup Butter softened (unsalted)
- 1/2 Cup Canola Oil Vegetable is fine
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 4 Large Eggs
- 1 1/4 Cup Sugar
- 2 1/4 Cup Flour
- 2 Teaspoons Baking powder
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 4 Teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
For the Frosting
- 8 ounces Cream Cheese softened
- 1 3.4 Ounce Package Instant White Chocolate Pudding
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 3 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
- 1/4 Cup Heavy Cream or Milk if necessary
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13" in baking pan with nonstick spray.
- Sprinkle a little flour in the bottom and tap the pan as you turn it to coat the bottom and sides.
- Discard any remaining flour by turning the pan over and giving a thump to the bottom of the pan.
- In a large glass measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and pumpkin.
- Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl of a standing mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter, oil and sugar.
- Add the vanilla and eggs, one at a time and mix until smooth.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt.
- Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the wet mixing bowl and begin to beat.
- Slowly add in 1/3 of the pumpkin mixture and continue to alternate until all ingredients are used.
- Pour into the baking pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.
- Set aside to cool.
- Frost with frosting and serve.
- For the frosting
- In a mixing bowl, fitted with the whisk attachment or using a handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
- Add the pudding mix and vanilla and beat again.
- Add the powdered sugar and cinnamon and slowly begin to combine, increasing speed as you incorporate more powdered sugar.
- The mixture will be very thick and sticky, drizzle in a little cream until you get to the desired consistency.
- You may add more if needed.
Nutrition
Chocolate Covered Pumpkin Cupcakes
Pumpkin Pie
Next time will bake as a layer cake since so much frosting is produced through this recipe. Plus I think the cake would bake better as layers. Could probably work well in sheet pan too. I felt like my cake did not bake evenly in the 9 x 13 pan, seemed to overfill the pan.
Have cake in refrigerator for a family luncheon. Can’t wait to try.
Hi Martha,
I absolutely love your idea to do it as a layered cake. Our frosting must not whip up as high (altitude issue maybe?) since we end up with just the right amount, but then again, maybe I add more haha. Sometimes the baking issue is altitude, sometimes the oven is not heating evenly so it causes a rapid rise and deflate issue. We try to stay out of the kitchen to avoid any baking issues due to opening doors etc. Let me know if you ever do the layered version. I’d love to see it!
What grocery store sells the white chocolate pudding? I know both Hershey’s and Jello make it. I did not find it at my local Walmart. I have Kroger, Tom Thumb and Albertsons in my area–also Target.
Thanks
Martha
Hi Martha, we get ours at Smiths which is a Kroger store, but we’ve found it at Target and Walmart as well. The more into the holidays we get the more it will pop up.
ps, if all else fails you could really use any pudding like cheesecake, vanilla, etc
i’m adamantly opposed to eating anything containing pumpkin, but that frosting! i couldn’t resist it!
haha, it really is such good frosting! I try so hard to resist licking the bowl so the kids can have that pleasure, but this is the one time I ate a good spoonful before handing it over.
Now this looks divine. I am IN LOVE with that white chocolate frosting- such a nice twist on your usual pumpkin bars!
Just checking that this is supposed to use pumpkin pie filling and not just pumpkin purée? Seems like a lot of added sugar and spices with pie filling. It looks delicious!
Totally canned pumpkin!! Clearly I was thinking about how this tasted like pie filling and wrote what I was thinking! Fixed it and thank you so much for checking!!!
This recipe sounds really good–but one question. Where is the white chocolate in the frosting. Are you meaning a white chocolate pudding in lieu of the cream cheese pudding?
Thanks
Martha
It’s white chocolate. Wow, clearly I should not write late at night. Fixed it!! xoxo