If you’re looking for an easy and impressive pumpkin cake recipe, look no further! This is quite possibly one of my new favorite recipes for its ease in preparation and how it’s positively packed with pumpkiny goodness!
So as you guys know, I was in NYC for a week and was pretty MIA on my blog. I apologize for that – I was plenty absorbed in the city lights, pretzel croissants and freedom from the internet for seven days and I have to say, it was pretty awesome!
But now it’s back to reality and my reality at the moment is pumpkifying everything. Because even though I was kinda blog MIA, I instagrammed like craaaazy and happened to see everyone and their mothers, their mom’s moms, and their dogs posting IG pictures of pumpkin goods everywhere.
I’ve never felt so uncool and so far behind than I did in NYC. While everyone was whipping up picture-perfect pumpkin pies and chewy pumpkin snickerdoodles, I was in my dingy apartment across the country battling a monster-sized cockroach and was positively freaked to even step foot near the fridge, much less bake in it. So I admitted defeat and went woefully pumpkinless for awhile.
Now I’m back home and in my cockroachless kitchen (thank the friggin’ LAWWWWD), I am putting pumpkin in everything. Pumpkin in cookies. Pumpkin in spaghetti. Pumpkin in bread, cinnamon rolls, aaaaand snack cake. This cake is divine, y’all. And I was shocked at how simple it was to whip up! Something easy on my time-zone-dead mind and to finally feel like a cool kid on Instagram. I swear I’m hip!!
If dry pumpkin goodies give you the shudders (and uh, I don’t blame you; they’re blasphemous) this cake will cure your nightmares. There’s no dry crumbs in sight, thanks to the pumpkin, sour cream and oil that help plump up and moisten this fantastic cake. Then it’s topped with a creamy maple glaze that’s to diiiie for.Â
Trust me, the cool kids and I think you must make it.
*adapted from the Ultimate Cake Mix Cookbook
- 1 box spice cake mix
- 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree (NOT pie mix!)
- ¾ cup sour cream (I used full-fat, but low-fat would probably work)
- 3 eggs
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- Pinch nutmeg
- Pinch ginger
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp heavy cream
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- Gold or fall-themed sprinkles, optional
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Liberally grease a 13x9" baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix the cake mix, sour cream, eggs, oil and spices with a handheld electric mixer for 2 minutes or until combined completely. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for approx. 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Cool the cake completely.
- In a medium bowl, combine the maple syrup, cream and powdered sugar with a spoon until a glaze has formed. If the glaze is too thin, add more powdered sugar; if too thick, a little more cream at a time. Pour the glaze evenly on top of the snack cake, spreading it out to the edges if needed. Top with sprinkles if desired.
- Allow the glaze to somewhat set on the cake (about 15 minutes) before cutting into squares. Store leftover cake slices airtight at room temperature, up to 3 days. Tastes great with vanilla or butter pecan ice cream as well!
Soft, plush, moist and packed with pumpkin flavor, this snack cake will surely become a new family favorite in your house! It’s perfect for dessert of course, but it could easily work for a snack or breakfast — I won’t tell 🙂
Have a sweet day!
Â
xo, Hayley
Prudy | butter, basil, and breadcrumbs says
I am totally making these, regardless of my family not loving pumpkin anything. I love pumpkin everything, and these look so SO delicious! The plan is to eat the whole panful. LOVE. <3
Tonia from TheGunnySack says
Mmmm…pumpkin!! I love that the frosting has maple in it too!
Lindsey @ American Heritage Cooking says
The term “snack cake” cracks me up! It’s all so very 50’s. Even though you feel behind, you are still waaay ahead of me! I want to further procrastinate and make this snack cake for the husband and me. It looks so moist!
Sophia @ NY Foodgasm says
Ohhhh snap it’s officially fall on the Domestic Rebel! Can’t wait to see more!
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
bahahaaaa you poor thing! that cockroach!
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
I’m so glad you had a good trip!! I know, pumpkin totally exploded the last few weeks. Love this cake!
Tonette Joyce says
Very nice! Time for all t hings ‘pumpkin’!
Claire says
You list the pumpkin purée in the ingredients but don’t mention it in the directions. So I made the cake and didn’t add the purée. It was still fantastic, but I’m sure it would have been so much better with the pumpkin.
thedomesticrebel says
Claire – thanks for bringing that to my attention! Will adjust the recipe to reflect adding the pumpkin 🙂