Pumpkin cake is the ultimate fall dessert, and this gluten free version makes sure everyone can have a slice. The pumpkin puree keeps the cake soft and tender, while warm spices fill your kitchen with cozy aromas. Serve the cake plain for a snack or top with frosting for a festive holiday centerpiece
This type of pumpkin cake goes by a lot of different names. This version is basically my mom's pumpkin bars recipe that I've altered over the years. And a friend makes something similar called pumpkin brownies. But they've always seemed more cake-y to me. So I'm going to go with cake, because I think cake is the most accurate description of the texture. This gluten free pumpkin cake is not as tall as a typical boxed cake, so maybe that's why people refer to it as a bar or brownie? But it tastes so much better than a boxed mix, and my family and friends never guess that this cake is gluten free! Desserts that use zucchini or pumpkin puree work really well with gluten free flour. And while you could eat homemade pumpkin desserts at any time of year, they just taste so much better in the fall.
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Ingredients for the GF Pumpkin Cake
- Pumpkin puree
- White sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Eggs
- Gluten free flour
- Cinnamon
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
See recipe card for quantities.
Ingredients for the Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream cheese
- Salted butter
- Powdered sugar
- Heavy whipping cream
- Salt
- Pumpking pie spice
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions for Frosting the Pumpkin Cake
Step 1: Start with a completely cooled cake.
Step 2: Add the frosting and level it off with an offset or icing spatula or a knife. To decorate the cake, make waves by slightly dipping and then flicking the spatula or knife in random different directions.
Step 3: Continue making waves over the entire cake. Make sure to get the edges. Go back and add more waves to any sections that look like they need more.
Step 4: Optional: sprinkle pumpkin pie spice on the top using a small sifter.
Substitutions
- Regular flour version - you can use all purpose flour if you're looking for a pumpkin cake that is not gluten free.
- Vegan - for the cake, you can use flax eggs or an egg replacer. For 4 flax eggs, add 4 tablespoons of flax meal and 12 tablespoons of water to a small bowl and mix well. Let it sit for 10 minutes. For the frosting, you can use vegan cream cheese, vegan butter and vegan heavy cream. Or you can also leave the cake unfrosted and just sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top to make it look prettier.
- Pumpkin pie spice - if you don't have pumpkin pie spice already bought or made, you can follow my recipe on how to make pumpkin pie spice. However, if you don't want pumpkin pie spice on top, you can also sprinkle nutmeg or cinnamon on top. Or you don't have to sprinkle anything on top.
Equipment
A hand or stand mixer is needed to make this gluten free pumpkin cake and cream cheese frosting.
Storage
Store the gluten free pumpkin cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Next Level Tips
- I highly recommend weighing your flour, even when it's gluten free. And even when the recipe lists the amount in cups! Just check the back of your package to figure out how many grams you need and then weight it out. I am currently using King Arthur's Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour. Two cups of this flour equals 248 grams.
- If you want to try a fancier way of decorating the pumpkin cake, check out the rosette frosting design used in my carrot cake recipe.
- Or if you want a frosting that's a little different in flavor, you could use the cinnamon cream cheese frosting from my zucchini cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting recipe.
FAQ
Yes! But I don't do it. I buy the canned puree. Maybe it's weird, but de-seeding pumpkins has always grossed me out and made me gag a little bit. So I did a little research, and here's a top rated recipe on how to make homemade pumpkin puree from the Pioneer Woman. While I haven't tried it, we all know who the Pioneer Woman is, so I feel comfortable recommending her method.
Frosting can get too sweet, so we balance the sweetness with the smallest amount of salt. I highly recommend always using salted butter in butter cream frosting or cream cheese frosting for this very reason. You can even use add less than ⅛ teaspoon of salt. Even a pinch of salt will help!
Related
Looking for other gluten free desserts? Try these:
Gluten Free Pumpkin Cake
Equipment
- 1 Stand or hand mixer
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cake
- 1 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 1 cup neutral vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups one-for-one gluten free flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
Cream cheese frosting
- 1 block cream cheese (8 ounce) softened
- 4 tablespoons salted butter softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice for sprinkling
Instructions
Make and bake the pumpkin cake
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray.
- Add the gluten free flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt to a small bowl and mix well.
- Add the pumpkin puree, white sugar, oil and eggs to a mixing bowl, and mix until fully integrated.
- Gradually add the gluten free flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and mix until fully combined.
- Pour the batter into the baking pan and even out the top with a spatula. Then jiggle the pan from side to side and back and forth to further even out.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until the top springs back and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to fully cool for a minimum of 2 hours before frosting.
Make the cream cheese frosting and frost the cake
- Add the softened cream cheese and softened salted butter in to a mixing bowl and mix on medium until thoroughly combined and fluffy with no lumps remaining.
- Add 3 cups of the powdered sugar and the salt to the mixing bowl and mix until integrated. Scrape down the sides. Add the last cup of powdered sugar and mix on medium high to high until light and fluffy, approximately 5-7 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl halfway through.
- Apply the frosting to the cooled cake with an offset icing spatula or a regular knife and level out the frosting.
- To make the frosting look wavy like the photos, use an icing offset spatula or a regular knife to slightly dip into the frosting then flick the spatula up in random directions to make waves. Continue until waves cover the entire cake including the edges. Sprinkle pumpkin pie spice lightly over the frosting.
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cassie noyes says
It's so hard to find GF cakes that taste good. This cake is so delicious and has the perfect crumb texture!
Tracy @ Next Level Baker says
Right? I love that you can't even tell this cake is gluten free!
Jen says
This was so good! I used Bob's Red Mill GF flour, it worked perfectly.
Tracy @ Next Level Baker says
So happy you liked them! Bob's Red Mill is also a great brand for GF flour. I use it a lot too!