Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake is a moist, spiced cake bursting with pumpkin flavor, then topped with a sweet maple glaze and a delightful crunch from pecans. Add it to your Thanksgiving menu or enjoy a slice with a hot cup of coffee on a cool, crisp Autumn day! If you love pumpkin desserts, you will also LOVE my Pumpkin Bars!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Room Temperature Ingredients: For the best results when baking this cake, be sure to use room-temperature ingredients (specifically butter, eggs, and sour cream).
Sour Cream: The sour cream in the cake ensures that the cake is moist, tender, and delicious!
Pure Pumpkin: Be sure to look for pure pumpkin (also known as pumpkin puree), not pumpkin pie filling. Pure pumpkin is cooked pumpkin that is blended or mashed into a smooth texture. There should be no seasoning, spice, flavoring, or sugar added. We are adding our own seasoning and sweetness to the cake.
Spices: Ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, and ground cloves are added to the cake. The spices, along with the pumpkin, give the cake all the flavors you would associate with pumpkin spice season, I mean, Fall!
Glaze: If you prefer, you could serve this cake without the glaze. However, the maple pecan glaze is SO flavorful with the pumpkin cake. Look for pure maple syrup for the best-tasting glaze!
Pecans: Sprinkling the pecans over the glaze gives each bite a nutty crunch. You could certainly leave them off if needed.
Can I Use A Different Pan?
Sure! If you don’t have a bundt pan, you could use a different baking dish. A few options are a 9×13-inch baking dish, 2, 9-inch cake pans, or a springform pan, just to name a few. Keep in mind that depending on the baking dish you use, the baking times may need to be adjusted, so watch the cake carefully.
How to Store Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake
Once the pumpkin spice bundt cake is completely cooled, store it in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also wrap the cake in plastic wrap and aluminum foil, but be careful not to disturb the glaze. It will last up to 2 days. For longer storage, freeze the cake.
Freezing Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake
If possible, freeze the bundt cake without the glaze. (You can always add that when ready to serve.) After the cake has cooled completely, wrap it in plastic wrap. Then, for extra protection, wrap the cake in aluminum foil. It will last up to 2-3 months in the freezer. When ready to enjoy the cake, remove it from the freezer and allow it to thaw in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. Thawing in the refrigerator helps maintain the cake’s texture and flavor. After the cake has thawed, you can apply the frosting or glaze as desired. Make sure the cake is at room temperature or slightly chilled before adding the frosting or glaze.
More Pumpkin Desserts
Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks / 227 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup (245 g) pure pumpkin
- 1 cup (230 g) sour cream, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
Glaze
- ¼ cup (½ stick / 57 g) unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup (62.5 g) confectioners' sugar
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped pecans, optional
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 10-inch bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together sugar and butter on low speed until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Add the pumpkin, sour cream, and vanilla, mixing until combined.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few crumbs, but no wet batter.
- Allow to cool for about 15-20 minutes in the pan and then invert it onto a serving plate to cool completely before adding the glaze.
Glaze
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, maple syrup, and heavy cream. Bring to a boil. Continue to boil for 1 minute.
- Remove from heat. To the hot mixture, add the confectioners' sugar. Whisk until smooth. Let the glaze cool for 25-30 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
- Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake. Sprinkle with pecans, if using.
- Slice, serve, and enjoy.
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
Kristen’s photos always transport me to somewhere that is warm and safe. These are gorgeous and the recipe is nummy! I love your idea…hmmm, do you like cheesecake?
This is my favorite recipe that I’ve done so far (and that’s a pretty long list at this point even if I am fairly new)! I baked the batter in little pumpkin shaped cake tins and piped a few green leaves with Cinnamon icing on top of the glaze and they were amazing. These have been a HUGE hit at dinner parties and such.
I made a batch as a thank you for a coworker and he keep asking when I’ll get around to making more! I adore your blog! Thanks!
I have been looking for a pie-alternative recipe for Thanksgiving. I LOVE Bundt cakes, and I’m SOLD. I’m going to try this.
I’d love to do a “Baking with…” post. I’m a novelist so I don’t write about baking all the time, but I do post about cooking and food a lot on my Facebook page. And I LOVE to cook.
I made this for Thanksgiving & was a wonderful pie alternative & great hit. The glaze was just the right touch too. Will be making again for sure & so very easy. May be my Thanksgiving go to dessert.
Totally pinned this earlier and didn’t even realize where it came from. It makes so much more sense, though. 🙂 You two are some very talented ladies!
Excuse me..what is pure pumpkin? Maybe you meant pumpkin puree? should it be raw or cooked? Thank you
It is essentially pumpkin puree, but it is labeled “pure pumpkin” on the cans. So look for pure pumpkin.
I’m so super duper behind in the fun world of cakes and blogs…but this is happening in my oven right now! Smells delicious! I’m going to have to figure out how to snitch a bite before it goes to the teachers at our kids’ school!
If I wanted to use Pumpkin Pie Spice, how much would be the equivalent of your four spices, maybe three – four teaspoons?
Omg, I have to make this. I usually make pumpkin cookies and pie, but hey there’s no law against all three.
Ha! Good point. 🙂
Hi! I’ve made this recipe for years! It’s become a thanksgiving tradition- I love it so much? Did you change it from the recipe prior to Nov 2021? I don’t remember the original having pecans, and I thought the spice mix was different?
Hi Jen! Yes, it was updated.
Did the original have a tbsp of cinnamon instead of a tbsp of all the spices (cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg)?
Excellent cake! Love the pumpkin spice flavour and the soft texture of this cake. This is going into our fall baking rotation! Super easy to make and absolutely perfect.