This easy pumpkin cake is all the cozy things that make fall so wonderful: sweatshirt weather, football, pretty leaves, and pumpkin. It is SO GOOD. It's perfectly spiced, moist, dense, and oooh, that creamy smooth frosting!

The whole thing makes me want to rake leaves. Okay, not really. But I do want to curl up under a blanket with a nice slice of cake and watch some football.

piece of pumpkin cake with creamy white icing on plate with fork — easy pumpkin cake

The cool, crisp mornings and warm, sunny afternoons of fall are among my favorite kinds of days. I love the smell in the air that I can't describe. I love walking the dogs when it's like this, and they love it, too. I love the heat cranking in my car at 7:00 AM and the windows down at 4:00 PM. There's an awful lot to love.

On the flip side, I don't quite love that my car becomes a rolling closet of every type of jacket and shoe I own. I am not exaggerating. The October car closet is a thing. Amiright?

This cake, though. 😍 It's one of the very best things about this time of year.

Easy Pumpkin Cake

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Servings:

Calories: 378kcal

Author: Yappy Kitchen

Ingredients

Cake - Wet Ingredients

½ cup vegetable shortening
1 ⅔ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
¾ cup whole milk

Cake - Dry Ingredients

9.6 ounces flour 2 ¼ cups
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice or ½ teaspoon each of nutmeg, cinnamon, ground ginger
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup pecans or walnuts chopped, omit for nut-free

Frosting

½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
½ cup vegetable shortening
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup evaporated milk room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 13" x 9" baking pan.
With stand mixer, cream together vegetable shortening, and sugar. Add eggs, pumpkin, and milk.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to wet ingredients and mix a few minutes until well combined.
Turn off mixer and stir in nuts by hand.
Pour cake batter into baking pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until cake just begins to pull away from sides and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cool completely. An hour at room temperature then an hour in the refrigerator ought to do it.

Frosting

With stand mixer, cream together butter, vegetable shortening, sugar, and vanilla.
I like to use the whisk attachment for the frosting, but standard beaters work well, too.
Add milk mixture a little at a time.
Beat on medium-high for about seven minutes or until fluffy and smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.
The frosting will start out gritty, but the sugar will dissolve to make it nice and smooth.
Spread on cooled cake. Sprinkle with nutmeg and/or cinnamon.
Cover leftover cake with plastic wrap or tight-fitting lid and keep in refrigerator.
Enjoy!