Pumpkin Cake

Moist and delicious, this fall spiced pumpkin cake has pecans and white chocolate chips, which add a wonderful flavor that doesn’t overwhelm. This easy to make pumpkin cake is topped with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting and garnished with chopped nuts.

Pumpkin Cake with White Chocolate and Pecans

Even the white chocolate haters will be happy with this pumpkin cake. White chocolate has a reputation for being overwhelmingly sweet, but the flavor from the white chocolate in this cake is subtle and a great addition. You could swap out semi-sweet chocolate chips if you really wanted to, and top it with regular cream cheese frosting if you prefer.

P.S. if you’re a white chocolate lover, try my homemade white chocolate ice cream. So good!

Ingredients needed for this pumpkin cake

• Dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt
• Spices: ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg
• Wet ingredients: eggs, pumpkin puree, light brown sugar, unsalted butter, vanilla extract
• Mix-ins: chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips, chopped pecans
• Frosting: white chocolate, heavy whipping cream, cream cheese, powdered sugar
• Garnish: chopped pecans

Baking Tips

• You won’t need a mixer for this, in fact I recommend NOT using one. This comes together very easily with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Using a mixer would most likely over beat the ingredients. However, using a mixer for the frosting is recommended.
• When melting butter, I recommend using the microwave, but do it for short intervals (15-20 seconds) on 50% power. When most of the butter has melted, remove it from the microwave and stir until any unmelted pieces blend in. Add another 5-10 seconds, again at 50% power, if needed. This way your butter won’t be too hot and it won’t come to a boil.

How To Make Pumpkin Cake

These step by step photos and instructions are here to help you visualize how to make this recipe. Please scroll down to simply print out the recipe!

Don’t use a mixer for this cake, do this by hand – ONLY use a mixer for making the icing.

This recipe uses a square pan, the cake can be cut into small pieces and served as finger food.

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil, grease or spray the foil.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, use a wire whisk to lightly beat the eggs. Add the pumpkin and stir until well combined.
4. Add brown sugar and stir until well blended. Stir in melted butter and vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture, stirring just until blended.

5. Fold in the white chocolate and the pecans. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Let cool completely in baking pan on a wire rack.

7. In a large microwave safe bowl, heat white chocolate and cream in the microwave at 70% power for 30 seconds. Stir until smooth. If necessary, heat at 50% power for 10 seconds at a time, stirring between each heating, just until chocolate is melted. Do not overheat. Cool for 5 minutes.
8. In mixer bowl with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides, then add the cooled white chocolate mixture and beat until smooth and creamy. Spread frosting over the cooled blondies, then sprinkle the pecans over the top. Chill, still in the pan, for at least an hour before cutting.
9. Using the foil, lift chilled blondies from the pan and place on a cutting board. Cut into 1 1/2″ squares.

More Fall Recipes You Will Enjoy

• A fun two-layered cake that is almost no work at all, this Pumpkin Magic Cake is great for parties.
• My Pumpkin Roll is always a hit at Thanksgiving!
• Thanksgiving would be incomplete without my daughter’s favorite pumpkin pie.
• And the cook should treat themselves with a homemade pumpkin spice latte.
• Pumpkin cake mix cookies are soft, chewy, and topped with a homemade cream cheese frosting and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
• Pumpkin trifle has soft delicate layers of gingerbread cake, velvety rich pumpkin cheesecake, and a topping of whipped cream and pecans.

White chocolate fan? Try these white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and this white chocolate banana bread!

This recipe is from 400 Sensational Cookies by Linda Amendt, but I’ve made them twice and it’s more of a cake than a blondie like the book says, so I’ve renamed it. Other recipes I’ve loved from this book include Cranberry Orange Spirals and the Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies.

I love to bake and cook and share my recipes with you! I know it’s hard to remember to come back and search, so I’ve made it easy for you with my weekly newsletter! You can subscribe for free and I’ll send you delicious recipes every week right to your email.

Pumpkin Cake

Even the white chocolate haters will be happy with this pumpkin cake. Moist and delicious and perfect for fall.

5 from 4 votes

IMPORTANT - There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!

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Course: Desserts

Cuisine: American

Servings: 16

55 minutes mins

Calories: 335.58

Author: Amanda Davis

Ingredients

Cake

• ▢ 1 ⅓ cups all purpose flour
• ▢ 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ▢ ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
• ▢ ¼ tsp ground ginger
• ▢ ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• ▢ ¼ tsp salt
• ▢ 2 large eggs
• ▢ 1 cup pumpkin solid pack puree
• ▢ ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter melted
• ▢ ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ ½ cup white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate
• ▢ ½ cup chopped pecans

Frosting

• ▢ 5 oz white chocolate chopped
• ▢ 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
• ▢ 8 oz cream cheese softened
• ▢ 1 cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 2 tbsp pecans finely chopped

Things You'll Need

• ▢
  9x9 baking pan
• ▢
  Mixing bowls
• ▢
  Measuring cups and spoons
• ▢
  Whisk
• ▢
  Wooden spoon
• ▢
  Chef's knife
• ▢
  Spatula
• ▢
  Stand mixer

Before You Begin

• You won't need a mixer for this, in fact I recommend NOT using one. This comes together very easily with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Using a mixer would most likely over beat the ingredients. However, you will need a mixer for making the frosting.
• When melting butter, I recommend using the microwave, but do it for short intervals (15-20 seconds) on 50% power. When most of the butter has melted, remove it from the microwave and stir until any unmelted pieces blend in. Add another 5-10 seconds, again at 50% power, if needed. This way your butter won't be too hot and it won't come to a boil.

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil, grease or spray the foil.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
• Don't use a mixer, do this by hand. In a large bowl, use a wire whisk to lightly beat the eggs. Add the pumpkin and stir until well combined. Add brown sugar and stir until well blended. Stir in melted butter and vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture, stirring just until blended. Fold in the white chocolate and the pecans. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Let cool completely in baking pan on a wire rack.

For the Frosting

• In a large microwave safe bowl, heat white chocolate and cream in the microwave at 70% power for 30 seconds. Stir until smooth. If necessary, heat at 50% power for 10 seconds at a time, stirring between each heating, just until chocolate is melted. Do not overheat. Cool for 5 minutes.
• In mixer bowl with paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides, then add the cooled white chocolate mixture and beat until smooth and creamy. Spread frosting over the cooled blondies, then sprinkle the pecans over the top. Chill, still in the pan, for at least an hour before cutting.
• Using the foil, lift cooled cake from the pan and place on a cutting board. Cut into squares.

Nutrition

Serving: 1square | Calories: 335.58cal | Carbohydrates: 36.23g | Protein: 4.28g | Fat: 20.1g | Saturated Fat: 10.16g | Cholesterol: 62.82mg | Sodium: 110.12mg | Potassium: 177.24mg | Fiber: 0.83g | Sugar: 26.81g | Vitamin A: 1050.67IU | Vitamin C: 0.65mg | Calcium: 81.69mg | Iron: 0.98mg

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This post originally appeared here on Dec 23, 2009.