Two-layer pumpkin spice cake on a yellow stand, filled and topped with dollops of whipped cream cheese frosting. A slice sits on a plate next to it. / Pastel de calabaza y especias de dos capas sobre una base amarilla, relleno y cubierto con crema de queso batida. Una rebanada se encuentra en un plato al lado.

Easy Pumpkin Cake

Kitty FloridoSeptember 26, 2025

This post is also available in ESPAÑOL (SPANISH)

Our fall mood is here, and you know what that means? Comfort food baking! We’re craving that warm, perfectly spiced pumpkin cake for all our family gatherings. But let’s be honest, not everyone has the time to make a cake from scratch so this time we’re keeping things simple: we’re using a cake mix.

The trick is using the cake mix base and elevating it with pumpkin purée, butter, and eggs for a tender, perfectly moist crumb that tastes completely from-scratch. And, by topping it with store-bought whipped cream cheese frosting, you make a truly tasty and easy cake that everyone will swear you spent hours on 🤭.

Kitty

Easy Pumpkin (boxed) Cake

Makes one 8-in cake, 10 servings

Ingredients, for the cake:
1 boxed yellow cake mix
1 cup pumpkin purée
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3 eggs
½ cup melted unsalted butter
⅓ cup water (optional, if batter feels too thick)

Ingredients, for the frosting:
1 tub cream cheese frosting
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line an 8-inch round pan with parchment in the base, then grease and flour the entire pan. Set aside.
Combine the dry ingredients (cake mix and pumpkin pie spice) in a large bowl. In a separate measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the pumpkin purée, melted butter, and eggs.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined, and add the water only if the batter seems too thick.
Bake for 30-35 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
While the cake cools, add the vanilla to the cream cheese frosting and whip it until light and fluffy.
Frost your cake as desired, slice, and serve. Store any leftovers covered in the refrigerator.

Note:

Pumpkin Pie Spice (this makes enough for this recipe): ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves and ½ teaspoon ground ginger.

Have you made this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture with the hashtag #thefoodieskitchen!

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