Fall is the best time for baking. It’s finally cool enough to warm up the house with the oven, and the scent of pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg wafting through the house would bring a smile to the faces of even the staunchest summer supporters. My Simple Pumpkin Spice Pound Cake gives you an easy way to get back into the baking habit. It’s an easy recipe, not too unlike other quick cakes, with lots of space for customization. If you’re a beginner baker, this is a perfect recipe for you to learn some baking basics. If you’re a seasoned pro, you could whip this up without a second thought with ingredients that are surely already hanging around your house!
Ways to Customize your Pumpkin Spice Snacking Cake
I adore recipes that really let you make them your own, and this Simple Pumpkin Spice Cake has a ton of space for all kinds of changes! You can really get creative with additions to the recipe. Keeping the base of the batter the same, you could add:
- 1/2 cup great quality chopped chocolate pieces
- 1/2 cup walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts
- zest of one orange or 5 drops orange essential oil
- 1/2 cup chopped dried cherries or cranberries
So many fall flavors complement pumpkin! You could really add in whatever sounds good at the time. These additions would go into the batter after it is thoroughly mixed, right before you pour it into the pan.
Speaking of ways to customize your cake, let’s talk for a second about glazes.
Glazing your Pumpkin Spice Snacking Cake
Adding a glaze or frosting to your cake is totally optional and a great idea. The original recipe does not call for one because I like to store this in the fridge and eat a slice for breakfast, and it will not keep as well once it’s been glazed.
A simple glaze recipe is:
- 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar
- 5 tablespoons unsalted, melted butter
- 3-4 tablespoons whole milk
Whisk to combine all ingredients and pour over your prepared, warm or room temperature (not hot!) cake. You can also flavor this glaze by adding orange or lemon zest, maple syrup, honey, nuts, etc. For this cake, I added a teaspoon of cinnamon and about a teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Tips for Cake Success
The helpful reminders will make sure you end up with a delicious cake every time.
- Use quality ingredients. Using fresh eggs, the best vanilla you can find or afford, and a quality flour will make this cake a winner. These things don’t have to be expensive; use your favorite, tried and true ingredients.
- Don’t overbeat your mixture. Once you add the wet ingredients to the dry, don’t go nuts with the mixing. You want your mixture to be smooth and fully incorporated, but this is not a time when we want to beat a lot of air into the mixture or develop a lot of gluten. Once it’s incorporated, move on to the next steps.
- Thoroughly cream your sugar and butter. I just said not to overmix the batter, right? When it comes to creaming the sugar and butter, though, you want to make sure it is really, truly, thoroughly creamy! It should look light golden in color and have the texture of a buttercream frosting.
- Use fresh spices, but a blend is okay too. This recipe calls for you to make your own ground spice mix using fresh spices. This is really going to give your cake a fragrant, earthy flavor. If you cannot find all these spices or want a quicker version, you can use a pumpkin spice blend from the store. Use the same total quantity of spice.
Love Pumpkin?
Check out these other pumpkin recipes from The Bad Wife!
- Pumpkin Sage Mac & Cheese
- Creamy Pumpkin Pasta with Mushrooms and Spinach
- Soft Pretzels with Pumpkin Beer Cheese
For more photos of this recipe and all the other homemaking projects I’m doing, including recipes, knitting patterns, and other fun stuff, find me on Instagram!
Pumpkin Spice Snacking Cake
Equipment
- Hand mixer
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups AP flour
- 16 ounces pureed pumpkin (one can) Make sure to use pureed pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling.
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 stick softened unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 3 whole cloves
- 5 whole allspice berries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray, then line it with a rectangle of parchment paper to easily lift out the finished cake.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the softened butter and brown sugar. Using the hand mixer, cream these together until the mixture is lightly golden and fluffy.
- In a spice grinder, add the cloves and allspice. Grind to a powder. Optional: you can replace the nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves with 1 tablespoon of ground pumpkin pie spice if you prefer.
- Add the eggs, ginger, vanilla, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon to the creamed butter. Using the hand mixer, blend until smooth and a little bubbly, about 2 minutes.
- Add the pumpkin and blend to combine.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture. Carefully use the hand mixer to thoroughly combine. This batter will be bright orange, fragrant, smooth, and thick.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. It will fill the pan. Smooth out the top with a spatula.
- Bake the cake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out cleanly.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then use the parchment paper to lift it out onto a cooling rack.
- Serve warm or room temperature.
Looks delicious! I love the simple ingredients in this pumpkin spice snacking cake!
Thank you!!
Those photos are amazing and this sounds delicious!
Thank you so much! It’s popular around here – making it again this week, LOL!
Yummy! I am going to try tbis. My daughter loves pumpkin spice, she would love to snack this!
Thanks, Dusty! It’s a good one for it because it’s not super sweet!