This has been one of the most popular recipes on my blog since 2012. Enjoy! It’s so worth it!
With fall weather kicking in, my sweaters are coming out, right along with my cans of pumpkin, and pots for chili.
Baked goods, which include pumpkin of any kind, are some of my favorites, which is quite ironic, since for many years, I didn’t think I “liked” pumpkin. Oh, to think of all the years of sheer goodness I missed out on, but I am making up for it now.
My friend, Leah, shared her amazing Homemade Pumpkin Cake recipe, and it just oozes moist, yummy pumpkin delight. I think the secret is in the orange juice, it’s a wonderful addition. I tried to have only one piece, but it seriously melted in my mouth, and I just had to go back for more.
The unbelievable thing about this recipe is it’s so easy, and not only that, but it freezes beautifully, so double the recipe and save some for later.
Yes, Easy Homemade Pumpkin Cake – what can be better than that?
Well, maybe easy, homemade pumpkin cake topped with my easy cream cheese frosting, but that would be almost sinful. These are now right up there with my Easy Pumpkin Bar Recipe, and I didn’t think anything could quite meet that pumpkin inspiration, but this does. They are quite similar, but the cake is just a bit more dense.
Enjoy, and thank me later. 🙂
Recipe: Homemade Pumpkin Cake
Summary: This incredibly moist, homemade pumpkin cake is sure to please any crowd. Double the recipe and freeze extras.
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups flour
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cloves
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups pumpkin (1 large can = typically around 29 ounces)
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1 cup oil
Instructions
- Mix all the dry ingredients.
- Then add eggs, orange juice, oil and pumpkin.
- Pour into pan.
- Bake at 350 for 45 to an hour (till the fork comes out dry).
This will make enough for a large bundt pan, AND a small loaf, three regular loaves or a 9 x13. Personally, I love it in the bundt pan.
Preparation time: 5 minute(s)
Cooking time: 45 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 12
Hi Jen – the recipe doesn’t mention what size pan to use. Based on the picture, I assume this is to be baked in a bundt pan? I want to make sure before I whip one up today. 🙂 Thanks for the recipe, I LOVE pumpkin everything!
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Jen Reply:
September 19th, 2012 at 12:03 pm
Yes, bundt cake is perfect, but you could probably do it in a 13×9 but the bundt shape is so pretty. 🙂
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This looks like a delicious cake — my question… is it overly sweet? 3 C of sugar and 1 C OJ seems like a sugar high! I think if I try it, I’ll reduce the sugar.
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Jen Reply:
September 19th, 2012 at 1:24 pm
@SnoWhite @ Finding Joy in My Kitchen’, You would be fine with decreasing the sugar. It definitely leans towards a cake sweetness, but I didn’t take a bit and think “way too sweet.” I thought, YUM! 😉 (But by decreasing sugar, you could make it healthier, for sure. I will play with it over the next few months to try and make it more of a breakfast, healthy “cake.”
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SnoWhite @ Finding Joy in My Kitchen Reply:
September 23rd, 2012 at 10:05 pm
@Jen, This is good to know! It’s on my list too 🙂
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Is that a 14oz can of pumpkin?
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Jen Reply:
September 19th, 2012 at 6:30 pm
@Shannon, Shannon – sorry, I updated the recipe. It’s actually 29 ounces = two cups. It makes a bundt pan, plus another small loaf.
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Sharon Reply:
November 25th, 2012 at 9:21 pm
@Jen, Oops! My recipe calls for 2 cups of pumpkin, so I’ve been measuring out 2 cups into a measuring cup vs using the entire 29 oz can!
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Interesting. I haven’t seen OJ in pumpkin recipes. I need to try this!
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yes, breakfast healthy cake it is going to be – i’ll toss in a bit of white whole wheat flour, a bit less sugar (i’ve found putting some on the top to sort of caramelize is popular with my family). i love the OJ in it.
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Love the addition of orange juice. Great recipe!
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That sounds almost exactly like my pumpkin bread recipe, except for the OJ {yum!}. Based on that, I think you could also make this in 2 good-size loaf pans like we do with our bread and serve it in slices that way.
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I put the entire mixture in the bundt pan, I hope thats not the bedlam!
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I put the entire mixture in the bundt pan, I hope thats not the bedlam! also I changed the juice i put a combination of juices I hope its ok!!!!!!!!!!
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Jen Reply:
October 15th, 2012 at 7:45 pm
You will have to let me know if it worked or not. Typically, that batter should make enough for a bundt pan and then some, but hey, I am all about a really, really large cake. 😉
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The cake was delicious. I used a bundt pan plus one of those pans that makes 6 small bundt cakes (individual size). It did not seem extremely sweet, but next time I will try to use less sugar.
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P.S.
The 15 oz. can of pumpkin is almost enough. I had to open a second can–used the rest to make pumpkin gems (small muffins with cream cheese in the middle).
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Hi Jen, cake worked nout fine. I have a large Bundt pan so it was a very large cake …just baked a little longer. Very good
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This may be a silly question but……..do you bake the bundt and the loaf at the same time? I’m going to make this today for our Thanksgiving feast. It sounds yummy! Thanks!
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Jen Reply:
November 20th, 2012 at 10:12 am
There are never any silly cooking questions. 🙂 Yes, bake them at the same time to save on time and electricity. 😉 I just put them on the same shelves.
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Thanks! One more question….I bought pumpkin pie mix instead of pumpkin, do I just eliminate the spices?
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This sounds delicious but I am allergic to orange juice- any suggestions on what I could substitute there? Maybe apple cider?
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Jen Reply:
September 4th, 2013 at 6:25 pm
@Lindsay, Hmm – trying to think off the top of my head, but I bet that would work fine. It would just be a slightly different taste, but I think that might be a really yummy twist to it. Probably any juice substitute would work but just change the flavor slightly.
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Yum! This looks amazing! I make pumpkin goodies all year long and can’t wait to bake this cake!
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Jen Reply:
November 22nd, 2013 at 11:20 pm
you will love it. It’s by far one of my favorites!
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I agree with other reviewers about too much sugar. I tend to do 3/4 of the called for amount of white sugar in most recipes. So I used 2 cups sugar. I also cringe at 1 cup oil, that makes this a fattening cake, if you have a pesky gall bladder or need to watch your weight. I did 1/2 cup of oil and substituted 1/2 cup applesauce for the remaining oil, I accidentally did 1/2 the pumpkin and didn’t realize it until it was in the oven but it still tasted great. I also doubled the cinnamon. This cake reminds me so much of the Bob Evans pumpkin cake so if you love that you will love this recipe. Oh, and it tastes even better the next day. Thanks for posting this great find!
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