Since my college days, I’ve noticed there are a lot of people who despise the word “moist”. If you are like that, I apologize in advance, because there is no better way to describe this cake. It is the perfect moist and dense texture without being spongy and requires no frosting…except, in my opinion, cake is not cake without frosting. So, I topped it with maple. cream. cheese. frosting! (For those wondering how to make cream cheese frosting, this is essentially that if you nix the maple syrup.) If last year’s Ultimate Autumn Apple Pie is Fall in a pie form then this pumpkin apple spice cake with maple cream cheese frosting is Fall in cake form, y’all! And if you thought things couldn’t possibly get better than last week’s chai-spiced pumpkin snickerdoodles, keep scrolling. All the flavors come together so beautifully to make you wanna hop out of your chair and do a little dance.
I debuted this pumpkin apple spice cake with maple cream cheese frosting at our Thanksgiving table last year and it was a big hit. I ate most of it myself, though, can’t lie. I knew I wanted to make a pumpkin apple spice cake and searched for creative ways to incorporate the apple. Sally’s Baking Addiction came through with the perfect recommendation of shredding the apple and it was on from there. I used a simple tool like this one to shred a small apple.
Aside from the pumpkin and apple, this is a basic spice cake recipe. What makes it so moist and decadent is that I used melted butter in place of oil (as usual) and four eggs. Normally, when you add pumpkin to a recipe, you can decrease or even omit the eggs (see my pumpkin maple baked oatmeal) but NOT if you want jig-inspiring texture I mentioned a moment ago! From there, I conveyed the yummy, orange-ish batter into a bundt pan.
You can also use a rectangle or two round cake pans for this. I just envisioned a bundt cake for this and think it is so festive, not to mention, easier to frost. This is the bundt pan I use. I pretty much dumped the frosting on top and let it fall as it pleased. If you love this one, you should also try my naked bourbon carrot cake or bourbon-glazed gingerbread!
Here’s even more pumpkin and apple love from earlier in the season: easy classic apple pie, chai-spiced pumpkin snickerdoodles. What are your favorite fall dessert recipes? Let me know below and thanks for reading!

A deliciously moist spice cake with pumpkin and apples, topped with maple cream cheese frosting
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 3/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon clove
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 can pumpkin puree
- 1 small apple peeled and shredded
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 tablespoons Maple syrup
- 6 ounces cream cheese softened
- 3 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 cup powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients for cake then add wet ingredients except apple.
- Add apple and stir well. Transfer to a nonstick bundt pan and bake for about 45 minutes. Cool completely.
- Meanwhile, mix up all ingredients for frosting. Frost cake as desired once cooled.
Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction's Super Moist Spice Cake

I’m loving everything pumpkin spice right now & that maple cream cheese frosting sounds delicious!! <3
Thank you! It was a last-minute addition but I love how the flavors play together.
Oh this is so yummy. I love cream cheese frosting.
As if the cake is enough all by its self you go and add the maple frosting to put it over the top delicious.
Lol, I had to do it! Thanks for reading!
I love everything about this!!
You packed ALL the fall flavors in there! Pumpkin, apple, and maple <3
The maple cream cheese frosting sounds amazing! And I’ve never thought to shred my apples with a basic grater. I should be doing this for salads! Great tip!
Thanks! I found the tip via Sally’s Baking Addiction. I think it would work well for salads, too.
This is packed with all the fall flavor oh my i love it. I never had maple cream cheese frosting before, this sounds really yummy. I am sharing this recipe to my social media if you don’t mind. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Thanks for sharing!
Oh my goodness this looks like heaven. What a great idea to shred the apples. Thank you for sharing.
You’re very welcome! It’s really a great trick.
Yummy, definitely recipe to try out xo
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