Pumpkin Apple Spice Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

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!

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Pumpkin Apple Spice Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

45 mins

Total Time

55 mins

 

A deliciously moist spice cake with pumpkin and apples, topped with maple cream cheese frosting

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cream cheese frosting, fall dessert recipe, pumpkin cake, pumpkin spice cake, Thanksgiving cake, Thanksgiving dessert recipe

Servings: 12 people

Ingredients

Cake

• 2 ½ cups flour
• 1 ¾ cup brown sugar packed
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon Nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon clove
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ cup milk
• ½ can pumpkin puree
• 1 small apple peeled and shredded
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Frosting

• 2 tablespoons Maple syrup
• 6 ounces cream cheese softened
• 3 tablespoons butter melted
• 1 cup powdered sugar sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients for cake then add wet ingredients except apple.
2. Add apple and stir well. Transfer to a nonstick bundt pan and bake for about 45 minutes. Cool completely.
3. Meanwhile, mix up all ingredients for frosting. Frost cake as desired once cooled.

Recipe Notes

Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction's Super Moist Spice Cake