Pumpkin Sheet Cake

Pumpkin Texas Sheet Cake with Buttermilk Frosting – A casual treat for holiday gatherings with alluring fall flavors!

Why We Love Pumpkin Sheet Cake

Say hello to your new favorite pumpkin dessert! This ultra moist Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Buttermilk Frosting is simple to make, feeds a crowd, and offers the dazzling combination of pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and buttermilk. What’s not to love?

Today’s recipe for Buttermilk Pumpkin Cake is perfectly spiced, fluffy, tender, and covered with a loose tangy-sweet buttermilk frosting. The twang of the buttermilk offers perky balance to the sweetness of the cake with its deep autumn flavors.

Our Pumpkin Cake with Buttermilk Frosting is made in an extra large pan to provide 32 good-sized pieces, or 64 mini pieces. So it’s just the thing to bring to big holiday gatherings or work parties.

However, if you don’t have this size of pan, and don’t want to buy one, you can reduce the ingredients by 1/3 and if will fit in a 9 X 13 inch baking dish.

Try using the Serving Slider in the recipe form below to automatically adjust the recipe to 22 pieces.

Buttermilk Pumpkin Cake Ingredients

• All purpose flour – When in doubt, go with “All Purpose.” For a gluten free version, try this recipe with 1-to-1 gluten free baking mix!
• Pumpkin pie spice – This allows you to skip the buying and measuring of multiple spices. However, if you would rather use the spices you already have at home, mix 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon clove or allspice.
• Granulated and light brown sugar – Using two different sugars sweetens and flavors the cake perfectly.
• Unsalted butter – Always buy unsalted butter for baking. It’s more likely to be fresh and guarantees quality control in the salt department.
• Room temperature eggs –  Warm egg mix better into batters. No weird eggy clumps.
• Pumpkin puree – Do not buy pumpkin pie filling. Look for 100% pure pumpkin in a can!
• Whole buttermilk – Whole fat buttermilk creates the best possible texture.
• Baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla extract – Necessary items for perfect cake baking.
• Powdered sugar – For sweet fluffy frosting.

How To Make Pumpkin Sheet Cake

1. Prep your baking pan
2. Measure your ingredients
3. Cream the butter and sugar
4. Alternate wet and dry ingredients
5. Bake undisturbed
6. Cool and whip the frosting
7. Slather on the frosting

Find the full Buttermilk Pumpkin Cake Recipe with ingredient proportions, detailed instructions, and a video tutorial in the printable form at the bottom of the post.

Possible Add-Ins or Adjustments

Want to make it your own? Consider adding…

• Chocolate chips
• Cinnamon chips
• Crystalized ginger chunks
• Chopped pecans or walnuts
• Pure vanilla extract (1-2 tsp)
• Substitute the pumpkin pie spice for Indian Garam Marsala
• Skip the frosting and spread Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread over the top!

Servings Suggestions

Serve this with any holiday meal, or any night of the week with Brisket Recipe Oven Method, The Best Potato Salad Recipe Ever, and Southwest Pasta Salad, and our Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe.

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Buttermilk Pumpkin Sheet Cake Recipe

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Pumpkin Texas Sheet Cake with Buttermilk Frosting – An ultra moist pumpkin spice cake recipe slathered with tangy-sweet frosting. This casual desserts is a must for holiday gatherings!

Servings: 32 pieces

Video

Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

For the Pumpkin Texas Sheet Cake:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour + extra for pan
• 1 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups softened unsalted butter
• 6 eggs, room temperature
• 28 ounces canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

For the Buttermilk Frosting:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup whole buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5+ cups powdered sugar

Instructions

For the Pumpkin Texas Sheet Cake:

• Set out all butter to softened. Crack the eggs into a bowl so they can warm to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a large 15 1/2×10 1/2-inch deep-sided jelly roll pan. (This is sometimes called a XL baking pan or roasting pan.) Then sprinkle the pan with flour to coat the bottom and sides. Shake the pan, then dump out the excess flour.
• Stir the bag of flour well before measuring. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
• Place the butter and both sugars in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Start on low speed, then move up to high and allow the butter mixture to beat for 4-5 minutes until the sugar crystals are breaking down into the butter. (This is KEY to a light fluffy cake texture.)
• Scrape the bowl with a spatula. Then beat in the eggs one at a time. Scrape the bowl again. Then turn the mixer on low and alternate adding the flour mixture and the pumpkin puree until both are combine. Once the batter is smooth, turn off the mixer.
• Scoop the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it out evenly. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the center is puffy and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Do not open the oven until the timer goes off. 
• Cool the cake completely before you continue. You can place it in the refrigerator to speed up cooling time.

For the Buttermilk Frosting:

• Place the softened butter in the bowl of a stand mixer, with a whip attachment. (Make sure to clean the bowl.) Whip on high until very fluffy and soft. Then turn the mixer on medium-low and mix in the buttermilk, vanilla, and salt.
• Slowly add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until five cups are incorporated. Turn the mixer on high to whip out all the clumps. Once the frosting is light and smooth, check the consistency. If needed, add another 1/2 to 1 cup powdered sugar. Scrape the bowl and whip again until smooth. 
• Spread the frosting over the top of the cooled pumpkin spice cake. Sprinkle with extra pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon. Cut into 32 pieces. Cover until ready to serve. 

Notes

Cake tastes (and feels) best when left at room temperature. This cake can sit out at room temperature for up to 4 or 5 days. To keep longer, cover well and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Then allow it to warm to room temperature before serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1piece, Calories: 342kcal, Carbohydrates: 49g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 15g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Cholesterol: 69mg, Sodium: 219mg, Potassium: 118mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 38g, Vitamin A: 4355IU, Vitamin C: 1.1mg, Calcium: 40mg, Iron: 1.2mg

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Author: Sommer Collier

Making this recipe?Follow us on Instagram and tag @ASpicyPerspective so we can share what you’re cooking!

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• Check out all our Thanksgiving Recipes!
• Learn How To Make Buttermilk Here!

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