Pumpkin cream cheese Bundt cake is everything you love about pumpkin cake with a decadent cheesecake layer hiding inside. Simple to prepare and perfectly spiced, this fall cake always impresses a crowd. This layered beauty is irresistible on its own, but even more worthy of your fork with salted caramel drizzled on top! 😉
I originally published this recipe in 2016 and have since added new photos and more helpful success tips.
If you like my pumpkin Bundt cake, you’re going to love today’s pumpkin cream cheese Bundt cake. We use the same base recipe, skip the chocolate chips, and add a cream cheese layer. Hello, fall!
Why You’ll Love This Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bundt Cake:
- Moist, dense pumpkin cake crumb with a cheesecake-style filling
- Spiced with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice (or you can use pumpkin pie spice)
- Pumpkin + cream cheese make a great team, just like in these pumpkin cream cheese muffins and pumpkin cheesecake pie
- Conveniently uses 1 standard can of pumpkin. (My beloved pumpkin pie uses an entire can, too. For future reference!)
- Easy to make; beginner bakers can absolutely handle this one
- A large, beautiful, impressive cake perfect for fall celebrations—with no decorating skills required
If you love dessert + cozy fall flavors, here’s a list of 30+ fall cake recipes.
These Are Key Ingredients You Need & Why
Like all of the recipes on my website and in my cookbooks, my team and I tested various ingredients and ratios to develop a standout cake with excellent flavor and texture. Here are some key ingredients:
- Baking Soda: 2 teaspoons of baking soda seems like a lot, and it is. But think about the size of a Bundt cake… they’re huge, and need to rise quite a lot in the tall cake pan. In addition to leavening, baking soda deepens a baked good’s color and neutralizes its acids.
- Spices: Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice. On its own, pumpkin is quite bland, so you need a lot of spice for flavor. You can also use pumpkin pie spice here—see recipe Notes.
- Oil: You can use vegetable oil, canola oil, or avocado oil here. This cake needs a neutral-tasting oil so it doesn’t overpower the pumpkin spice flavor.
- Eggs: Pumpkin, oil, and flour are big, heavy ingredients so you need eggs in the batter for lift; eggs also bind the ingredients together. You need an egg for the cream cheese filling, too.
- Pure Pumpkin: This Bundt cake conveniently uses one standard 15-ounce can of pumpkin. For best results and flavor, I strongly recommend using canned pumpkin puree instead of homemade. I prefer Libby’s brand for this cake. (Not sponsored by them, just a big fan!)
- Cream Cheese: It’s important to use the block cream cheese that comes in a box, as opposed to the spreadable kind that comes in a tub. That’s great for bagels, but it doesn’t make for a sturdy, sliceable cheesecake layer.
You also need all-purpose flour, salt, brown sugar + granulated white sugar, and vanilla.
The Best Cream Cheese Filling to Use
You only need 4 ingredients for the cream cheese layer, 3 of which you already got out for the cake batter: brick-style cream cheese, an egg, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract.
This tangy, creamy filling isn’t overly sweet, which I love—and I think you’ll appreciate too. Real flavors shine through today!
Overview: How to Make It
You’ll find the full recipe below, but here’s a quick visual of the steps:
Make the cake batter. This is as simple as whisking together the dry ingredients, whisking together the wet ingredients, and then whisking wet + dry together.
Make the cream cheese filling. Use an electric mixer to beat the softened cream cheese until completely smooth—no lumps. Then beat in the remaining ingredients.
Let’s layer: Spread half the pumpkin batter into your greased Bundt pan. Carefully spread the cream cheese filling on top. I like to spread it as close to the edges of the pan as possible, so you get filling in every bite. Then top with the remaining cake batter.
You follow similar layering methods when making my cheesecake swirl carrot Bundt cake.
And bake. This is a huge cake so it takes a while to completely bake through. You’ll also need to let it cool for a bit before you invert it, otherwise it will stick to the pan.
As I said before, this cake doesn’t really need a topping, but if you want to add a little something extra, it’s fabulous as pictured with salted caramel sauce + flaky sea salt sprinkled on top. It’s also lovely with vanilla icing + a pinch of pumpkin pie spice. Or go full-cream-cheese-ahead and top with the maple cinnamon cream cheese icing from these pumpkin cinnamon rolls!
Bundt Pan Recommendations
Do you make a lot of Bundt cakes? If so, you need a Bundt pan that’s 9.5 to 10.5 inches in diameter, and can hold 10 to 12 cups of batter. Let me share two favorite Bundt cake pan options with you:
- Anolon Bundt Pan: Super quality, heavy-duty, great price, never warps, awesome rubber grips. I’ve been using it for years and, honestly, it’s just as durable as day 1.
- Nordic Ware Bundt Pan: Outstanding quality, heavy-duty, and makes beautiful cakes.
Whichever Bundt pan you use, be sure to grease it very generously before adding the batter. Even if the pan is labeled nonstick, due to the size and weight of a Bundt cake, you NEED a lot of greasing so the cake easily separates from the pan when inverting it.
Other Favorite Pumpkin Recipes
And be sure to bookmark this list of best pumpkin desserts.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bundt Cake
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours, 30 minutes
Yield: serves 12
Category: Cake
Method: Baking
Cuisine: American
Description
Pumpkin cream cheese Bundt cake combines generously spiced pumpkin cake with rich and creamy cheesecake. Simple to prepare, this fall cake always impresses a crowd. This layered beauty is irresistible on its own, but you can add optional toppings. See recipe Note.
Cake
Cream Cheese Filling
Optional Topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and generously grease a 10-inch Bundt pan. (Even if your pan is labeled nonstick, still grease it very well to prevent the big heavy cake from sticking.)
- Make the cake batter: In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice together. Set aside. In another large bowl, whisk the pumpkin, brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until completely combined. Batter is thick. Set aside.
- Make the cream cheese filling: Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese on high speed until no lumps remain, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula. Beat in the remaining ingredients on medium-high speed until combined and creamy, about 1 minute.
- Spread half of the pumpkin batter into the prepared bundt pan. Spread all of the cream cheese filling evenly on top. Spread the remaining pumpkin batter on top. Use a knife to gently swirl the layers together.
- Bake for 55–65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean with just a couple lightly moist crumbs. This is a large, heavy cake so don’t be alarmed if it takes a little longer in your oven. Mine usually takes 60 minutes exactly.
- Once done, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 2 hours in the pan set on a wire rack. Then invert the slightly cooled Bundt cake onto a cooling rack or serving plate/cake stand.
- Allow to cool completely before drizzling with optional topping and serving.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days and/or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Baked cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. Be sure to wrap it tightly. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Bundt Cake Pan (I like this one or this one) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cooling Rack
- Spices: Instead of 1/2 teaspoon each ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice, you can use 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. (You will still add the 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon.)
- Pumpkin: For best results and flavor, I strongly recommend using canned pumpkin puree over homemade in this recipe. I found the flavor is much better with canned. I prefer Libby’s brand for this cake.
- Oil: You can use vegetable oil, canola oil, avocado oil, or olive oil. Instead of 1 cup of oil, try 1/2 cup (90g) unsweetened applesauce and 1/2 cup (120ml) oil. The cake is just as moist. If you want to use coconut oil, melt it first, and be sure that all of the other ingredients are room temperature. Bake the batter right away, because as the coconut oil begins to cool and solidify, it thickens the batter and could result in an overly dense cake.
- Cream Cheese: Brick cream cheese is typically sold in 8-ounce blocks. You need 1 and 1/2 of them for this cake.
- More Topping Options: Brown butter icing from my peach Bundt cake; chocolate ganache; cream cheese frosting; homemade whipped cream; brown sugar glaze from my apple Bundt cake
- Can I Turn This Into a Loaf? Yes. This recipe yields 2 loaf pan-size cakes, made in 9×5-inch loaf pans. Bake time will be similar to my pumpkin bread. Simply layer the pumpkin and cream cheese batters, then swirl gently with a knife.
