This gluten-free Pumpkin Spice Cake is soft and moist, warm with cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom, and comes together in one bowl with a whisk – no mixer needed. It bakes in a 9 x 9 inch pan in about 25–30 minutes and is lovely after dinner or with a cup of afternoon tea.

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Good to know before you start

Pumpkin: You need 8 oz (about 1 cup) of pumpkin puree, so a standard 15 oz can will leave you with some extra. No canned pumpkin? About a cup of pureed cooked pumpkin works too.
Pan: A 9 x 9 inch pan (about 23 x 23 cm). One reader baked it in a quarter sheet pan for 28 minutes.
No mixer: Just a bowl and a whisk.
Cool it first: Let the cake cool completely before you add whipped cream or frosting.

“BEST pumpkin cake ever!” – Reader Casey

For a hot second I thought about calling this a “Pumpkin Spice Snack Cake“ ~ but that was a mouthful and, to be honest, I’d rather have a mouthful of this Pumpkin Spice Cake instead!

This pumpkin spice cake is a favorite in our home, much like this flourless chocolate cake is.

Other than the fact that this cake is gluten free, this cake is for those days you want to treat yourself as it is on the indulgent side, unlike these refined sugar free carrot bars.

What are the ingredients to make this pumpkin spice cake?

You will need the following 11 ingredients to make this easy cake, and they are:

Eggs
Oil (I used corn oil)
100% pure pumpkin puree
Granulated sugar
Gluten-free flour (I used King Arthur)
Baking powder
Baking soda
Salt
Ground cinnamon
Ground ginger
Ground cardamom

Ingredients to make gluten free pumpkin spice cake

You don’t need your electric mixer to make this Pumpkin Spice Cake.

Simply whisk the pumpkin puree, eggs, and oil together in a bowl. Then add the dry ingredients – sugar, gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices – and mix well. Grab a whisk and give your wrist a workout!

I’m just joking- you don’t even have to whisk this mixture that hard- just a few times so all ingredients are well incorporated. I used cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom, in this easy cake to amp up the taste factor.

Usually when I make a pumpkin treat, I love the inviting aroma cloves and nutmeg lend to it, along with cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger.

But, I made this cake with all five spices and this cake turned out a lot darker than I wanted it to be. So, I decided to leave them out – and I gotta say, they were not missed.

I have a hard time deciding if I like this Pumpkin Spice Cake more with a dollop of cinnamon-spiked whipped cream (like you see here) or smothered with a thick layer of buttercream frosting.

By the way, I made the cinnamon-spiked whipped cream by mixing half a cup of non-dairy whipped topping with 1 tsp of cinnamon and ¼ cup of confectioners’ sugar.

Both ways, they tamed my sweet tooth well and my only regret currently is that I am snacking on my last piece as I write this.

Enjoying a Slice of gluten free pumpkin spice cake

Usually I’m burning the midnight oil photographing food for this blog of mine. But that wasn’t the case with this Pumpkin Spice Cake.

You see, I whipped this snack cake up in the early morning hours for a photo shoot at my day job at the time. I also baked a batch of these Chocolate Chip Cookies (sans the orange), a breakfast casserole with croissants and berries, and these Finger Bread sticks.

Back then, I was a graphic designer by day and food blogger by night, and I had the opportunity to marry my day gig and night one when I was invited on a product photo-shoot.

The company I worked for gave me the opportunity to use their fall/holiday bakeware and cookware. They suggested testing out their bake ware to bake some treats in. And then featuring the treats and bakeware/cookware in product shots. I also got to style the photos for their fall and holiday promotions.

Taking a taste of a slice of Easy and Tasty gluten free pumpkin spice cake

What makes this even sweeter (no pun intended) is that this wasn’t part of the equation when I reluctantly left my job at the Athens Clarke County Police Department to accept an offer at that company.

My first week there, I was missing some of the folks at the PD a whole lot. I was even missing juggling the myriad of tasks my old job called for. Then in my second week, I found out about my part in the photo-shoot and I was thrilled. I’m always in awe of God’s hand in sweetening every situation.

And speaking of sweetening, I will leave y’all with the recipe for this easy, gluten-free, Pumpkin Spice Cake.

Storage

Store leftover cake covered in the fridge for up to 7 days. Add the whipped cream just before serving.

Tips from readers

Patt baked it for 28 minutes in a quarter sheet pan and added mini chocolate chips. She said it was moist, fluffy, and a cinch to make, and it’s now her go-to gluten-free dessert.
Mary said it worked exactly as written.
Casey called it the “BEST pumpkin cake ever!”