Description
A classic autumn pumpkin spice cake made with warm spices, pumpkin purée, and oil for incredible moisture. This easy one-bowl recipe creates a tender, flavorful cake that’s perfect for breakfast or dessert.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- Pinch of cloves
Wet & Mix-In Ingredients:
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup avocado oil (or canola/vegetable oil)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup canned pumpkin purée
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup raisins (optional, but traditional in Tori’s version)
Instructions
- Preheat and Prep (5 minutes): Crank that oven to 350°F and butter up your 9×5 loaf pan like your life depends on it. I learned the hard way that skimping on the grease means half your cake stays stuck to the pan – not cute.
- Mix the Dry Ingredients (5 minutes): Dump all your dry stuff in one bowl – flour, baking powder, all those gorgeous spices, and salt. Whisk it around until it looks uniform because nobody wants a bite of straight cinnamon powder.
- Combine the Wet Ingredients (5 minutes): Grab another bowl and throw in both sugars, oil, eggs, that beautiful orange pumpkin, and vanilla. Whisk until it’s smooth and looks like cake batter should look.
- Bring It All Together (5 minutes): Now comes the part where people mess up – dump your dry ingredients into the wet ones and fold gently with a spatula. Stop the second you can’t see flour streaks. Seriously, stop. Toss in those raisins if you’re using them.
- Into the Pan: Scrape every bit of that batter into your pan and smooth the top so it bakes evenly.
- Bake to Perfection (60 minutes): Stick it in the oven and set your timer for 55 minutes, then start checking with a toothpick. Mine usually needs the full hour but ovens are weird.
- Cool with Patience (10 minutes): This is torture but let it sit in the pan for 10 minutes before flipping it out. Trust the process.
Notes
The Toothpick Test: Start checking for doneness around the 55-minute mark. Every oven is different, and you don’t want to overbake this beauty!
Oil vs. Butter: The oil in this recipe is what keeps the cake incredibly moist for days. Don’t substitute butter here – trust the process!
Spice Freshness Matters: If your ground spices have been sitting in your cabinet since 2019, it’s time for an upgrade. Fresh spices make all the difference in that warm pumpkin spice flavor.
Room Temperature Ingredients: While the recipe is forgiving, room temperature eggs mix more easily and create a better texture.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 245
- Sugar: 28g
- Sodium: 195mg
- Fat: 7g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 42g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 4g
- Cholesterol: 35mg