This super easy Pumpkin Pie Cake gives you the satisfaction of a pumpkin pie but without having to deal with crust-rolling. Just dump and bake. Plus, streusel=WIN. Add some vanilla ice cream on top and you will be in Thanksgiving heaven!

Easy Pumpkin Pie Cake with ice cream

Originally posted September 11, 2015

Are you a book person? I’m not asking if you read. Everyone reads. I’m asking if you are a Book Person. You know, the one who buys a book every time they enter a book store. The one who automatically accepts free books, even if he knows he will never read them.

The guy who, if given his choice of a dream room in an imaginary house, would NOT choose a man-cave, but rather a library, complete with fireplace and wood paneling. And a ladder to reach high shelves. Maybe like the one in Beauty and the Beast, maybe not.

Why yes, I AM talking about my husband, how could you tell?

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Pumpkin Pie Cake topped with cinnamon sticks

Last time we moved was 2 years ago, and my mother-in-law came out to help us unpack, because she’s awesome like that. She was helping me organize our million books onto the shelves (that don’t look anything like Beast’s, btw).

The entire Star Wars saga. Multiple science fiction sets. Every text book he has ever had. Some he didn’t have. (also, don’t even get me started on the 100s of CDs hiding under our bed. CEEDEES. Like, from the past.)

Pouring pumpkin pie dump cake
Here’s the pumpkin pie mixture being poured right on top of the cake batter.

Kris and I were doing our shelving project while Eric was at work and she could not believe some of the books we had hung onto. For example, there was one book that we had TWO copies of, one of them with a ripped-off cover. Somehow they had both made it through our cross-country move.

Easy Pumpkin Pie Cake on plate

“Throw it away Karen.” says Kris.
“I can’t just throw it away! It’s a book about Jesus, first of all, and second, what would I tell Eric??”
“He will never know.”
“He might. What if he asks me where it is?
“Say you don’t know.
“But I DO know!!
“No you don’t. Once the garbage truck picks it up, you will have no idea where it is. It could be in a dump. It could be in transit. It could be burned. It could be anywhere. You don’t know.”

Slices of pumpkin pie cake

Kris is married to a packrat too. Now I know how they have such a peaceful marriage. “I don’t know, honey.” That’s how.

Pumpkin Pie as a cake

How to make Pumpkin Pie Cake

But let’s talk about this recipe! Are you a pumpkin pie lover? I’ve never been the biggest fan, but turns out you add some cake and streusel and I am all over that stuff. This is a really easy recipe, and would be a great dessert to make for Thanksgiving or any fall gathering if you are not a confident pie-maker. It’s basically a cake with a layer of pumpkin pie in the middle…a pumpake? A cakekin? Call it what you like, I call it Way Better Than Pumpkin Pie. Feeds a crowd! Or a really sugar-addicted family of four for a few days!

Pouring evaporated milk into mixer
Careful not to splash when mixing in your evaporated milk!

It’s really so easy. First take a cup of your dry yellow cake mix out and set it aside for the streusel. Mix up the rest of your cake batter with some eggs and butter and spread it in the pan.

Then mix up your pumpkin pie mix. Just pumpkin, eggs, sugar, spices, and evaporated milk. Pour it over the top. Some would call it a pumpkin pie dump cake.

Dough in pan and in baking dish

Then go back to your reserved cake mix and cut in the remaining cold butter. Throw it on top of the pumpkin mixture, then top with cinnamon and sugar. If you want you can stir the cinnamon-sugar into the cake mix, and then cut in the butter. Either way works great!

This recipe is so fun to make for any event in the fall! And I promise, if you make this instead of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, no one will complain. Just don’t forget the ice cream!

More awesome fall desserts!

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Easy Pumpkin Pie Cake

5 from 5 votes
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 1 hour
Total: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 12 Servings
This super easy Pumpkin Pie Cake gives you the satisfaction of a pumpkin pie but without having to deal with crust-rolling. Just dump and bake. Plus, streusel=WIN. Add some vanilla ice cream on top and you will be in Thanksgiving heaven!

Ingredients

For the crust:

  • 1 box yellow cake mix, divided (reserve 1 cup for topping)*
  • 1/2 cup butter, mostly melted
  • 1 egg, beaten

For the filling:

  • 1 (20-oz) can pumpkin, NOT pumpkin pie filling
  • 1 & 1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 12-oz can evaporated milk

For the topping:

  • 1 cup yellow cake mix
  • 1/4 cup butter, cold, cut into chunks
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup sugar

Instructions

  • Grease a 9×13 inch pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Measure out 1 cup of the yellow cake mix into a small mixing bowl. Set aside (it’s for the top).
  • In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat together the remaining cake mix, melted butter, and egg (if your butter is very hot, wait until it cools before adding the egg. Or be impatient like me and add it while the mixer is on.)
  • Spread the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
  • In the same bowl, add pumpkin, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Beat until combined, then add the evaporated milk. Beat well (careful not to splash).
  • Pour the mixture on top of the first layer.
  • Add the cut butter to the cake mix and use a pastry knife of fork to cut until it looks crumbly. (There should be pea-size pieces of butter).
  • Sprinkle this mixture over the cake.
  • In another small bowl, combine the cinnamon and 1/2 cup sugar. Sprinkle over the cake.
  • Bake at 350 for about 60-65 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the center is set.
  • Serve warm with ice cream or cold with whipped cream!

Video

Notes

This cake will only last 1-2 days on the counter. After that stick it in the fridge.
*Cake mixes are getting smaller and smaller these days. They used to be 18.25 ounces (I think?) Now they are 15-16 ounces. Use the biggest one you can find. I think mine was 16.25.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 541kcal | Carbohydrates: 92g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 616mg | Potassium: 311mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 65g | Vitamin A: 4547IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 241mg | Iron: 2mg
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 541
Keyword: Blackberry Cake, pumpkin, Pumpkin Cake, pumpkin pie
Did you make this? I’d love to see it!Mention @thefoodcharlatan or tag #thefoodcharlatan!

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Comments

  1. This was delicious! Easy to make. Served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
    My family thought it was really good.
    Thank you for the recipe!

    1. Hey Jane! I’m so glad you liked the pie cake! It’s the BEST with ice cream :) Thanks so much for coming back to comment! You rock.

  2. Hi!! I was so hopeful that this cake would be great for my mom group at church tomorrow, but we’re going on 70+ minutes of bake time and the inside is still complete liquid while the top is getting too dark! I’m baffled!! And now that it’s after 11pm, I’m calling it quits. Waaaaah! :( Not sure what happened…

    1. I’m sorry Trista, that’s a bummer! I have no idea what went wrong, this cake is tried and true. Better luck next time!

  3. Hi Karen!! I did this cake twice, one with yellow cake box, and the other one with spice cake. I definitely like it better with the spice cake. Thanks for the recipe! Happy Thanksgiving!

  4. Hello Karen. Just discovered your blog. Love the humor and the recipes! I will be making the Pumpkin Pie Cake for my church potluck this weekend. I’m sure it will be a hit! Looking forward to more recipes:) Oh and about the whole book thing, my dream in life is to win the lottery so that I can sit and read all day, every day. With a little cooking and baking thrown in of course….

    1. This recipe is perfect for a church potluck! I’m sure everyone will love it. Make sure you get a piece! :) Reading cooking and baking sounds like a dream to me too!

  5. My husband and toddlers helped me make this. Its super easy and it tastes amazing. I took leftovers to my colleagues with a can of whip cream. I came home with a clean tray!!! Served cold with whip cream it tastes exactly like pumpkin pie🍁

    1. Any recipe that toddlers can help make is a win, right?? Thanks for the review Sarah, I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Also, mad respect for getting that maple leaf to show up on here. You must be a true Canadian.

  6. I enjoy reading, but I usually get my books from the library. Books are the worse when you are moving: so heavy!

  7. Just love this recipe!! Yummy.
    I am definitely a book person. I have about 70 brand new books that I have not read yet, though I still buy more books. (When I was young I used to buy shoes like this.) I have an alphabetical list of authors and the books I have. The ones I have read are marked, and they are also stored alphabetically by author in separate places. The ones I have read along the one wall and the others I have not read in another bookshelf along another wall. My daughter’s old bedroom is now my “library”. What more can I say? the days are just to short! :)

    1. Whoa Elizabeth! That is intense! Eric is definitely not that bad/good. Haha. You must know a lot more things than I do. Haha!

  8. I’m a little bit too excited about this cake. It’s so true about white girls and pumpkin. I’m living the stereo type as I’m writing this with a Pumpkin Spice Latte in hand :)

  9. oh my gosh, Karen!! I just know I would love this! I love the streusel crumb on top and that the base is made with a cake mix and I just love it all. And, I’m not a book person. Except for buying books for my son – he loves them. So I can’t help but buy one or two each time we go to the book store (which happens occasionally because he also loves exploring book stores!)

  10. What a delicious cake! I am SO a book person. Like the kind of book person who refuses to buy a kindle because I like to touch, feel, hold and smell a book when I’m reading it. And I insist on buying them because I want to have a library of books I’ve read.Of course I never thoguht about what its going to be like to move them ;)

  11. LOL! I loved that last part of your mother in law telling you no you won’t know where it is, so crafty!! I love this cake even more, pumpkin and cake make a perfect combo!

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