Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Cake Mix

Now you could make this pumpkin bundt cake in a smaller form like Libby’s pumpkin muffins, but this is way prettier. With a few eggs, canned pumpkin and some cinnamon you can transform a regular dry mix into something delicious to serve after dinner.

Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

You could use a few different flavors to make this cake mix recipe but spice is best if you can find it. Normally during the holidays it is easy to find, and almost always online you can grab a few. Yellow would be second best as far as choices go and what we used here. If you used spice I would not add more cinnamon in that case.

When September hits I am ALL about this flavor, and there are tons of cake mix hacks you can do to make all sorts of things. From cookies to muffins and everything in between you should try a few others after you fall in love with this one.

Ingredient Notes

You are going to start out with the obvious from the title, a box cake mix yellow or spice is actually the best if you can find it. If you choose to use something other than spice cake mix you will want to add extra Fall seasonings like some nutmeg and/or cinnamon

Then you will want canned pumpkin or you can make homemade pressure cooker pumpkin puree first and then make this with it once mashed.

To make this thicker and super moist you will want a few large eggs. I highly recommend organic free range as they create the richest texture and have the best flavor for baked goods.

Pumpkin Cake without Eggs

Now if you or someone in your household cannot handle milk or eggs in recipes, you should try our Pumpkin Crazy Cake instead. It has many of the same flavors but is baked in a 8×8 pan instead. Super moist even without these “normal” ingredients, you will be surprised at how you can’t even tell the difference. 😉

Can you add chocolate chips?

You could add some mini semi sweet chocolate chips could be included into the batter at the end too. I would keep it to 1/2 cup or so. White chocolate chips will bring another flavor to this dish with a bit more vanilla taste to it. If you love nuts you could add 1/2 of a cup of crushed walnuts or pecans are great in pumpkin desserts with pumpkin puree this time of year.

Frosting

I highly suggest that you make our easy homemade Cream Cheese Frosting without Butter to top this with. If you want something lighter you can just combine 2 cups powdered sugar with enough milk to create a thick glaze to pour over the top instead.

Make our easy frosting explained below or just melt a tub of already made to pour over the top of the whole thing. Just let it get to room temperature on a cooling rack when done. If it doesn’t cool completely first it will slide right off of your delicious pumpkin cake.

How Long to Bake Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Cake Mix

Whether you use cake mix as the base for your batter or make homemade you are going to want to bake for approximately 40-45 minutes. This may vary a little bit depending on your altitude but generally this is just right so it stays moist.

How Long to Bake Mini Pumpkin Bundt Cakes

You can certainly make this same batter into other shapes and sizes. Mini bundt cakes are fun as they are individual sizes just like Nothing Bundt Cakes but way cheaper this way. Doesn’t take nearly as long to bake either (at 20 min) and still have that pretty shape. A great alternative to do during the holidays. Cool, wrap in cellophane and gift.

How Long to Bake into Muffins

Another alternative is to bake mini pumpkin muffins. You can make a lot a lot of these if you choose to go so small. If you have a bunch of kids these are fun and an easy grab and go breakfast idea for sure. NO need to cut, slice, or mess especially if you use paper liners.

Tips

There are tons of pans you can purchase with different decor on the outside, meaning I have one with impressions of leaves for the Fall. In the Winter I found one with gingerbread men in it. Those are really cute, only downside is that they are harder to clean with all the nooks and crannies. Worth it though for the cuteness. 😉

Best tip no matter what your shape is is to spray the inside for sure. You can also shake a bit of flour on top of that to ensure it slides right out. May leave a bit of white on the outside though in that case. If you are frosting it that won’t matter.

You could add a tsp of homemade gingerbread spice for a fun Fall duo if you wanted to. I mean the tweaks you can make to the basics of this one are many, but one favorite we have tried is this.

When I find mixes on sale I will buy quite a few. This and our Pumpkin Pie Dump Cake saves quite well so I will typically bake 1 per week since there are so many possibilities we love.

How do you know when pumpkin bundt cake is done?

This is vital so it doesn’t come out dry. To test wait until toothpick comes out with moist crumbs attached but is NOT dry. There shouldn’t be wet batter but bits of moist cake may cling to it when you pull it out. Then set on a cooling rack in the pan for 15 minutes only, remove, and allow to cool the rest of the way. Leaving in the hot pan will dry it out.

FAQ

Nope, one will do just fine. Once you add all the other ingredients to make the batter it should fill a little more than halfway. When it rises it will be close to the top and the perfect size to serve 8-12 people a slice!

Spice cake mix is ideal because there are already a lot of the Fall spices in there. You can use yellow and add a bit more cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and ground cloves though to make it taste similar though if that is all you can find.

No, pumpkin pie mix and pumpkin puree are not the same thing. They are used differently in recipes, and substituting one for the other can significantly affect the outcome of your dish. Puree is made from pure, cooked, and mashed pumpkin with no added ingredients, sweeteners or spices. Pie mix is pre-seasoned and sweetened, along with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves, and sometimes added flavorings or thickeners.

What can I do with a messed up Bundt cake?

Ok so you thought you greased the pan enough but once flipped over it broke and doesn’t look so pretty. NO worries friends!! Nobody will know the difference if you are going to frost it for sure. This is the best way to “glue” the pieces back together so it looks whole again. Wait until it is cooled and then lather that stuff all over the top sticking it all in one loop again.

If you aren’t happy with this idea, you can make cake pops with cake mix with it!! Yep, just smash the pieces, mix with frosting and roll into balls on sticks. Dip into melted chocolate and a new dessert is born entirely out of the “mistake”. Do NOT throw it away friends, it is still good and can even be crumbled on top of sundaes, think out side of the box!