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These adorable little Pumpkin Shaped Cakes are as tasty as they are cute. Rich, decadent but incredibly light and fluffy chocolate cake topped with an easy buttercream frosting infused with pumpkin pie spice. These individual little cakes are perfect for Halloween or Thanksgiving, and filled with the warm taste of fall.

Table of Contents hide

1 Special Tools Needed

2 Halloween Pumpkin Cake Ingredients

3 How to Make a Pumpkin-Shaped Cake

4 Recipe Tips

5 Storage Instructions

6 Can I Freeze These Cakes?

7 Can I Make Bigger Pumpkin Cakes?

8 More Fall Desserts You’ll Love

9 Pumpkin Shaped Cake

Special Tools Needed

This recipe makes six pumpkin cakes (or twelve 3-inch bundt cakes). You will need mini bundt pans for this recipe.

Halloween Pumpkin Cake Ingredients

To make this pumpkin bundt cake recipe, you will need the following ingredients (see the recipe card below for exact amounts):

All purpose flour
Unsweetened cocoa powder
Salt
Baking soda
Baking powder
Buttermilk
Coffee: freshly brewed is best.
Eggs
Vegetable oil
Sugar
Butter
Powdered sugar
Pumpkin pie spice
Heavy cream
Orange food coloring: Don’t have orange? Mix together 1 part red food coloring with 2 parts yellow food coloring.
Modeling chocolate or fondant: I used modeling chocolate for this but fondant works just as well. Modelling chocolate can be found where you would purchase specialty baking items. I found it in my local craft store, Michael’s. Fondant can be found at Walmart.

Pumpkin Shaped Cake Recipe Ingredients Labeled

How to Make a Pumpkin-Shaped Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray your bundt pans with cooking spray. Sprinkle a little bit of cocoa powder and tap them to coat the inside of the pans.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.
In the bowl to your stand mixer, use the whisk attachment to beat together the buttermilk, coffee, eggs, vegetable oil and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until fully combined.
Slowly add the flour mixture, approximately 1/2 cup at a time, and beat on medium until combined. Beat for an additional 2 minutes after it comes together. The batter is very thin.
Pour the batter into your prepared bundt pans. Fill each one approximately 75% full. Place the bundt pans on a baking sheet and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the cake appears dry and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before flipping them out on the a cooling rack to cool completely.
Once the cakes have cooled, we can start on the frosting. In the bowl to your stand mixer, beat the softened butter until smooth.
Add 2 cups of the powdered sugar to the bowl with the pumpkin pie spice. Start beating on low and increase the speed to high as the sugar mixes in.
Add another cup of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of heavy cream. If the frosting is too dry, add another tablespoon of heavy cream and beat until smooth.
Add 1 teaspoon of the orange food coloring and beat in. Add more if needed to get a vibrant orange color.
Form the modeling chocolate or the fondant into a stem shape. You’ll want the base of the stem to be the diameter of the center portion of your bundt pan.
Now it is time to assemble your cakes. Spread the orange frosting onto the bottom of one of the cooled bundt cakes, evenly, about a 1/4 of an inch thick. Top with a second bundt cake so that the bottoms are pressed together and the shape resembles a mini pumpkin.
Ice the entire outside of the cake with the orange frosting, use a knife or a flexible cake scraper to give you the indents that you find in a pumpkin. The shape of your bundt pans will help with this.
Top with your chocolate or fondant stem and serve immediately.

Collage of Pumpkin Shaped Cake Recipe Steps

Recipe Tips

I found it easier to add the outside layer of icing when the cake was already placed on its serving dish.

Storage Instructions

Store leftovers, covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days. It will go stale before it goes bad. You can store in the fridge for up to 5 days but you do lose some of the fluffiness in the cake when it is refrigerated.

Can I Freeze These Cakes?

You can freeze these cakes for up to 3 months. Simply place in an airtight container in a single layer before freezing. Thaw on the counter when you are ready to serve.

Can I Make Bigger Pumpkin Cakes?

Want to make a large sized pumpkin? Double the recipe and bake in two 12-inch bundt pans for 35-40 minutes.

Pumpkin Shaped Cake