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Pumpkin sheet cake made in a quarter sheet cake pan. Topped with the best pumpkin spice frosting made on the stove!
Pumpkin sheet cake:
I always hesitate before sharing my quarter sheet cake recipes, because they clearly serve more than two.
However, a quarter sheet cake recipe makes significantly less cake than a standard giant sheet cake, so I think weโre good. My goal is smaller desserts and less desserts, notย justย two single pieces of dessert, you know? I hope youโre with me!
Have you seen my Texas Chocolate Quarter Sheet Cake? We absolutely love it, and bake it often. I included a White Texas Sheet Cake recipe in my 3rd cookbook, Sweet & Simple: Dessert for Two.
Itโs time for the pumpkin sheet cake version!
First, I feel like I should really say THANK YOU. There was a time in my life when I didnโt like pumpkin. It had to do with an incident in college with raw pumpkin, and I avoided pumpkin for years afterwards.
However, over the 8 years of writing this blog, I always make an effort to include a few pumpkin recipes for you each year. Slowly, over time, Iโve started to actually like pumpkinโall thanks to you!
Some of your favorite pumpkin recipes from this site are:
โPumpkin Nutella Muffins
โPumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
โPumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
โPumpkin Cakes for Two
โPumpkin Gnocchi
โPumpkin Swirl Brownies
โPumpkin Donut Holes
โPumpkin Chocolate Cupcakes
โPumpkin Snickerdoodles
โPumpkin Gooey Butter Cake
Oops, I think I listed nearly all of them. The point is, a lot of recipes have come before this one that makes me finally ready to appreciate a real pumpkin cake!
A pumpkin Sheet Cake with pumpkin spice frosting!
The pumpkin recipes Iโve shared so far on this site are so good that I donโt even mind that they contain pumpkin. While youโll never catch me gobbling up a plain piece of pumpkin pie, you can occasionally find me reaching for my Orange Spiced Coconut Pumpkin Pie.
Overtime, Iโve noticed that Iโve become more okay with pumpkin. It started slowly with my homemade pumpkin spice latte (naturally), and it stayed that way for years. But this year, I think Iโm ready for more vegan pumpkin muffins! Pumpkin sheet cake! And all the pumpkin desserts for two!
Weโve come a very long way, friends.
Thanks for being patient with me, and teaching me to love pumpkin, even if I only love it with gobs of sugar and spices, I appreciate you.
I dedicate this pumpkin quarter sheet cake to you!
How big is a quarter sheet cake?
Iโm so glad you asked! The quarter sheet cake pan that I use measures roughly 9โณ x 13โณ x 1โณ. This is the exact pan that I use. I own two, and I use them frequently for roasting small batches of vegetables.
How many people does a quarter sheet cake feed?
If you glimpse at the photo, you can see that you get 12 small pieces of cake from this pumpkin sheet cake recipe. I would bake a quarter sheet cake for a dinner party of 4 to 6 people. You might not have any leftover, but no one will miss dessert either!
This pumpkin sheet cake recipe uses just 3/4 cup of pumpkin, leaving you with one full cup leftover from the can with which to bake another pumpkin dessert for two. Youโll also have al leftover egg yolk, as this recipe only uses the egg white. Browse my recipes that use egg yolks only.
I hope you enjoy this pumpkin sheet cake, but I really hope you enjoy the pumpkin spice frosting! I like to make my own pumpkin spice mix (1 tablespoon cinnamon, 2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice, and 1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper), and use it here.
While youโre making the frosting on the stovetop, itโs an excellent time to practice your browned butter skills! Since the butter melts alone before any other ingredients are added, go ahead and practice browning it. If at any point you get scared youโre going to burn it, just add the milk and powdered sugar and continue! Itโs like an optional browned butter frosting situation here, friends. Itโs excellent with browned butter, but itโs amazing without it, too.
Pumpkin Sheet Cake
One bowl pumpkin sheet cake with pumpkin spice frosting.
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg white (yolk removed)
- 3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice*
For the pumpkin spice frosting:
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons buttermilk
- 2 heaping cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a quarter sheet pan (9" x 13" x 1") with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, buttermilk, egg white, pumpkin, baking soda and pumpkin pie spice. Mix very well.
- Pour the pumpkin mixture into the bowl with the flour, and stir until everything is combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- While the cake cools, make the frosting: in a small sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. You can brown the butter if you like. Whisk in the buttermilk and powdered sugar. Add the pumpkin spice last, and whisk very well to combine.
- Pour the warm frosting over the cake, let rest for about 15 minutes (or longer) before slicing and serving.
Notes
*To make your own pumpkin pie spice, mix 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1/2 teaspoon cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 294Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 109mgCarbohydrates: 45gFiber: 1gSugar: 36gProtein: 2g
Delicious recipe! I added some cream cheese to the frosting. This was barely a cake for two โ my husband ate almost the whole thing in less than 24 hrs! ๐๐ I will be making this again ASAP.0
Hello. I made this today for my family. We always have buttermilk in the fridge so it was great to use it. While I was making it, I kept thinking of things I might do differently next time. Wellโฆ. itโs perfect just the way you wrote it!
Excellent & easy. I did make a cream cheese frosting with additional pupkin pie spice though.
Whatโs the best way to store leftovers (assuming there are any) โ fridge or room temperature?
This is a keeper. Been craving that pumpkin spice as the weather cools and this hits just right. Go buy the ingredients and make it! Thanks for great small treats Christina. Love your work.
Will this turn out if i substitute gf 1to1 flour and a vegan butter and buttermilk?
I havenโt tried it with those exact substitutions, Iโm sorry.
Thank you for this delicious recipe. My husband & I really liked it, I will be making it again.
I usually make my buttermilk with vinegar and milk since I donโt use up quarts of buttermilk. Will that work with your recipes calling for buttermilk.
Yes, most likely. The information for this should be in each post.