Pumpkin Cake for Thanksgiving

This pumpkin cake is from my mom’s arsenal of recipes – yep, the shelves of generations of recipes in varying formats, including my Grandma’s recipe box that is probably 250x stuffed beyond capacity. So, just know this one is good, so it’s no surprise that it’s a go-to Thanksgiving Cake for our family table and for VERY good reason!

Pumpkin Cake

I’m not entirely sure where the magic is this cake lies (lay? – I can never get that one). Is it the always moist and delicious pumpkin cake layers? Good chance. But, maybe it’s in the homemade whipped cream, which never ceases to wow first-timers. But, probably, it’s in the cinnamon glaze – an odd mix of hot whipping cream, powdered sugar, and cinnamon.

In fact, I’m a little embarrassed to tell you (because I probably should’ve shared this pumpkin cake recipe with you back when I started this blog in 2012!)), but it’s this cinnamon glaze recipe that’s in my Mexican Chocolate Cake recipe. Yep, this delectable magic has been in my back pocket for that long. So, please accept my apologies for taking so long to get around to sharing it.

Thanksgiving Cake

So as I mentioned above, this pumpkin cake (not any other version) is our family’s favorite Thanksgiving Cake. My mom almost always makes her delectable pies, but occasionally we switch it up with this cake OR I make it for other celebrations (like a great Friendsgiving)!

Since celebrations like this can be a challenge in doing too much in a single day, I share below how you can make most of this ahead of time and assemble later on.

How to Make Pumpkin Cake

The first part to making this cake is to make…the cake! Ok, no surprise there. Combine the flour, powder, soda, salt, spices, and sugar. Then add in the softened shortening, buttermilk, pumpkin puree, and eggs. Any 9″ round cake pan will do, but I do really love having a pan with a removable bottom for layer cakes. Otherwise, just make sure to butter/grease sufficiently.

Quick note. I basically never have buttermilk on hand. I always just add about a teaspoon of vinegar (apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, or even lemon juice are fine) to ½ cup milk. Let it sit for a few minutes and it’ll curdle. No need to stress or have to figure out what to do with leftover buttermilk.

Bake your cakes at 350ºF for a half hour. Let them cool (I love a wire rack for faster cooling, but put the bottom of the cakes down to prevent lines in the top of your cake).

When you’re ready to assemble the cake (see the next section for how I like to make this pumpkin cake ahead of time), measure 5 tablespoons of the whipping cream for the glaze. Set it aside. Beat the rest of the whipping cream to make whipped cream. You can see a step by step in my alcohol infused whipped cream recipe. And I haven’t tried it, but I’m 99.9% sure an alcohol infused whipped cream would be delectable in this recipe.

Ok and then the cinnamon glaze – a super simple mixing of powdered sugar, cinnamon, and hot whipping cream. You’ll want to pour/drizzle this while it’s warm over the cake, so plan to plate the cake with a layer of whipped cream between the cakes and then smother it in this delicious glaze.

How to Store Pumpkin Cake for Thanksgiving

Hah. Yeah, who am I to think you’ll want to throw this cake together while handling a dinner too. Or maybe, you’re taking dessert to someone else’s home. While you could assemble this cake and bring it over, I like to take the stress-less option of assembling it there.

Ok. So, the easy part is to make the cake layers ahead of time. You could easily make them the day before, wrap them tightly and assemble the next day. OR you could totally make the cakes, let them cool completely, and then wrap and freeze them until Thanksgiving day. I promise you, cake freezes PERFECTLY! If you go the freezing route, just allow maybe 2 hours for it to come to room temperature.

The whipped cream can also be made ahead of time but certainly no more than a day, and less is better. The cinnamon glaze really has to be done when it’s all assembled, but it’s a quick to do (you could easily use a fork to mix it even).