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    Flouring Kitchen » Cakes

    Pumpkin Chocolate Cake

    Published: Oct 28, 2021 · Modified: Jun 28, 2023 by Mary · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment

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    Jump to Recipe

    This pumpkin chocolate cake is packed with pumpkin puree and topped with the silkiest pumpkin chocolate buttercream. It's chocolatey, rich, moist, and has a subtle spice to it. It tastes like pumpkin and chocolate! The cake batter is an easy one bowl recipe. It's baked in a sheet pan - no need to stack and frost the sides (options for turning this into a layer cake are in the recipe notes). There are mini pumpkins piped all over the top. The perfect cake for a fall celebration!

    Chocolate cake with frosting and mini pumpkins
    Jump to:
    • 🥧 Why you'll LOVE this recipe
    • 📝 Key ingredients
    • 👩‍🍳 How to make pumpkin chocolate cake
    • ✔️ Expert pumpkin cake tips
    • 🥄 Make ahead and storage
    • 🎃 Why pumpkin is so good in cake
    • 📖 Recipe FAQs
    • 🍁 More related fall recipes
    • 📖 Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    🥧 Why you'll LOVE this recipe

    • Pumpkin: This recipe uses over 2 cups of pumpkin to get all the pumpkin flavor and moisture.
    • Texture: It's like a cross between a chocolate cake and a fudgy brownie with a hint of pumpkin. Rich, chocolatey, and so addictive.
    • Chocolate pumpkin frosting: The pumpkin inside the buttercream makes it extra silky smooth!
    • Mini piped pumpkins: The cake has mini pumpkins piped all over the top. They're so fun and easy to pipe making this the best pumpkin theme cake for fall.
    • Easy: The perfect easy, one bowl pumpkin chocolate cake to whip up for a party.
    piped mini buttercream pumpkins

    📝 Key ingredients

    Read through for all the tips you will need for success!
    Full steps and ingredients in recipe card below.

    • Pumpkin puree: The cake batter has a whole two cups of pumpkin. Use a store bought canned pumpkin puree or make your own. Make sure that the puree is very thick, like a thick Greek yogurt. Either reduce the puree or strain it with a cheesecloth. 
    • Pumpkin spice + cinnamon: A touch of cinnamon and pumpkin spice let the pumpkin flavor shine through the chocolate. It makes for a lightly spiced and fragrant cake. If you can’t find pumpkin spice you can make your own pumpkin spice.
    • Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk you can make it by combining 1 cup of room temperature milk and 1 tablespoon white or apple cider vinegar. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes until it thickens and looks curdled. Do not use hot milk - you will get ricotta. 
    • Sour cream: Sour cream makes the cake rich and moist. Use a full fat sour cream.
    • Cocoa powder: This gives the cake its chocolate flavor. Use a natural cocoa powder for the best texture. Dutch processed cocoa powder is alkalized and won’t give you that rich and moist texture in this recipe. You want a more acidic (natural) cocoa powder to react with the baking soda in the cake.
    • Heavy whipping cream: Heavy cream makes the frosting luscious and silky. Use heavy or whipping cream (at least 35%).  
    • All purpose flour: Weigh the flour to get the most accurate results. If you don’t have a scale, measure properly by stirring the bag and spooning gently into a measuring cup. Scrape the excess off the top with the flat edge off a knife without packing it into the cup.

    Check out my pumpkin spice cake recipe for a chocolate free version of this cake.

    👩‍🍳 How to make pumpkin chocolate cake

    beaten eggs, sugar, and butter

    Step 1: Whisk together eggs, melted butter, brown sugar, salt, and vanilla extract.

    prepared wet ingredients

    Step 2: Add pumpkin puree, buttermilk, and sour cream, whisking in between each addition. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin spice, and cinnamon right into the bowl.

    Fold the batter well, just until no more streaks remain. It will be a thick batter. Add chocolate chips, fold, and bake in a 9"x12" baking pan, oven preheated to 355°F (180°C), for 50-65 minutes. Let cool completely.

    prepared chocolate buttercream

    Step 3: Beat softened butter in a large bowl or stand mixer (with paddle attachment) until light and fluffy.

    Add pumpkin puree and beat until even fluffier. Set aside half a cup of frosting and three tablespoons of frosting. 

    Add sifted cocoa powder and beat well. Pour in the cream two tablespoons at a time. Stop adding cream when the frosting becomes silky smooth.

    coloured orange and green buttercream for pumpkins

    Step 4: Into the set aside three tablespoons of frosting add green food coloring to get a green frosting. Add orange food coloring to the half cup set aside frosting for the pumpkins. Transfer into separate piping bags. 

    spreading chocolate pumpkin buttercream

    Step 5: Spread chocolate frosting on top. Mark where the pumpkins will be, about 2.5” apart. 

    sheet cake with piped mini pumpkins

    Step 6: Snip the ends off the piping bags and pipe pumpkins on the marked areas. Start off with piping a circle and filling it in with lines to make it look like a pumpkin. Pipe a stem on each pumpkin with the green frosting and a little vine swirl.

    ✔️ Expert pumpkin cake tips

    1. Have all the ingredients at room temperature. This will ensure everything incorporates evenly and creates an even crumb.
    2. Use a scale to weigh the flour for most accurate results. If you don’t have a scale, measure properly by stirring the bag and spooning gently into a measuring cup. Scrape the excess off the top with the flat edge off a knife without packing it into the cup.
    3. Stop mixing as soon as no more dry streaks of flour remain. Overmixing the batter after flour is added will create a dense, dry cake.
    4. Don't overbake. It's ready when a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean with a few crumbs attached. I prefer toothpicks over cake testers because they usually work better.
    5. Beat the frosting well: The more you whip the frosting up, the creamier and airier it will be.

    🥄 Make ahead and storage

    The frosted cake will keep well in a cake container stored in the fridge for up to 4 days. Freeze any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Let the cake come to room temperature so the butter has time to soften up again.

    You can bake the cake a day or two ahead of time - just leave it covered or wrapped at room temperature so that it doesn't dry out and frost before serving. I recommend frosting the cake immediately after making the frosting.

    You can even make these pumpkin cake pops out of any leftover cake!

    taking a bite of chocolate cake

    🎃 Why pumpkin is so good in cake

    Pumpkin inside the batter gives the chocolate cake a lot of moisture, keeping it rich and moist for days. It took a while for me to get the perfect texture and flavor but the end was well worth it. I hope you love it too! 

    The frosting is a chocolate buttercream with some pumpkin puree mixed into it. It gives the frosting the silkiest texture. I set aside some buttercream right before adding the cocoa powder to color and pipe the pumpkins on top. If you want to skip the pumpkins on top you can just make it all chocolate flavored. 

    Try this pumpkin cheesecake roll which is so perfect for pumpkin season too.

    sliced chocolate cake with pumpkin

    📖 Recipe FAQs

    What kind of pumpkin puree should I bake with?

    I use store bought pumpkin puree in a can. If you use a homemade pumpkin puree, make sure it has the consistency of really thick greek yogurt. You can strain or reduce the pumpkin puree on the stove top to get it to a thicker consistency.

    Can I use canned pumpkin pie filling? 

    Canned pumpkin pie filling won’t work because it doesn’t just have pumpkin in it. The cake will be too sweet and wet. Use 100% pumpkin puree. 

    How do I make the frosting super creamy?

    Start off with room temperature butter. It’s important to beat the butter as much as possible before and after adding the powdered sugar. The more you beat it, the fluffier and less butter flavor it will have. It especially helps if you have a stand mixer but you can just leave it on for 10 minutes. You can also use an electric handheld mixer. Instead of adding milk to loosen the buttercream, add heavy cream. It makes it silky smooth while keeping it thick.

    Do I need to sift powdered sugar?

    I highly recommend sifting the powdered sugar because it helps to break up any lumps, keeping the frosting extra smooth and fluffy. 

    Can I make this into a layered cake?

    You can cut the sheet cake in half and stack the halves on top of each other. For enough frosting to cover the sides, you will need to double the frosting recipe. Alternatively bake into two 8” round pans or three 6” round pans. 

    🍁 More related fall recipes

    Check out my best pumpkin desserts for more easy pumpkin recipe ideas.

    • Sliced cake frosted with white frosting and piped mini pumpkins
      Pumpkin Spice Cake
    • Pumpkin cheesecake bars from the top with slice turned over
      No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
    • sliced pumpkin roll with swirl and star anise seed
      Pumpkin Cheesecake Roll
    • chocolate cake with drip and piped frosting on cake stand
      Easy Triple Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Drip

    Did you make this recipe? I would love for you to rate this recipe and hear what you think in the comments below! Share your creation on Instagram and tag @flouringkitchen. Follow me on Pinterest to save and for more recipe ideas.

    📖 Recipe

    Chocolate cake with frosting and mini pumpkins

    Pumpkin Chocolate Cake

    Mary
    This pumpkin chocolate cake is packed with pumpkin puree and topped with the silkiest pumpkin chocolate buttercream. It's chocolatey, rich, moist, and has a subtle spice to it. It tastes like pumpkin and chocolate! The cake batter is an easy one bowl recipe. It's baked in a sheet pan - no need to stack and frost the sides (options for turning this into a layer cake are in the recipe notes). There are mini pumpkins piped all over the top. The perfect cake for a fall celebration!
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Shop Ingredients
    Prep Time 15 minutes mins
    Cook Time 50 minutes mins
    Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins
    Course Baking, Dessert, Seasonal
    Cuisine American
    Servings 12 people
    Calories 813 kcal

    Equipment

    • 9" by 12" baking pan

    Ingredients
     
     

    Cake

    • 2 large eggs room temperature
    • 1 cup butter melted and cooled
    • 1 ½ cup brown sugar packed
    • ½ teaspoon sea salt
    • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
    • 2 cups pumpkin puree
    • 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
    • ¾ cup sour cream room temperature
    • 3 cups all purpose flour 360g
    • 1 cup natural cocoa powder
    • 2 tablespoons baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1 cup chocolate chips

    Frosting

    • 1 cup butter softened
    • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
    • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
    • 3 ½ cups powdered sugar icing sugar
    • ½ cup pumpkin puree
    • 5 tablespoons natural cocoa powder sifted
    • 3-6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
    • 1-3 drops green food colouring or matcha powder
    • 1-3 drops orange food colouring or turmeric
    Makes: 0inch9 x 12inch rectangle
    Shop Ingredients on Jupiter

    Instructions
     

    Cake

    • Grease and line a 9” by 12” baking pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 355°F (180°C).
    • In a very large bowl, combine eggs, butter, brown sugar, salt, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth and combined.
      2 large eggs, 1 cup butter, 1 ½ cup brown sugar, ½ teaspoon sea salt, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
    • Add pumpkin puree, buttermilk, and sour cream, whisking in between each addition.
      2 cups pumpkin puree, 1 cup buttermilk, ¾ cup sour cream
    • Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin spice, and cinnamon right into the bowl. Fold the batter well, just until no more streaks remain. It will be a thick batter. Add chocolate chips and fold just until incorporated.
      3 cups all purpose flour, 1 cup natural cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 cup chocolate chips
    • Spread into the prepared baking pan and bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely in pan before lifting out.

    Frosting

    • Beat softened butter in a large bowl or stand mixer (with paddle attachment) until light and fluffy; 5-10 minutes. Scrape the bowl down frequently.
      1 cup butter
    • Add powdered sugar a half cup at a time, vanilla, and salt. Beat for 5-10 minutes until very light and creamy. Scrape sides down a few times.
      1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract, 3 ½ cups powdered sugar, ¼ teaspoon sea salt
    • Add pumpkin puree and beat until well incorporated and the frosting becomes even fluffier, about 30 seconds. Set aside half a cup of frosting and three tablespoons of frosting.
      ½ cup pumpkin puree
    • Into the remaining frosting, add sifted cocoa powder and beat well until smooth. Pour in the cream two tablespoons at a time, beating in between additions. Stop adding cream when the frosting becomes silky smooth.
      5 tablespoons natural cocoa powder, 3-6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
    • Into the set aside three tablespoons of frosting add green food colouring to get a green frosting. Add orange food colouring to the half cup set aside frosting for the pumpkins. Transfer into separate piping bags.
      1-3 drops green food colouring, 1-3 drops orange food colouring

    Assembly

    • Spread chocolate frosting on top of completely cooled cake. With a toothpick, mark where the pumpkins will be, about 2.5” apart.
    • Snip the ends off the piping bags and pipe pumpkins on the marked areas. Start off with piping a circle and filling it in with lines to make it look like a pumpkin. Pipe a stem on each pumpkin with the green frosting and a little vine swirl. Cut the cake and serve!

    Notes

    The cake will keep well wrapped tightly in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Make sure that the cake comes to room temperature before serving so that it becomes soft again. 
    Make ahead: You can make and frost the cake a day before serving. Let the cake come to room temperature so the frosting becomes creamy and soft again.
    To make this into a layered cake: You can cut the sheet cake in half and stack the halves on top of each other. For enough frosting to cover the sides, you will need to double the frosting recipe. Alternatively bake into two 8” round pans or three 6” round pans.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 813kcalCarbohydrates: 108gProtein: 8gFat: 42gSaturated Fat: 26gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 124mgSodium: 743mgPotassium: 435mgFiber: 6gSugar: 73gVitamin A: 9109IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 240mgIron: 4mg
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
    « No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
    Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies »

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    Hi, I'm Mary! This is where I share all of my baked treats. I use my massive sweet tooth and background in food science to make decadent, foolproof recipes.

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