Warm cake melting in your mouth. The deep spice added to pumpkin to make that delicious fall taste. Smooth, rich cream cheese frosting. Combine that and I have a new dessert for you: Pumpkin Cake Cheesecake!
It has been another month of busy testing over at The Housewife Modern, also known as the Landsberger kitchen. While I had a perfect cheesecake recipe (I perfected that while making Butterscotch Blondie Cheesecake), we did not have a great pumpkin cake. So I started scouring the internet. And baking. I sent in all the leftovers to husband’s workplace. They’re a great bunch of food-testers. Or garbage disposals. Take your pick (haha).
After testing half a dozen cakes, making adjustments, testing, and making more adjustments, I think I have a pumpkin cake that we’re happy with. Here’s a close-up view:
Maybe the picture doesn’t do it justice. This cake is so moist. It’s also very flavorful. And the taste lingers. I love that in a good pumpkin dessert.
Topping off our delicious, moist pumpkin cake layered with cheesecake with rich cinnamon cream cheese frosting. This is the same frosting I’ve featured on the site before, but it goes perfectly with the cake and cheesecake. I like the frosting a bit light. My husband likes it slathered on there. I can’t believe he can find the cake under the frosting! haha.
Pumpkin Cake Cheesecake
Ingredients
Cheesecake
- 2 lb. cream cheese softened
- 1 & 1/3 C. granulated white sugar
- 1 dash salt
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 2/3 C. sour cream
- 2/3 C. heavy cream
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
Pumpkin Cakes
- 2 & 3/4 C. all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
- 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
- 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
- 1/2 C. milk
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3/4 C. unsalted butter
- 1 C. granulated white sugar
- 1 C. light brown sugar
- 1/4 C. oil
- 4 large eggs
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
- 16 oz. cream cheese softened
- 1/2 C. unsalted butter softened
- 2 Tbsp. milk
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 2 & 1/2 C. powdered sugar (up to 3 cups)
Instructions
Cheesecake
- For best cheesecake results, the cheesecake should be allowed to sit overnight to allow the flavors to develop.
- Mise en place. Make sure cream cheese is softened and eggs are at room temperature.
- Pre-heat oven to 300°. Start a large pot of water boiling on the stove-top. Place a large roasting pan in oven to pre-heat. It should be large enough to hold the cheesecake pan and water around the pan.
- Make pan waterproof. Lightly grease the inside of cheesecake pan. Take a piece of parchment paper. Cut a circle with 2" excess (larger than the bottom of the pan) on each side. Press parchment paper into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Lay out a large piece of extra-wide tin foil. Place pan in the middle. Fold the foil up all sides. Crimp the excess at the top. Set pan aside.
- Cut cream cheese into chunks and place in stand mixer. Beat on medium to medium-high speed for approximately 4 minutes, until absolutely no lumps and well whipped. Scrape down.
- Add sugar and salt. Beat 2 minutes.
- From this point forward, treat the mixture gently and only mix on low speed. Add the eggs one at a time, blending on slow speed after each addition. Scrape down.
- Blend in sour cream, heavy cream, and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Scrape down.
- Mix on low speed and additional two minutes.
- Pour cheesecake into the prepared cheesecake pan.
- Place cheesecake in large pre-heated roasting pan. Carefully pour boiling water around the cheesecake pan into the roasting pan (water bath for cheesecake). Add until water approximately half-ways up the side of pan.
- Bake for 1 & 1/2 hours. The top will still be jiggly. Turn the oven off and prop open the door about half-ways. Allow to sit in slowly cooling oven for another hour.
- Remove cheesecake to counter. Remove foil and dry off any water. Allow to cool completely. Place in refrigerator. For best taste, allow to chill overnight before assembling rest of cake.
Pumpkin Cakes
- Mise en place! Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour two 9" round cake pans.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, ginger, salt, allspice, and cloves. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, milk, and vanilla. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip together butter, granulate sugar, and brown sugar until completely blended.
- Add oil. Whip until light and fluffy. Scrape down bowl.
- Add eggs one at a time, blending after each addition on low speed. Scrape down bowl.
- Turn mixer on low speed. Add 1/3 of flour mixture. Mix. Add 1/2 of pumpkin mixture. Mix. Add 1/3 of flour mixture. Mix. Add second 1/2 of pumpkin mixture. Mix. Add last 1/3 of flour mixture. Mix until just blended. Scrape down and make sure everything well incorporated.
- Divide batter between two prepared baking pans, using a spatula to level it out if batter is thick.
- Bake in pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes. Then flip cakes out of pan onto cooling rack to cool completely.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
- Mise en place. Make sure cream cheese and butter are softened completely. (You'll have lumps in frosting if not).
- Whip together cream cheese, butter, milk, and vanilla. Whip until completely smooth and a little fluffy.
- Add 2 C. powdered sugar and all of cinnamon. Whip until completely smooth.
- Add remaining powdered sugar, 1/2 C. to 1 C. at a time, until you reach desired level of sweetness.
Assembly
- Lay one pumpkin cake on the bottom. Lay cheesecake on top of it. Add other pumpkin cake on top. Using a sharp knife, trim off any excess cheesecake from the edges.
- Cover with a thin coat of frosting (crumb coat). Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes to allow to set.
- Remove from fridge. Finish frosting. Serve.
In the frosting recipe it does not list cinnamon with an amount.
Thank you for pointing that out! I got it corrected. It’s 1 tsp. of cinnamon.