Pumpkin Wacky Cake
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This Pumpkin Wacky Cake is a soft, moist pumpkin spice cake that’s incredibly easy to throw together. The cake batter is made without eggs, butter, or milk and topped with a sweet cinnamon glaze that makes it perfect for fall.
If you’ve ever made a wacky cake before, (my vanilla wacky cake perhaps?) the method is a little different and pretty interesting. The dry ingredients go into the bowl first, followed by little wells for the pumpkin, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Add the water, stir everything together, and you’ve got pumpkin cake batter!
The pumpkin adds even more moisture and fall flavor to the tradition wacky cake, while pumpkin pie spice gives every bite plenty of warm spice. It’s a simple 8×8 cake that’s perfect when you want a pumpkin dessert without turning it into an all day baking project.
Why You’ll Love This Pumpkin Wacky Cake Recipe
- Soft and incredibly moist
- Cake is made without eggs, butter, or milk
- No stand mixer or hand mixer is required for this cake
- Made with simple pantry ingredients
- Perfect for fall and Thanksgiving
What is Wacky Cake?
Wacky cake is an old-fashioned cake that’s traidionally made without eggs, butter, or milk. You may also hear it called crazy cake or Depression cake.
Instead of eggs, this style of cake relies on a combination of baking soda and vinegar to help it rise.
The unusual part is how it’s mixed. Wells are made in the dry ingredients to hold the wet ingredients separately before water is poured over everything and the batter is stirred together.
For this pumpkin version, I’ve added pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice while keeping the easy wacky cake method.
Ingredient Notes
See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for all ingredients and quantities.
Pumpkin Puree – Use 100% pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
Pumpkin Pie Spice – Pumpkin pie spice gives the cake its warm fall flavor. Different brands contain slightly different spice blends, but they typically include cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves or allspice. I have a homemade pumpkin pie spice recipe that you can use as well.
Vegetable Oil – Since there’s no butter in the cake, vegetable oil provides the fat and helps keep the crumb soft and moist. Any neutral oil will work.
White Vinegar – First of all, you will not taste the vinegar in the finished cake. The vinegar is needed to react with the baking soda to produce carbon dioxide bubbles that help the cake rise without eggs.
Water – There’s no milk in the cake batter. Plain water provides the liquid needed to bring everything together.
Substitutions and Variations
- You can substitute the vegetable oil for canola oil, peanut oil, avocado oil, or any other neutral oil that I’ve missed.
- You can substitute the pumpkin pie spice with your preferred spices for pumpkin cake.
- Use any frosting/icing recipe you would like on this cake.
- Skip the icing and dust the cooled cake with powdered sugar.
- Add mini chocolate chips into the cake batter for a delicious pumpkin chocolate chip cake.
- For more spice, add additional ground cinnamon if you prefer a stronger spice flavor.
- Substitute the cinnamon glaze with a maple glaze.
NOTE: This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations
How to Make Pumpkin Wacky Cake
Step 1: Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
Step 2: Make two large wells and two smaller wells in the dry ingredients. Add the pumpkin and oil to the large wells. Add the vinegar and vanilla separately to the smaller wells.
Step 3: Pour the water over everything and stir until combined.
Step 4: Pour the batter evenly into a greased 8×8 baking pan.
Step 5: Bake at 350 degree F for 35 to 45 minutres or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely and frost!
Tips for Best Results
- Don’t use pumpkin pie filling! The pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie filling are next to each other at the grocery store and if you aren’t paying attention, you can accidentally grab the wrong one. Trust me.
- Don’t overmix the wacky cake batter. Stir just until the batter is evenly combined and there aren’t any bits of flour remaining.
- Make sure your baking soda is fresh. The vinegar can only do its job if the baking soda is still active.
- Adjust the glaze slowly. If you want a thinner glaze, add additional water 1 tablespoon at a time.
How to Store and Freeze
Store the cake covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container for up to 5 days. If you’re using a frosting with cream cheese in it, it’ll need to be refrigeratored.
To freeze the cake, let it cool completely. Wrap the cake tightly in 2 layers of plastic wrap and a layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil. You can also place the cake in a freezer container and freeze for up to 2 months.
Let the cake thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, but homemade puree can contain considerably more moisture than canned pumpkin. If it’s watery, drain off excess liquid before measuring it.
No. The vinegar is used to react with the baking soda and help the cake rise. You shouldn’t taste it in the finished cake.
Old baking soda is one possibility. Make sure your leavening ingredients haven’t expired.
Also, once you’ve added the vinegar and water, don’t let the batter sit around for a long time before baking it since the baking soda and vinegar are activated immediately.
I really enjoy a cinnamon cream cheese glaze that’s 4 ounces room temperature cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1/4 cup whole milk. Chocolate frosting would also be a delicious option for this cake.
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Ingredients
Cake
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup water
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 – 3 tablespoons water, or milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8×8-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk until combined.
- Using a spoon, form two large wells and two small wells in different areas in the dry ingredient mixture. This is meant to keep the wet ingredients separate until the water is added.
- Scoop the pumpkin into one of the large wells.
- Pour the vegetable oil into the second large well.
- Add the vinegar into one of the small wells and the vanilla to the remaining small well.
- Add the water on top and mix until the batter comes together and is well combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Spread evenly to the edges of the pan.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cake completely to room temperature then top with the frosting of your choice. I used a cinnamon glaze recipe.
Cinnamon Glaze
- In a medium bowl, add in the 4 ounces cream cheese. Using a hand mixer, beat on medium until smooth and creamy.
- In a medium bowl, add the 1 cup powdered sugar, cinnamon, water, and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth. If the glaze is too thick, add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency.
- Pour the glaze on top of the cake.
Nutrition Info
(Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.)