This moist, gluten-free Pumpkin Bundt Cake is laced with a Cream Cheese Filling and topped with an irresistible Brown Sugar Icing glaze. It’s a festive fall dessert that makes a perfect alternative to pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving!
Quick Note: This is an updated version of a post that originally appeared on Bright-Eyed Baker in 2012. Along with new text & photos, I've made a few modifications/improvements to the recipe. Two of these changes are particularly significant: 1) The cake is now written to be made gluten-free, but regular all-purpose flour will also still work in this recipe. 2) I've doubled the amount of glaze on top for better coverage. If you loved the original, I have no doubt you'll love it even more now!
How amazing are bundt cakes? They're like the laid-back sibling of layer cakes - every bit as good but so much simpler to make. And don't get me wrong, I love a pretty layer cake, but you have to have TIME for that. A bundt cake, on the other hand, is something you can whip up on a Friday night and still have time to relax and watch a movie afterwards. I don't know about you, but that's my vibe.
Here's all the things there are to love about this Pumpkin Bundt Cake:
This particular bundt cake has been a fan favorite since I originally shared it - so much so that I knew I needed to try a gluten-free version. As it turns out, using gluten-free all-purpose flour in place of regular all-purpose works beautifully, and the cake turns out just as soft & moist as I remembered it. It's a perfectly tender, lightly spiced pumpkin cake (much like these pumpkin cupcakes), swirled with a just-sweet-enough cream cheese filling. To top it all off, we glaze it with an amaaaazing cinnamon-spiced Brown Sugar Icing. Trust me when I say that doubling the icing on this cake was the best decision I made; if you're anything like us you'll be spooning up every last bit on your plate because it's that good.
Is this the perfect fall cake? Yes. Could you make this instead of pie or cheesecake for Thanksgiving? Definitely. Could you even splurge a little and call this Thanksgiving breakfast? I won't judge. ;)
And in case you're looking for more Thanksgiving Day inspiration...
These gluten-free Pumpkin Scones are another guaranteed winner for Thanksgiving breakfast. I've made them three times this fall and I honestly might not be done.
Every cozy fall morning needs a hot cup of coffee, but a homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte is even better! Of course, if you're lucky enough to enjoy a warm and sunny Thanksgiving like this California gal, you can opt for Pumpkin Cold Brew instead.
These Sweet Potato Rolls are one of my favorite bread recipes of all time and perfect for Thanksgiving dinner! They're insanely soft and fluffy. Cornbread is another must-have.
And it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce! My homemade version is SO simple, there's no excuse to skip it.
Recipe Card
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bundt Cake {gluten-free}
This moist, gluten-free Pumpkin Bundt Cake is laced with a Cream Cheese Filling and topped with an irresistible Brown Sugar Icing glaze. It’s a festive fall dessert that makes a perfect alternative to pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving!
- Prep Time: 50 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hr 45 minutes
- Yield: one 9-inch bundt cake 1x
- Category: dessert
- Method: baking
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese, cut into 1-ounce portions
- ½ cup (3 ½ ounces) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- 3 cups, spoon and level (12 ¾ ounces) gluten-free all purpose flour*
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground all spice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup, packed (3 ¾) ounces brown sugar
- ¼ cup (1 ¾ ounces) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cups (12 ounces) canned pumpkin
- ½ cup (4 ounces) avocado or vegetable oil
- ½ cup (4 ounces) sour cream**
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Cinnamon Brown Sugar Glaze
- 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons milk
- ½ cup, packed (3 ¾) ounces brown sugar
- 1 cup (4 ounces) confectioner's sugar, sifted
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
Cream Cheese Filling:
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese with the granulated sugar on medium speed until smooth and lighter in texture.
- Wipe down the bowl and beater. Add the egg, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt and continue to beat on medium-high speed until smooth, wiping down as needed. Transfer to a separate bowl and place in the fridge to chill while preparing the cake batter.
Pumpkin Bundt Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 12-cup bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray, making sure to cover all the grooves in the pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, all spice, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed until smoothly combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until smoothly incorporated, wiping down the bowl and beater after each addition. Add the pumpkin, oil, sour cream, and vanilla and beat in until the mixture is smooth, wiping down the bowl and beater as needed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix in a lowest speed just until mostly incorporated. Finish folding the batter together by hand just until fully incorporated. The batter will be thick.
- Pour half of the pumpkin batter into the prepared bundt pan, making sure the batter covers the bottom of the pan and fills every crevice. Smooth out the top with the back of a spatula. Add the cream cheese filling to cover the first layer of batter, again reaching every crevice and smoothing on top. Repeat with the remaining pumpkin batter, covering the cream cheese completely. Rap the pan firmly against the counter to release any air pockets and ensure that the batter settles into the pan.
- Bake the bundt cake in the preheated oven for 55-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into a center section of the cake comes out clean. Let the bundt cool in the pan for 15 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool fully before glazing.
Cinnamon Brown Sugar Glaze:
- Combine butter and milk in a microwave-safe liquid measuring cup or small mixing bowl (preferably the former, since it has a spout for pouring). Microwave for 40 seconds, or until the butter has melted. Add the brown sugar and whisk in until it has melted and the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the confectioner's sugar and cinnamon until smooth. The glaze should be somewhat thick but still fluid enough to pour.
- Pour the glaze carefully over the top of the cooled cake. For best presentation, serve cake the day it is made. Store any leftovers in the fridge in a covered container***, or covered with plastic wrap.
Notes
*You can also use regular all-purpose flour in this recipe **Yogurt also works ***I own this Bundt Cake Keeper
and love it! It makes storage super easy and keeps the bundt cake looking its best.
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Laurel
This is almost to the tee what I was looking for to make- the only exception is that I'm thinking of using maple syrup instead of brown sugar for the glaze..we'll see how that goes. Thanks for the wonderful recipe! Love the idea of the cinnamon in the cream cheese filling!!
alexandra
Let me know how it goes! You'll probably have to add a bit more confectioner's sugar to the glaze (or drop the milk) so it's not too thin with the maple syrup, but it should work out just fine! :)
sarah murphy
This is how they looked in my childhood, hence the "need" for me to try to replicate that...
http://mamasgottabake.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/dsc_0052.jpg?w=590&h=802
Until recently, I did not know you could use the pan to just bake a cake - there was a mysterious secret to getting that filling ring in there that must have had something to do with the pan, somewhere in my childhood/imagination...
alexandra
Ooh, I can see how that would be nice to cut into the bundt and find that surprise inside! Glad you figured out how to make it work. :)
sarah murphy
I made this and wanted the traditional bundt look (that's where some midwestern mommy spends half the day making the filling be surrounded by cake, I think)... Here's my tip - no clue how they really did it back in my childhood, but this worked... when you put the first half in the pan, use the back of a spoon to make a well in the center of the cake mix for the filling and you will get the filling surrounded by cake, instead of in a layer.
alexandra
Thanks for sharing the neat tip! I was never really bothered by seeing the cream cheese layer on the outside, but perhaps that's because nobody in my family baked bundt cakes when I was young, so I had no prior ideas of what a bundt should look like. :) I think adding a cream cheese glaze is a good way to incorporate more cream cheese if wanted, and you could even merge the two glazes with a brown sugar cream cheese glaze - YUM!
Felecia Cofield
Hello Alexandra! What a pretty cake this is! I love pumpkin anything and I especially love cream cheese, so this is the perfect dessert recipe for me! Thank you for sharing it with us! Have a nice Holiday Season! Blessings from Bama!
alexandra
Thanks so much Felecia! This is actually one of my favorite recipes on the blog; I love using cream cheese in baking. :)
kristy
Does this cake have to be refrigerated?
alexandra
I would recommend refrigerating due to the cream cheese filling, but if you have no qualms about leaving baked goods with cream cheese at room temperature, that might be okay. For a day or so, it would probably be fine at room temp as long as it's not too hot outside.
Jennifer
I made this to bring over to a friends place for dinner. It was super easy. The only thing I'm concerned about (as its still baking) is that my cake batter was super thick!! I had to use a spoon to put it in the bunt pan, and had a hard time spreading the batter on the top of the cream cheese.
alexandra
It should be fairly thick; some cake batters are liquidy thin and this one isn't like that. However, it's possible that you used too much flour, which could happen if you didn't measure it with the spoon and level/sweep method. Let me know how it turns out!
jenny
This may be a silly question, but could i substitute the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves for pumpkin pie spice? If so, how much should I use?
alexandra
Yes! No question is silly. :) I would go with about 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice. Do you have the all spice? If not, you could up it to about 2 1/4 teaspoons.
Mary Kay
I made this for Christmas Day and I took it a family dinner and everyone loved it. I was so good. I'm defiantly going to make it again. The only thing I changed was instead of yogurt I use cinnamon applesauce.
alexandra
I'm so happy to hear that! The cinnamon applesauce sounds like an interesting addition (good call on the cinnamon!). I'm glad it worked out well. :)
Riley
This looked amazing so I decided to make it for my family for Thanksgiving. It was a huge hit but with some suggestions. The cream cheese filling could definately be doubled, and left many of my family members craving more. However, the brown sugar glaze was fantastic and the entire cake was gone by Friday morning! Next time I make this, I will double the cream cheese, but otherwise, delisous! Thank you for the recipe!
alexandra
I'm so glad you tried the bundt cake! I guess my family is kind of the opposite from yours because most of us felt that the cream cheese was just the right amount for us. Everyone has to make things to suit their tastes though, so that's good to know that some people might want to double the filling. :) Thanks for letting me know that you all liked it!
sarah murphy
I accidentally used a pound of cream cheese for the 2nd cake filling and it was too much to not have it layer (see my other comment about the tidy filling surrounded by cake solution). It also made the baking a bit off - not as fluffy and pulled together as the first one, where I followed the recipe because I was not rushing. The second cake was a birthday cake and the birthday boy asked for cream cheese frosting/glaze instead of the brown sugar glaze, so that might be your fix to add more cream cheese to the end cake...
Lorraine
Did you ever try making this with double cream cheese. We were thinking the same thing.
alexandra
I haven't tried it with double the cream cheese filling, but you could easily do a cream cheese glaze instead of the brown sugar glaze to get a similar effect. This carrot bundt cake uses a cream cheese glaze that would work here too.
Simply Tia
Perfect for the season and looks soooooo delicious. Bookmarked.
alexandra
Awesome :)
Nik@A Brown Table
I love anything pumpkin, this cake will be on the menu this week!
alexandra
Yay! I hope you love it as much as I do!
Priya Sreeram
wow - i am bookmarking this recipe
Meghan
This sounds scrumptious
alexandra
It is... possibly my favorite pumpkin recipe this season!
sara
Love this - the perfect fall cake. That is some seriously great orange color!
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
That is one incredible bundt, I'm drooling over the glaze!