This high altitude pumpkin cream cake features a simple one layer pumpkin cake baked in a Charlotte cake pan, then piled high with fluffy cream cheese whipped cream. The pumpkin cake is so moist and perfectly spiced and the whipped cream is lightly sweetened to complement the cake. You get all the flavors and textures of a classic pumpkin roll cake with today’s recipe, but with none of the hassle of assembling a rolled cake.
You might also love these high altitude pumpkin recipes for pumpkin crumb cake muffins, pumpkin whoopie pies, and chai pumpkin sheet cake with coffee buttercream.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easier than a Pumpkin Roll Cake. When I was developing my sponge cake recipe, I spent two days baking sponge cake in a baking sheet and then attempting to roll a jelly roll cake. But it just wasn’t happening. The hassle of perfectly timing the cooling, rolling, unrolling, filling and rolling again, resulting in a cake that still did not have the perfect spiral I envisioned, simply wasn’t worth it for me. And the thing is, you can get all those flavors in a cake without messing around with that whole process. Today’s pumpkin cream cake has all the flavor and the soft, cakey, creamy goodness that you crave in a pumpkin roll cake, but it’s so much simpler to prepare and assemble. It’s much prettier, too, in my opinion.
Brown Butter and Fall Spices. You’ll just love the flavor of the cake, with the nutty richness of brown butter, complemented by plenty of cozy, warm spices.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
Cake
- Brown Butter. Besides flavor, the brown butter adds moisture and richness to the cake.
- Pumpkin. You’ll need plain canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling.
- Sugar. Granulated sugar and brown sugar adds sweetness and moisture to the cake.
- Egg. Add strength, moisture and fat.
- Milk + Apple Cider Vinegar. Moisture and a little acidity, for a tender cake.
- Flour. Plain all purpose flour gives the cake structure and strength.
- Baking Soda. Leavening agent, so the cake rises as it bakes.
- Spices. You’ll need salt, to balance the sweetness and enhance flavor. Then a combination of vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg adds warmth and coziness. Sometimes I also add allspice and cardamom to my pumpkin cakes.
Whipped Cream
- Cream Cheese. Use block style full fat cream cheese for the best texture and flavor. The cream cheese adds stability and body to the whipped cream, so that it doesn’t deflate on the leftover cake.
- Powdered Sugar. Adds sweetness and stability to whipped cream.
- Vanilla. Use either vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract.
- Cream. You’ll need heavy whipping cream to make the best whipped cream.
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Thoroughly spray a Charlotte cake pan with non-stick baking spray. You can also just use an 8-inch round cake pan.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan occasionally, for about 5-10 minutes, until the water has evaporated, and the butter is forming nutty, fragrant golden brown solids at the bottom of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and let the butter cool for 10 minutes.
- In a bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, milk, apple cider vinegar, vanilla and browned butter.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk the batter until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake the cake for about 28-30 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, and the top of the cake springs back when gently touched.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack, and cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn the cake out of the pan. Cool the cake completely before serving with the whipped cream.
Whipped Cream
- With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla for several minutes until smooth. I only used 1/4 cup powdered sugar, but if you like your whipped cream sweeter, use up to 1/2 cup powdered sugar.
- Stream in the cold heavy whipping cream, scrape down the bowl, then whip on medium speed until the whipped cream is thick and fluffy.
- Pile the whipped cream on top of the cake, then cut into slices and serve.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
How should I store leftover pumpkin cream cake?
Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
What if I don’t have a Charlotte cake pan?
If you don’t have a Charlotte cake pan, it’s no problem. I love my Charlotte cake pan, with its lovely shape and smaller size. And the shape is perfectly suited for filling with fruit, berries and whipped cream. It has a 6-cup capacity, so you can also use any small 6-cup bundt pan or just an 8-inch round cake pan to make one layer of cake.
You Might Also Like
Please check out my Amazon Shop for a curated collection of some of my favorite cake pans from trusted brands, baking tools, ingredients, pretty things and fashion finds. I recommend products that I buy and use every day!
Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!
High Altitude Pumpkin Charlotte Cream Cake
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Electric Mixer (Stand or Hand-Held)
- Charlotte Cake Pan (or an 8-inch round cake pan)
Ingredients
Cake
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 7 ½ oz canned pumpkin puree (1/2 of a 15-oz can, or a little more than 3/4 cup)
- ¼ cup light or dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ¾ tsp (scant) baking soda
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- â…› tsp ground nutmeg
Whipped Cream
- 4 oz block cream cheese, cold
- ¼ – ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste, or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups cold heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Thoroughly spray a Charlotte cake pan with non-stick baking spray. You can also just use an 8-inch round cake pan.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan occasionally, for about 5-10 minutes, until the water has evaporated, and the butter is forming nutty, fragrant golden brown solids at the bottom of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and let the butter cool for 10 minutes.
- In a bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, milk, apple cider vinegar, vanilla and browned butter.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk the batter until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake the cake for about 28-30 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, and the top of the cake springs back when gently touched.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack, and cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn the cake out of the pan. Cool the cake completely before serving with the whipped cream.
Whipped Cream
- With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla for several minutes until smooth. I only used 1/4 cup powdered sugar, but if you like your whipped cream sweeter, use up to 1/2 cup powdered sugar.
- Stream in the cold heavy whipping cream, scrape down the bowl, then whip on medium speed until the whipped cream is thick and fluffy.
- Pile the whipped cream on top of the cake, then cut into slices and serve.
- Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
FANTASTIC CAKE, thank you for the recipe!! I made this cake 2 days ago, exactly as specified in the recipe, and it turned out great. My husband and I LOVE how it tastes. It’s light and super flavorful but not too sweet… perfection indeed. This recipe is a keeper!
Spectacular! Moist, stable, and delicious! Added extra 1/2 C. Of flour 8500 ft. 28 minutes. Perfect! Thank you so much!
Made this for Thanksgiving and it was SO good! I followed directions exactly as written (including vanilla bean paste) and it looked just like the picture. It was richer than I expected (I mean there is half a cup of butter so I should’ve expected that) and the spices were just right – warm but not overpowering. Thanks for this recipe!