Pumpkin is one of those flavors that people either love, or hate. You can enjoy it in this Pumpkin Spice Cake trifle recipe, but also in pies, dips, and more sweets. Don’t forget toppings like streusel, gingersnap crumbs or good ol’ fashioned whipped cream. And don’t even get me started on pumpkin soups and other savory sides that have made their way into mainstream pumpkinlore!
Adding pumpkin into a spice cake, with the intensity of clove, ginger and cinnamon, takes Fall baking to a whole new yum factor. And let’s not stop with your run-of-the-mill whipped topping. I’ve made a White Chocolate Whipped Topping to layer among the chunks of Pumpkin Spice Cake, stacked beautifully in a trifle bowl. Your guests will be impressed [and your thighs will thank me] …
Pumpkin Spice Cake Trifle Recipe
This Pumpkin Spice Cake makes a large cake in a jelly roll pan. It does make a great snacking cake that is sweet enough to not need frosting – but really, no frosting? Unimaginable!
You can dust the cake with powdered sugar, or if you’re feeling extra snazzy, use my tips below to make a white chocolate whipped topping and layer in a trifle bowl for a beautifully impressive dessert.
Pumpkin Spice Cake Ingredients:
- 4 eggs
- 2 C sugar
- 1 C vegetable oil
- 1 can pumpkin (15 oz)
- 2 C flour (I use 1 C whole wheat flour + 1 C unbleached flour)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
Easy peazy directions:
In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin. Beat at medium speed until smooth. Next, mix your dry ingredients. Look how gorgeously yin-yangy my 1/2 and 1/2 whole wheat and white flour looks: 
Add in the spice, girls: 
Start pouring dry ingredients into mixer, and mix well. Spread into a 15 x 9 x 1 jelly roll pan. 
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack. 
White Chocolate Whipped Topping Ingredients:
- 2 tubs whipped topping such as Cool Whip, thawed
- 2 cups white chocolate chips, I use Nestle
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Melt white chocolate chips in a glass bowl in the microwave for 1 minute on medium-high heat (70%). Stir, and you’ll magically see how they continue melting until smooth. If needed, heat another 10 seconds on 70% and stir. Gently fold melted white chocolate into whipped topping. Sprinkle in 1/2 tsp cinnamon for extra color and flavor.
Assembling Pumpkin Spice Cake Trifle
Carefully break the cake into chunks. I ended up only needing about 3/4 of the cake, but a larger trifle bowl could hold the entire cake.
Layer Pumpkin Spice Cake chunks on the bottom of the bowl, then lightly spread a layer of white chocolate whipped topping. Repeat two more times, ending with topping on top.
Sprinkle a few cake crumbs on top, or if you have graham crackers or gingersnaps on hand, those crumbs would do nicely as well.
This post was originally published on September 3, 2014.
Pumpkin Spice Cake Trifle
Ingredients
Pumpkin Spice Cake:
- 4 eggs
- 2 C sugar
- 1 C vegetable oil
- 1 can pumpkin 15 oz
- 2 C flour I use 1 C whole wheat flour + 1 C unbleached flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
White Chocolate Whipped Topping:
- 2 tubs whipped topping such as Cool Whip thawed
- 2 cups white chocolate chips I use Nestle
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
-
In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin. Beat at medium speed until smooth. Next, mix your dry ingredients. Look how gorgeously yin-yangy my 1/2 and 1/2 whole wheat and white flour looks:
Add in the spices.
Start pouring dry ingredients into mixer, and mix well. Spread into a 15 x 9 x 1 jelly roll pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.
-
Melt white chocolate chips in a glass bowl in the microwave for 1 minute on medium-high heat (70%). Stir, and you'll magically see how they continue melting until smooth. If needed, heat another 10 seconds on 70% and stir. Gently fold melted white chocolate into whipped topping. Sprinkle in 1/2 tsp cinnamon for extra color and flavor.
Carefully break the cake into chunks. I ended up only needing about 3/4 of the cake, but a larger trifle bowl could hold the entire cake.
-
Layer Pumpkin Spice Cake chunks on the bottom of the bowl, then lightly spread a layer of white chocolate whipped topping. Repeat two more times, ending with topping on top.
Sprinkle a few cake crumbs on top, or if you have graham crackers or gingersnaps on hand, those crumbs would do nicely as well.
Be sure to follow me on Pinterest, and check out more of my family favorite recipes, such as Bourbon Brown Sugar Pork Loin Roast:
I love sharing ways to spend less, so families can do more! My passions are cooking, late night TV and being amused by my witty husband and three kids.
beautiful photo! so pretty I want to eat it. 🙂
This looks SO delicious!!!!
Look at you and your food post! I love it! Great photos 🙂
Really? People hate Pumpkin? Craziness! LOL. Thank you for sharing the recipe. It seriously looks so good! And thanks for linking up at Frugal Friday. 🙂
This looks so pretty and sounds so yummy. I am hoping to make this for my Bingo group this Friday. I have never made a trifle before so I have a couple questions. Can this be made a day ahead of time and just refrigerated? Also, how do you serve it? Do you just dig in with a spoon and serve whatever you come up with? Or is there a special trick.
Thank your for posting this recipe. I am SOOOO into pumpkin right now.
Brenwtood, CA
Bingo group – how fun! Yes refrigerating a day ahead will work fine, you may just want to wrap/cover the top. And I use a long handled spoon and try to go down vertically to serve at least a couple layers deep, rather than just skimming off the top. Thanks for your comment and hope your bingo group likes it!
How strong is the pumpkin flavor in this cake? It looks delicious, but just wondering if those in my life who are not as into pumpkin can still enjoy it. Could the recipe be made with less pumpkin than it calls for, if necessary? (And should I substitute something for it if so?). Thanks for your advice!
Hi Kate! Thanks so much for your question. I don’t personally think it’s too terribly pumpkin-y, but you could I supposed cut it back to half a can and I don’t really think you’d need to substitute anything in its absence. You could also just check around for a spice cake recipe and see how similar it may be? Good luck!
I just got done making the cake. It is wonderful.! I have cubed it and it is in the freezer. I don’t need it till next month. Question. When combining the melted chocolate with the cool whip will it melt the cool ship? I know to cool somewhat, but if you wait to long the chocolate will harden.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the trifle cake! You can let the melted chocolate cool just a bit before mixing with the Cool Whip, and then just do part at at time and it should work fine!