Pumpkin Spice Cake with Oatmeal Streusel (For People Who Are OverPumpkin-Spiced Everything)
Nothing like afternoon tea and pumpkin spice cake on a 70° California November day in the garden.
We’re going to say it: pumpkin spice has gotten a little out of hand. It’s in lattes, candles, cereal, and probably motor oil by now. But this pumpkin spice cake? This one is different.
Today we’re sharing our Pumpkin Spice Cake with Oatmeal Streusel – a simple, quick fall dessert that’s been in Mark’s professional pastry repertoire for over 30 years. This isn’t a trend recipe; it’s a workhorse. Mark has used versions of this cake in large-volume hotels and even at the Ritz-Carlton high tea in the fall. It’s elegant enough for silver trays and white tablecloths, but easy enough to throw together on a busy weeknight.
A Pumpkin Cake with Real History
Long before pumpkin spice became a marketing season, this cake was already doing the rounds in professional kitchens. Over the years, Mark has baked this base recipe:
In hotel pastry kitchens, scaled up into huge batches
As little tea cakes for fancy afternoon service
In all kinds of molds and pans, depending on what was needed that day
One of the best things about this recipe is how flexible it is. You can bake it in:
A sheet pan for easy squares
Little cupcakes for school events
Small loaf pans (like the ones we show in the photos on the site)
Pretty much any pan you have in the cupboard
If it holds batter, this cake will probably bake in it.
The Cake That Got Mark “Voluntold”
This cake has also become a bit of a legend at our son’s school.
Every time there’s a school function, Mark’s wife “voluntells” him that he needs to make something for the coffee table. When you’re an ex–pastry chef with a huge repertoire of recipes, you don’t really get asked—you get assigned.
This is the second year we’ve made this pumpkin spice cake for the Halloween parade, and now everybody remembers it. Parents will say, “You’re bringing that pumpkin cake again, right?” It’s become one of those expected traditions, the kind that quietly anchors the season for our family and the school community.
Mom and Dad are making sure that this Brock Purdy gets all the favorable calls at the school Halloween parade.
Nut-Free for School, But Go Wild at Home
The original recipe includes nuts, and they’re fantastic in it. But for the school version (and the video we shot), we left them out because we can’t bring nut products to campus.
At home, though, you have options. This batter is incredibly forgiving and versatile. You can add:
Chopped walnuts or pecans
Chocolate chips
Toasted pumpkin seeds
Or keep it simple and let the spices do the talking
This is one of those foundational batters Mark has used for years. Once you know it, you can adapt it for all kinds of bakes.
One Batter, Many Breads: Pumpkin, Banana, Sweet Potato & More
Here’s where Mark’s pastry chef background really shines: this isn’t just a pumpkin cake recipe. It’s a template.
If we want to make banana bread, we simply swap out the pumpkin for overripe bananas—same weight, same method, same everything. If we’re in a sweet potato mood, we swap the pumpkin for cooked sweet potato. The structure of the recipe stays the same; the flavor shifts with the season and whatever’s on the counter.
A few ideas:
Pumpkin version: Use the full spice blend—cinnamon, nutmeg, maybe a little clove or ginger.
Banana bread: We usually dial it back to just cinnamon. Banana has a strong personality; it doesn’t need a big spice chorus.
Sweet potato loaf: Warm spices work beautifully here too, or try a touch of vanilla and cinnamon for something softer and more subtle.
This approach lets us stay current with the seasons and use what we already have. Too many bananas going soft on the counter? Perfect. We let them ripen, toss them in a bag in the freezer, and when we’ve collected enough, we make a couple of loaves of banana bread—using the same trusty base.
A Recipe That Fits Real Life
This cake also fits real life, not just magazine spreads.
The batter holds beautifully in the fridge for a couple of days. You can:
Make the batter when you have a pocket of time
Let it rest in the fridge
Bake off a pan or a few cupcakes as needed
We like to work recipes like this into our busy days so we’re not doing everything in one frantic push. A few minutes of mixing here, a bake there, and suddenly there’s fresh pumpkin spice cake on the table without feeling like it took over the whole day.
It’s one of those recipes we keep coming back to because it’s reliable, flexible, and forgiving. After 30+ years of Mark using it in different forms, it’s still in regular rotation in our kitchen.
Pumpkin Spice Cake
Ingredients
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15 oz Pumpkin puree
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5 oz Brown sugar, dark
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9.8 oz Sugar, granulated
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15 oz Flour, all-purpose
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1 tsp Baking Soda
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1.5 tsp Honey granulated crystals
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1 tsp Cinnamon powder
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0.5 tsp Ginger powder
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0.25 tsp Nutmeg powder
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4 ea eggs
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3.8 oz Oil, vegetable
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3 oz Cream, half & half
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1 Tablespoon Salt, kosher
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3.8 oz Sour Cream
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3.8 oz Nuts, walnuts, chopped
Instructions
- In a mixer with a flat paddle or bowl with a hand mixer with beater attachments, put the pumpkin puree, sugars, salt, and oil in the bowl, then blend till smooth
- Add in the eggs and scrape the bowl with a rubbler spatula a few times till mix is smooth.
- Add the cream and sour cream and mix till smooth.
- Scrape the bowl well with a rubber spatula.
- Sift the flour, spices, baking soda toghether and add to the mix.
- Mix till smooth then add the chopped nuts
- Let the mixture rest for 1 hr before baking.
- Bake at 360°F in a preheated oven for about 30-35 min
Notes
• This recipe makes one bunt pan or two Loaves of pumpkin cake. Fill the baking pan about halfway.
• Nuts are optional; feel free to leave them out or exchange them for walnuts or even chocolate chips.
• I enjoy the cake better the next day, for some crazy reason, it has an even more moist texture he next day.
• Make the batter in advance, and you can keep it up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
• Once the cake cools, you can wrap it and freeze it up to 4 months. I like to make a big recipe and stock up.
The Oatmeal Streusel That Goes on Everything
Now let’s talk about the real secret weapon: the oatmeal streusel on top.
This streusel is one of our all-time favorites. It’s simple, but it adds that perfect crunchy, buttery, slightly rustic topping that makes the cake feel extra cozy and fall-ish without veering into “pumpkin spice chaos” territory.
You can:
Add cinnamon or vanilla powder
Keep it plain and let the oats and butter shine
Make a big batch and keep it in the freezer
We do exactly that—make a big bag of streusel and stash it in the freezer. Then we pull it out for:
Muffins
Cakes like this pumpkin spice version
Apple crisp when we pick apples from the tree
Apple crumb pie for Thanksgiving
It’s one of those foundational recipes that quietly supports a whole season of baking. Once you have a go-to streusel in your back pocket, dessert becomes a lot more spontaneous.
Oatmeal Streusel
Ingredients
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3.5 oz Brown sugar, dark
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3.5 oz Flour, all-purpose
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3.5 oz Butter, salted, cold
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3.5 oz Oats, rolled
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1 tsp Cinnamon powder
Instructions
- Chop the butter into pieces and put into a Kitchen aid mixer with a flat paddle. You can also this this in a bowl by had with a fork or pie crust cutter tool.
- Add all the remaining ingredients and mix on second spead till pea size pieces are formed.
- Bag and freeze or sprinkle on your favorite muffin or quick bread before baking.
Notes
• Freezes well for months in a ziplock freezer bag.
• When we make this recipe, we make a 4 times batch and freeze it.
• Great to top muffins, crisps, or fruit pies.
• You can change up the spices as you like. We've even added instant espresso powder or cocoa nibs.
Not Your Average Pumpkin Spice Moment
So yes, this is a pumpkin spice cake. But it’s not trying to be a scented candle.
It’s:
Simple and quick enough for a weeknight
Flexible enough to adapt to whatever fruit or veg purée you have
Polished enough to have been served in Ritz-Carlton hotels
Practical enough to survive school bake tables and Halloween parades
It’s the kind of recipe you can make your own—change the spices, swap the pumpkin, add nuts or chocolate chips, or keep it classic. And once you’ve made it a couple of times, it will probably become one of those “We always make this in the fall” recipes in your own family, too.
