This 2-Ingredient Pumpkin Cake Only Needs a Can of Pumpkin and Cake Mix

When the summer heat (finally) starts coming to an end, I'm always eager to start enjoying cooler weather and all the delicious flavors the fall menus bring. And since Starbucks is releasing its famous PSL earlier than ever this year, I took this as a sign that I should go ahead and start making pumpkin recipes. The quickest and easiest way to get my pumpkin dessert fix? Two-ingredient pumpkin cake. A go-to recipe by one of our Better Homes & Gardens editors (and now one of mine!), all you need is a boxed cake mix and a can of pumpkin to make a moist and fluffy cake. While I usually keep canned pumpkin on hand for pumpkin bread, I'm so excited to have this simple dump cake recipe in my back pocket this fall. Here's how to make this 2-ingredient recipe at home.

How to Make 2-Ingredient Pumpkin Cake

I used a spice cake mix here to really amplify the warm fall flavors, but any flavor cake mix will do. If you aren't wanting the pumpkin pie spice flavor, a yellow cake or even chocolate cake mix would be delicious. The pumpkin purées real purpose here is to bind the ingredients and provide moisture, rather than flavor.

1. Stir together cake mix and a 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree until smooth (about 2 minutes).
2. Spread evenly into greased 9x13 baking pan and bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. You could also make this into cupcakes or a bundt cake by adjusting to the times on your cake mix box.
3. Cool completely and enjoy plain or top with your favorite frosting. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

This 2-ingredient pumpkin dump cake is strikingly similar to our autumn pumpkin bars (with way fewer ingredients!), so I made up the cream cheese frosting in the recipe for mine. Several reviews on this recipe on our sister site, Allrecipes, mention the cake's flavor and texture is improved by adding 3 eggs and/or ½ cup of applesauce. I think the cake was delicious as-is, especially for how easy it was for this cake to come together, but I will consider adding in some eggs when I make this again. For a more coffee cake flavor, I'm also thinking about adding some streusel topping instead of frosting next time. There are so many ways to keep this pumpkin cake recipe exciting!