Pumpkin Olive Oil Cake

This pumpkin olive oil cake is as delicious as it is gorgeous. Full of rich pumpkin flavor and drizzled with a sweet maple glaze – your Thanksgiving guests will LOVE it! This cake is one of our new favorite Thanksgiving recipes!

Aside from galettes, my next favorite baking dessert would be cakes. My Red Velvet Cake with Butter Roux Frosting, aka Waldorf Astoria Cake, is my ALL-TIME favorite cake! This pumpkin olive oil cake is another simple yet elegant Thanksgiving dessert that won’t have you pulling your hair out. Plus, the bundt pan does all the work when it comes to making this cake GORGEOUS! I’ve linked this bundt cake pan down below, too!

Ingredients needed

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup olive oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 15oz pumpkin purée
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp. milk
• 2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup

How to make a pumpkin olive oil cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, add the eggs, oil, sugar, and pumpkin and mix on medium until smooth. Add in the flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice and mix again on medium until well-combined and smooth.
3. Grease a 10-cup bundt pan and pour the cake batter into the pan – making sure it fills the pan evenly.
4. Bake for 60 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack. Then, place another cooling rack onto the open end of the bundt pan and carefully flip the pan and allow the cake to slide out of the pan and finish cooling on the cooling rack. Once cooled, transfer to a cake stand or serving platter.
6. Right before serving, combine the powdered sugar, milk, and maple syrup in a small saucepan and heat over medium-low heat – whisking to combine. Once the glaze is warmed and smooth, carefully pour over the bundt cake and serve.

Recipe FAQs and variations

What does olive oil cake taste like?

Don’t worry, you will not taste the olive oil in an olive oil cake. To me, the olive oil helps creates a dense, moist cake.

Can olive oil replace regular oil in a cake recipe?

Yes, olive oil is a 1 to 1 ingredient swap for any other cooking oil in a baking recipe.

Does butter or oil make a cake more moist?

Most bakers will agree, cakes made with oil tend to have a better texture than cakes made with butter. Oil-based cakes are also more moist and stay tender longer.

Recipe Tips

Time-saving tip – bake the cake the day before, then make the glaze right before serving, or make the glaze the day before and then reheat when ready to serve. If the glaze is too thick, add additional milk about 1 tsp. at a time.

Recommended kitchen tools for this recipe

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Find this recipe and more inside Gather – A Thanksgiving Cookbook

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Pumpkin Olive Oil Cake