Mini Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Brown Butter Frosting
44
Updated Apr 28, 2025, Published Oct 01, 2024
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you click on the link and make a purchase.
This Mini Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Brown Butter Frosting is the perfect cake for fall. This pumpkin cake is fluffy, perfectly spiced and smothered with a brown butter frosting. It’s delicious and quick to throw together and ideal for a small get together. Pair this with my Fall Harvest Salad and bowls of Broccoli Cheddar Soup for the perfect fall dinner.
Fall is upon us and I am reveling in the autumnal glory this year, let me tell you. It’s not uncommon for me to be amped for fall but this year it’s like next level. I think I need something to bury myself in, something to look forward to…well, all things pumpkin it is!
This cake is adapted from this large Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Brown Butter Frosting. Give me all things pumpkin pie spice! I love everything from Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Pumpkin Tres Leches, Pumpkin Pancakes to Pumpkin Churros. I want it all!
Ingredients You’ll Need for this Mini Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Brown Butter Frosting
- Pumpkin. This cake needs pumpkin. I like using canned pumpkin puree because it has a low water content.
- Oil. Most of my favorite cakes include oil only. I like it this way because it ensures the most moist and delicious cake.
- Butter. We’re using this in the frosting to make brown butter and then adding it to regular butter with powdered sugar. SO GOOD!
For the rest of the ingredients, please see the recipe index below!
How to Make This Mini Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Brown Butter Frosting
The best texture. It’s not exactly like a quick bread. The crumb is much tighter. So if you’re thinking this is just a pumpkin muffin in cake form, it’s not! It’s a bit different. It’s more, well, like a cake!
- This cake is pretty simple. The first step is to whisk the dry ingredients together. For dry we have all-purpose flour, sugar, store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients. We have eggs, neutral oil, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry.
- Pour the batter into a 8×8-inch cake pan. And transfer it to the oven to bake until it’s set and risen, about 23 to 25 minutes.
4. To make the frosting, let’s brown some butter. I like to do this ahead of time. Transfer it to the freezer for about 15 minutes. We want it back to room temperature. Combine it with softened butter and then add in the sifted powdered sugar, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.
5. Lastly, I like to add the heavy cream and beat the frosting for a full minute. This helps with making it super light and fluffy.
6. And of course, you can decorate it how you like. I added some pumpkins on with some of the frosting. You could serve it as is OR you could add some sprinkles on top. Your choice!
Recipe Tip
- To make the small pumpkins on the cake, I used a #106 Tip from Wilton and a #105. These are both small round tips. And of course, I used piping bags.
- If you want to make this cake ahead, no problem! It’s a good cake for that. Make the cake, let it cool and wrap it in plastic wrap. Make the frosting, put it in an airtight container and transfer it to the fridge.
- When you’re ready to serve the cake, bring the frosting to room temperature and beat it or vigorously mix it up. And then smother it onto the cake.
Recipe FAQs
Yep, this cake is perfect to freeze. Bake the cake, let it cool completely, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and transfer it to the freezer for up to three months. I like to thaw this on the counter or in the fridge. Decorate as you like when it’s at room temperature.
Sure! I would just blot it dry with a paper towel if it seems too wet.
More Cozy Fall Recipes
Dinner
Pumpkin Pasta alla Vodka
Dinner
Pumpkin Chili
Dinner
Best Caesar Salad
Dinner
Spaghetti and Meatballs
If you tried this Mini Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Brown Butter Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Mini Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Brown Butter Frosting
Ingredients
Mini Pumpkin Cake:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 large eggs
- 6 tablespoons neutral oil
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Brown Butter Frosting:
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, (1/4 cup of the butter needs to be room temperature)
- 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
To Make the Pumpkin Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line an 8×8-inch cake pan. Set it aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt. In another medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, neutral oil, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until combined. You really just don’t want to see any speckles of flour. I like to scrape the bottom of the bowl with a spatula to make sure there aren’t any bits of flour hiding.
- Transfer the batter into the prepared cake pan and place in the oven for 23 to 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for about 5 to 7 minutes. Then invert onto a cooling rack and cool until it’s room temperature. It’ll probably take a full hour.
To Make the Frosting:
- If you’ll notice in the recipe it calls for the butter to be divided. We’re going to brown 1/2 cup of unsalted butter. You can go ahead and place 1/4 cup of unsalted butter into the stand-up mixer (or a medium bowl). We want this to be room temperature.
- In a small saucepan, set over medium heat, add the 1/2 cup of butter. Once it’s melted, it will begin to foam up and bubble a bit. Allow it to cook until you begin to see lightly browned specks beginning to form. Give it a stir and cook until it’s browned. You should also start to smell its nutty aroma. Remove it from the pan and continue to stir to cool it down.
- Transfer it to a small bowl (freezer-safe) and place it in the freezer to chill, for about 10 to 15 minutes. We want it to be around room temperature butter. After it gets to that room temperature butter-firmness (it can be a bit softer—that’s ok), transfer it to the bowl with the other room temperature butter.
- Sift in the powdered sugar and add the vanilla extract, salt and heavy cream. Beat the frosting for about 3 minutes. The fluffiness from the heavy cream really lightens up this frosting so be sure to beat it for the full 3 minutes.
To Assemble the Cake:
- Pour all of the frosting on the cooled sheet cake and spread it around, creating cute swoops as you go. Top it with some sprinkles and cut it up and slice! Cake will stay moist for about 3 days when wrapped properly.
Notes
- To make the small pumpkins on the cake, I used a #105 Tip from Wilton and a #104. These are both small round tips. And of course, I used piping bags.
- If you want to make this cake ahead, no problem! It’s a good cake for that. Make the cake, let it cool and wrap it in plastic wrap. Make the frosting, put it in an airtight container and transfer it to the fridge.
- When you’re ready to serve the cake, bring the frosting to room temperature and beat it or vigorously mix it up. And then smother it onto the cake.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I always make the regular sized version of this cake, but didn’t need that much cake this year for Thanksgiving. This mini version was just as good! Love all your recipes!
So I just finished, and the middle is very wet. I’ve put it in for about p more minutes extra due to the wet middle. I used a 8×8 glass pan, and it is currently setting, any tips on how to fix it?
hi isabella! i would recommend replacing the glass pan with a metal pan. glass takes a really long time to heat up so this is why you won’t have a good bake with glass pans.
You don’t mention how much vanilla in the frosting so I had to guesstimate but it was delicious!
I love this cake! It’s so easy to make. I’ve made this version and the larger one and love them both. I always opt for the brown butter cream cheese frosting. The flavor is phenomenal.
wonderful to hear!
I’m normally not a big cake person, but this recipe is most definitely my exception!! I was a bit worried because sometimes I find pumpkin flavoured baked goods to be a bit bland, but this cake was so moist and tasty, I truly wanted to eat the entire thing in one go. The instructions were also super easy to follow!
love this review! so glad you loved it.
Just made this and it was so good! The best way to describe this cake is soft and moist. We truly could not get over how SOFT it is (in a good way!). The brown butter in the frosting is so good. If you need help browning butter, Sally’s Baking Addiction has a good description. We used vegetable oil as the neutral oil. 5 stars. So good. Will definitely be making this again!
Hi I have two questions! I’ve made this recipe as your carrot cake (THE BEST) and want to make the pumpkin. 1) could i make it as mini bundt cakes or mini loaves or is the crumb too delicate? 2) could i add maple to the frosting and if so how much? thank you!!!!
This is my absolute favorite pumpkin cake! The frosting is amazing!!