Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bundt Closet Cake

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bundt Closet Cake. What a name, right?

I came up with this cake for my oldest daughter’s half birthday this year.  She is the baker of our family, so I wanted to give her a break and try whipping something special for her to enjoy. I originally planned on carrot cake, but since we always keep pumpkin in the pantry, I figured if I could nail a pumpkin version, we’d have a go-to cake recipe with ingredients we always have on hand.

Well, everyone RAVED about it—I’m talking crumb-scraping-the-board kind of good. That’s a total mom win! 🙌

The kids and Mr. Awesome didn’t believe I made it from scratch (I’m not the baker in this house), and those who actually saw me make it couldn’t believe how good it turned out. Thanks, I think? 😂

They loved it so much that we’ve made it several times over the last two weeks. I even had others test it out to make sure it wasn’t just beginner’s luck, and now I feel confident enough to share the recipe.

Why “Closet Cake”?

My oldest son came up with the name because I literally hid the cake in our closet until the big half-birthday dinner reveal. The clothes in there smelled like sweet fall spice for a few days!

I did use a store-bought frosting because we found one with minimal ingredients and had it on hand. There is no sense in over-complicating things.

Also, I used my mixing bowl and a kitchen scale to measure everything in grams. I’ve really come to love baking this way—it’s consistent, makes fewer dishes, and everything I’ve baked by weight turns out better. Do you use a scale when you bake? I’ve included standard measurements after each ingredient, for your convivence.

Here are a few handy affiliate/referral links, like to my favorite flour, bundt pan, kitchen scale, and frosting.

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Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bundt Closet Cake

Ingredients

• 1 Can Pumpkin puree (425g)
• 200 grams Granulated sugar 1 cup
• 100 grams Brown sugar (light or dark) 1/2 cup
• 180 grams Neutral oil (I like avocado) 3/4 cup
• 4 Eggs
• 260 grams King Arthur Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour 2 cups
• 5 grams Baking soda 1 teaspoon
• 6 grams Baking powder 1½ teaspoons
• 3 grams Salt ½ teaspoon
• 9 grams Cinnamon 1 tablespoon
• 60 grams OPTIONAL: Water ¼ cup

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a bundt pan thoroughly.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, sugars, oil, and eggs, until smooth.

3. Next, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

4. Stir well. Add water if the batter seems very thick.

5. Pour batter evenly into the prepared bundt pan and smooth the top.
6. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
7. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe Notes

We have enjoyed this with and without cream cheese frosting (If you don’t make your own, I like the Miss Jones brand from Wal-Mart).  The general consensus from everyone we have served it to is that it really does not need the frosting, and the flavor pops better without it.