Pumpkin Chocolate Dessert Cake

YUMMY! This is a wonderfully moist, rich cake.... mmm-mmm! I used evaporated milk as a cheap substitute for the heavy cream, and margarine for butter - it turned out wonderful and got rave reviews! I would recommend sifting your icing sugar before adding it to the recipe for the icing, as you will get lumpy icing otherwise. Thanks for a great recipe, Sara - I will definitely make this again!

My 5 year old daughter and I made cupcakes from this recipe last night. I accidently left them on the baking rack last night and they are PERFECT this morning. Not dry at all. I did NOT use the pumpkin pie spice and they do NOT taste like pumpkin at all. Just chocolate cupcakes. Thank so much. We love these! (I also substituted a tiny (5oz) can of evaporated milk for the heavy cream. I used a 4oz kids sized applesauce pack and 1/2c butter because it's what I had.)

Great recipe made even better by suggestions found in earlier reviews, made a few changes subsituted half wheat flour and half brown sugar. Used evaporated milk instead of heavy cream. Didn't have pumpkin pie spice, so found the substitution for it and added maybe a 1/2 Tbsp more cinnamon and ginger and tsp more nutmeg and allspice. ( really wanted to taste the pumpkin spices) Also added chocolate chips as mentioned in other reveiws, sprinkled some on top of cake as well. Loved it very moist, cake and the icing was extremely sweet but perfect for spicy chocolate cake. Looked fabulous too served this at a dinner party and it was ooohed and ahhed!!

This was good, dense almost like a torte. It's not as rich as I expected, more of a mild chocolate flavor. I would recommend sifting the powdered sugar before adding it to the frosting, it was lumpy.

I have made this recipe FIVE times since I first saw it two months ago! My family doesn't even like chocolate, but they gobbled this up. My son even requested it for his birthday cake! I live overseas in a country that doesn't have premade pumpkin puree or applesauce, so I made them myself (thanks, phatcat, for the Sarah's applesauce recipe!). It does take my cake at least an hour to cook, but it's still moist, and I like for my frosting to cool a bit and become more solid than a glase. The last time I made the frosting I even added some caramels to make it even sweeter. This one is a keeper!

I'm eating this cake as I write this review. Yum! It's so good, moist, and the frosting is delicious!! I will make this recipe many times I'm sure. I will try chocolate chips next time for a new touch and when making the frosting make sure you move your hot syrup mixture away from the heat and sift your powdered sugar before wisking it in if you don't want any lumps.

I don't usually like chocolate cake that much but this is an exception! I needed to use up some extra pureed pumpkin and I found this recipe. I followed the directions exactly but added 1 tsp of vanilla to the cake mix. For the icing, it was a bit grainy but still good. Tasted just like caramel. Thanks for the awesome recipe!

This cake was certainly different than any other chocolate cakes I've made. It really was quite moist, and the frosting complimented it nicely. I had to bake it for 15 minutes longer than the recipe suggested, but after that it was perfectly done. I also realized I didn't have any cream halfway through making it, but my substitution of milk for both the cake and the frosting seemed to work just fine. If you don't have any pumpkin pie spice, there are a few recipes on this site that give you enough to make this cake. I'm sure I'll make it again.

This recipe was relatively easy and caused rave reviews when served at my pumpkin carving party; it is rich and chocolatey with just the right amount of pumpkin pie flavor for the holiday.

SO DELICIOUS! This was one of my first baking ventures, and it turned out wonderfully. It's very easy to make, and the cake is rich and moist. The glaze creates the perfect combo, and I suggest waiting for it to thicken (off of the heat) for a few minutes before topping on the cooled cake.

This was very very moist and yummy. A friend commented that they were leery of the pumpkin/chocolate combo, but were pleasantly surprised. Frosting was just enough, too, and wasn't over powering.

This is very moist and flavorful (not as chocolate-y as I expected), and the guests were all impressed. Personally I thought it needed salt. I'm not usually one to add salt to everything (in fact, I halve it in most recipes), but a little bit of salt would have improved this cake. Also, the bake time was about 15 minutes longer for me.

it was an easy cake to make, however with the sauce you should wait a minute or two before drizzling it over the cake because it won't stick. You will find all the sauce stuck to the bottom of your serving dish.

I took a picture because it came out so pretty. Very moist. It needed a little something else though; I will think on it for next time.

Amazing! So moist and delicious. As written, the recipe made 24 regular sized cupcakes. Instead of the glaze listed here I made a pumpkin cream cheese frosting that complemented it very well - but the cake is so moist and flavorful itself that it barely needed the frosting. Everyone loved them and I'll definitely make them again!

Cake was deliciously moist and easy to make. Will be my new holiday go-to cake!

This was actually a really interesting and delicious recipe, the pumpkin flavor was very subtle, but the combination of chocolate and pumpkin went very well together. My frosting didn't really hold up too well, the recipe said to pour on while still hot, but I think next time I will wait a few more seconds for it to slightly cool before pouring it so that it will look thicker. Thanks for the recipe!

Love this cake! I did make a couple of changes (just b/c I wanted to experiment). Instead of pumpkin, I used sweet potato and left out the pumpkin pie spice (didn't want to use it). I also subbed cola for the cream in the cake b/c I love coke cakes. I did have to bake it 25 extra minutes, but it may have been b/c of my substitutions. Such a wonderfully moist cake! Thanks for the recipe!

Really good! I substituted white flour for whole wheat and the cream for milk and it still turned out moist and tasting great, I think next time I may add a little more pumpkin and pumpkin spice so that you can taste it

Great moist and chocolatey recipe. I didn't taste much of the pumkin though. I will defintiely make this again.

This is wonderful! Next time I might just make half the frosting because there was so much. Although eating it out of the pan with a spoon was nice too.

This cake turned out very moist and rich, and it looked beautiful on the plate. Unfortunately, we didn't love the way it tasted. It was too spicey for me and my family, or maybe it was simply the pumpkin-chocolate combination. We shared it with our neighbor and she really liked it. So, if you think you'll like the spicey pumpkin and chocolate combination, go for it - you'll love how moist and flavorful this cake is. If, on the other hand, the combination doesn't sound good, you're probably right. Try something less risky.

This recipe was a wonderful twist on the traditional pumpkin pie at our thanksgiving dinner. It was a great hit, although I had no icing sugar and simply drizzled a brown sugar cream sauce on the top, which was just as rich and tasty!

I would have liked to taste more pumpkin flavor as well as the spices. I think the chocolate overpowers this recipe. The frosting is very sweet.

Fabulous. They were eaten in minutes.

This cake is delicious with a very good texture. Definitely needed 15 extra minutes in the oven. The frosting needs to be cooked longer than you would think and maybe not to drizzle immediately. I'm going to make it again maybe sprinkle some nutmeg on top?

Awesome cake, I don't even care much for chocolate. I did add 1/8 cup of cream because the batter seemed a little dry during mixing.

This was fabulous. I substituted sour cream for the applesauce and added chocolate chips and it was so moist. I wish the pumpkin flavor was a little stronger, but really, this was just a good, dense chocolate cake. I had to bake it for work, and wow were people impressed! It looks great and it's not hard to make at all. Don't skimp on the icing, either; it's delicious and it helps keep the cake moist. I will definitely save this guy.

This Cake I amazing. My kids loved it

I baked this as cupcakes on a convection setting and didn't have any problems with needing more baking time. I did cut back a little on the sugar and replace part of the butter with olive oil. They turned out well and I will make them again.

Very moist. I couldn't tell that it had pumpkin after the second bite. However, my fiance said he could taste the pumpkin pretty well. I had this with cream cheese frosting instead.

This cake was just ok. The cake itself is not overly sweet, which is nice, but it's more of a chocolate cake than a pumpkin cake. The pumpkin flavor is overpowered by the chocolate. I had to bake it for 65 minutes instead of 40. After cooling it came out of the pan smoothly. I did not, however, like the icing. Maybe I made it wrong, but the icing just absorbed into the cake, not laying on top and slowly drizzling down nicely like in the picture. Perhaps this could be remedied by letting it cool a little before drizzling it on. The recipe said to do it immediately though. I was going to make this for a Thanksgiving potluck for my husband's office, but I'm going to make pumpkin curry soup instead.

I made this for my book club friends and they all loved it!! I baked it @ 375 by mistake for 30 minutes and then, 15 more minutes @ 345. I did add 1/2 bag of milk chocolate chips per another reviewers suggestion and I let the frosting sit for a few minutes before drizzling over the cake. Very good and it looked wonderful, too.

I made this cake for Thanksgiving Dinner and it was a hit. I followed the directions exactly and got a perfect result. It was very rich and moist but not oversweet. There was a hint of pumpkin which was delicious, even though not everyone could taste it. I didn't put as much sugar in the icing and the cake as the recipe called for, and it still turned out amazing. I would definetely reccomend making this!

This cake is so moist and absolutely delicious. Loved the pumpkin pie spice flavor with the chocolate. Will definitely make again and again!

Delicious! I didn't make the frosting which made me think maybe I should bcos the taste slightly bland. Maybe better add 1/4c sugar? I'm sure no additional needed with frosting. I did't have the applesauce, I should've substitute with oil to keep the same moistness. And use milk instead of heavy cream. It's very nice when it's just came out of the fridge. Denser, which I like so much. Next time I would add more cocoa. Hmm..yum!

What a great recipe.I would suggest making 1/2 the frosting. I didn't have any cream so in a pinch I grabbed my french vanilla fat free creamer (for my coffee) and it still turned out delicious. I also used whole wheat flour, egg whites, and 1/2 cup of cane sugar with 1/2 cup of sugar substitute. My family and friends all enjoyed :)

This is a traditional fall cake for us. However, I bake it in a 12" Bundt for 55 minutes...

I made this for my bunco club and it was a hit. Made it in a bundt pan. The glaze is fabulous. I stirred it up and cool it down some to make it thicker before frosting. I also didn't have applesauce, so I used oil instead. It's a keeper.

This is the best!!! Only used 1/2 the frosting recipe. I also used evaporated milk.

I did indeed weep and exult at this cake, an outstanding combination of seasonal flavors. Because I was using fresh pumpkin, I pureed it for smoothness, but didn't think to do that 'til I already had it mixed with the cream and eggs. That may have made my version a little fluffier than the original, and turned out impressively taller than the average Bundt cake. The cake was a hit with colleagues at an early Thanksgiving dinner, and the babysitters enjoyed cleaning the frosting pan at home.

So delicious and moist! A fantastic fall cake!

This is so easy and looks so impressive! I tried this around Thanksgving, and had to make it again soon as my family was asking for it!

Very moist & delicious. I did not sift the confectioners sugar. Just whisk it and the clumps go away. I had to bake my cake about 10 min longer than the suggested time. I'm also at a high elevation & didn't modify anything. Great recipe & everyone loved it!

This the best cake I have ever had. It was so good I had to make it twice in one week for my family. Just outstanding.

This cake is amazing, my boyfriend has requested that it become a thanksgiving tradition from now on. Dense, moist and just the right balance of spicy and sweet.

very heavy, dense cake. thought it had great flavor. had to cook it 20 minutes more than recipe stated. the frosting turned out fine for me - no lumps even though i didnt sift the powdered sugar. but, the frosting was thin so when i poured it over the cake it essentially just ran off the cake onto the pan. next time i will halve the frosting and maybe wait a bit before pouring it on the cake in hopes that it'll thicken a bit and stay on the cake (definitely didnt look like the frosting in the recipe picture). i think this would be great with the cinnamon ice cream recipe from this site! thanks for the recipe!

This cake was just ok for me. The glaze hard a ell off you cut it and the flavor of the cake was litle to rich for me.

I used some of the modifications to fit what we had, sour cream instead of apple sauce and evaporated milk in stead of heavy cream. I also omitted the pumpkin pie spice this time for a more chocolate flavor. As usual I added 1 cup whole wheat and 2/3 cup wheat germ with 1 cup white four and a couple TBSP of ground flax. The glaze is very praline like and delicious, would also be good with chopped nuts. The cake is very moist and rich. Delicious!

This was just ok. The spice in the cake definitely threw me off. If I made again, I'd use the pumpkin for moistness, but omit the pumpkin pie spice. The caramel frosting was excellent!

Awesome!-but you could 1/2 the icing- it's way too much. I also poked holes in the cake to let it soak into the cake.

Loved it!

OH...MY...GOODNESS!!! This cake is incredibly moist and delicious! I served it instead of pumpkin pie for Turkey Day and the family loved it. Thanks!

The cake was ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL !!! Dense,moist and the taste is wonderful..Thank You, Thank You!! Oh and did I say sooo easy to make!!!

I added half a bag of semisweet chips. I think next time I will add the whole bag and more of the pumpkin pie spice. I too had problems with the icing - it turned out very grainy. Still, the guests loved it!

This was AWESOME! I made it for Thanksgiving this year and everyone LOVED it. Got many comments on the good texture and moistness. The flavor was wonderful - I would have never thought to mix pumpkin and chocolate. I will probably make this recipe for many Thanksgivings to come!

I made this recipe last Thanksgiving and I will probably make it again this Thanksgiving. It was so good! Not something you want to eat if your on a diet, but oh so good! After trying another similar recipe, I will definitely be going back to this one and staying with it!

This recipe is really good, and the pumpkin helps it to stay moist longer. The only caution I would make is that it took almost twice as long to bake as the recipe said it would.

Took to Donna's for dinner group and everyone loved it. Nice and dense and caramel topping is awesome. It's definitely a keeper!

Today we made this delicious cake. I'm always trying to reduce calories but maintain flavor so I reduced butter to 1/4 cup and added 1/4 cup canola oil, used whole wheat pastry flower instead of white, used 1-1/2 cups raw sugar instead of 2 cups white sugar and substituted cream cheese frosting (lite version) for suggested frosting. It was delicious and the pumpkin and whole wheat flour make it nutritious as well!

Cooking time wasn't long enough, and i think i may have baked it too long. still was tasty though.

This cake was fantastic. Moist and delicious. The icing is great, but next time I would make a half recipe of the icing as there was too much.

Excellent cake! This was a wonderful change of pace from the traditional chocolate cakes, and a great treat for fall. Next time I'll be adding some chocolate chips to give it a little extra chocolatey boost, but it was fabulous straight from the recipe. Serve warm with some vanilla icecream, Mmmmmm.

Overall pretty good. I enjoyed the flavor combo, but I don't know that it will work for everyone. The glaze is excellent, though. Those who say it is gritty might want to try heating it longer and stiring until you're certain the brown sugar has dissolved.

Outstanding cake! I'm not a baker, but this came out so good! However, the next time I make it, I'll make half of the icing. First time I made it I had icing all over the plate. (Told you I'm not a baker!)

Yuck. I thought chocolate and pumpkin would go well together, but I was wrong. I think it's just a matter of different tastes, but I did not like this at all, nor did my husband, or our boys. This recipe tastes as if it's really missing something; maybe adding some chocolate chips to the batter as some had suggested would've done the trick. But I'm not wasting any more ingredients to find out.... At least the icing was a hit.....

I would probably say 3.5 stars. This was just okay for us. The glaze did end up being very sweet & grainy even though I did it very carefully & used a whisk. The cake is very dense but moist. Not really sweet at all except for the glaze.

my first baking experience...and the women of the family agreed that i had earned my first bundt pan! not hard to do, but looks impressive and tastes great, too!

amazingly moist, a huge hit! I definitely agree with the sifting of the powdered sugar. I will do that next time, as mine had lumps in the glaze...but still fantastic taste!

Delicious, my husband made it for me and he did great, especially since it was his first time baking! I love this recipe!

This cake is delicious. Very moist. I love the flavor combination of pumpkin and chocolate. The added flavor of the icing makes those flavors especially good.

This was pretty good. Kind of a strange taste, but lots of people enjoyed it. I used 2/3 c wheat flour in place of white and used Smart Balance in the icing because I ran out of butter.

Came out great and smelled terrific. Seemed a little dry, but with ice cream it was great. The chocolate lovers in the group thought it was wonderful and tasted a little like gingerbread. I would make this one again.

Very moist and yummy. Be sure to cook the caramel long enough so that it thickens.

This cake was absolute delicious! I made it for thanksgiving and it was gone right away! My family begged me the next day to make some more and again they loved it so much! (it is also my first time ever to bake a cake)

To make this a bit healthier, I used evaporated milk instead of heavy cream. The cake is fantastic! It's moist and holds up well over a few days. I didn't make the caramel frosting, but made a vanilla drizzle. Will definitely make this again.

An odd combination of flavors I felt. The frosting is really sweet and the cake doesnt seem to be sweet enough, as odd as that sounds. It just didnt mesh well together.

Had this cake at my aunt's last night, it was sooooo good, I!can't wait to make it! Not your typical chocolate cake, but definitely delicious!

I had such high hopes! I made and brought to someone's house. Mortified because no one cared for it.

I made this recipe for my husband and he absolutely loved it! He said that this was the best cake ever! It is so moist and has a wonderful flavor!

Wow! This was really yummy! I added chocolate chips as suggested by some reviewers and it turned out very good! Really rich though so a small slice is enough. I didn't have a bundt pan so I used 2 pie tins...kept them separate instead of making a layered cake. It turned out really well and most importantly the kids loved it! 8D

This cake was very moist and presented well. The frosting was very tasty, although I had some trouble with clumps of sugar. However, the flavor cake was sort of bland. The pumpkin flavor wasn't very pronounced, and it tasted like a subtly different chocolate cake.

I brought this to our Thanksgiving gathering and everyone seemed to like it. As others suggested, I used evaporated milk in place of heavy cream. My husband thought it was good but didn't think it qualified for a five star rating.

I followed the recipe to T, Unfortunately, we didn't like to way it tasted. The texture was too dense, the cooking time mentioned was off, I needed to bake mine at least 20 minutes more and keep inseting the tooth pick. I wouln't make it again. Sorry!

This cake is super yummy. Next time around I will add just a little more pumpkin pie spice. The frosting is super yummy and helps to sweeten the cake! Thanks for the recipe!

Great recipe. I substituted half whole wheat flour, coconut oil for butter and yogurt for cream. Also just used brown sugar. Still tasted super yummy and moist. I also made a spiced chocolate ganache for the top.

This was so moist, and delicious!! I cant wait to share it with my friends and family. I prepared it as written and it was very easy and baked up beautifully!

I made this for a cake walk fundraiser and was not very impressed with the results. The cake took about 15 minutes extra to cook (like other reviewers stated) and when I cut a small part of the bottom to taste it didn't taste very sweet, very mild tasting cake. The frosting was difficult to make for me. I think maybe it needed to cook longer? I cooked as the directions stated, until the brown sugar dissolved and then whisked in the powdered sugar but it was VERY runny and ended up a little grainy. It also cooked a lot more than was needed. It tasted and smelled good, but the texture was just too grainy to get over for me. I might try this again for my husband and I because the recipe SOUNDS so good, but my expectations are pretty low for the second attempt.

This cake is AMAZING!! It is SOOOO moist and flavorful, it adds a whole new meaning to "comfort" food! I followed the recipe exactly, except for I added an extra teaspoon of the pumpkin pie spice (cause I love pumpkin flavor!) and the cake itself was PERFECT!! The glaze was ok but I personally don't think the cake needed it. Next time I'll just dust the top with powdered sugar when I serve it up. I'll most definitely be making this delicious cake again soon!!

this cake was really good, we loved it and I was skeptical at first.

I thought this recipe was a little dry. The overall taste is good but I prefer a moister cake. Thanks

I did not like this at all! No taste!

I was really disappointed by this recipe. I bake often, and I was really looking forward to this one, given all of the good reviews. The cake was bland, it definitely needs some salt. It was also on the dry side - surprising, because many people raved about how moist it was. The frosting looked beautiful, but hardened up and didn't taste all that good. I brought this one to a dinner party, and most people (myself included!) only took a few bites and left the rest.

A great cake. I made it richer by adding a package of chocolate chips and it turned out great. It didn't need the frosting with this sweet addition either.

This cake is a winner! The cake is moist and dense, and the glaze has that perfect texture to bite into then melts in your mouth! I personally am not a fan of pumpkin pie spice, so I cut it from 1-1/2T to 1t, and it gave the cake great flavor.

I made this cake for Thanksgiving dinner, and it was a huge hit! I made it just as suggested, and it was easy. The only thing I will do differently next time is to sift the confectioners sugar for the icing....it was a little lumpy, still wonderful, but it looked a little funny! Will make this again.

made moist mini-bundts, but they had no flavor at all. even added an extra 1/4 cup cocoa. still nothing. maybe will try again with choc. chips instead.

A very good cake. I substituted buttermilk in place of the cream in the cake. I ended up having to cook the cake for 55 minutes, because it just didn't seem done. Both the pumpkin and the pumpkin spice was noticeable in the taste of the cake. This is a good recipe for Halloween, and different from anything else that I have ever had. I'm sure I'll make it again. My family loves the caramel icing.

It was OK. Very moist but the cake needed to be sweeter. Also, better make sure the cake is completely cooled before frosting. Mine all dripped to the sides. I also had to bake it longer than stated. I will keep looking for a better recipe.