Moist Pumpkin Spice Chiffon Cake (+VIDEO)

I’m sharing how to make the moist, silky, and fluffy pumpkin spice chiffon cake. It tastes like a pumpkin pie in a very fluffy way! It's one of my favorite cakes to make during this fall to the holiday season. 

Jump to:

• 📌 Frequently Asked Questions
• 📌 VIDEO: Learn how to make it visually!
• 📌 Ingredients for pumpkin spice chiffon cake
• 📌 How to make Pumpkin spice Chiffon Cake
• 📌 Step 1: Mix all the wet ingredients in a bowl.
• 📌 Step 2: Add the dried ingredients to a bowl and mix.
• 📌 Step 3: Make meringue.
• 📌 Step 4: Add the meringue to a bowl and fold.
• 📌 Step 5: 🔥 Bake at 340F | 171C for 40-45 minutes.
• 📌 Step 6: Let it cool completely.
• 📌 Whipped cream topping
• 📌 How to enjoy the cake
• 📌 Printable Recipe
• Pumpkin Spice Chiffon Cake

How to make pumpkin (pie) spice

Check out this post to learn about homemade pumpkin spice in a little bit more in detail. I break down all the tips step-by-step.

📌 Frequently Asked Questions

📌 VIDEO: Learn how to make it visually!

To learn how to make this pumpkin spice chiffon cake visually and have a deeper understanding of all, watch this video.

Don't forget to subscribe if you liked it😉

📌 Ingredients for pumpkin spice chiffon cake

The chiffon cake pan: The bottom: 15cm | 6inch diameter, The top: 17cm | 6.7inch

In a bowl

• Egg yolks 60g | 2.1oz (about 4 eggs)
• Granulated sugar 30g | 1oz
• Oil 40g | 1.4oz
• Milk 30g | 1oz or 2 Tbsp
• Pureed pumpkin 150g | 5.3oz
• Rum 10g | 0.3oz or 2 tsp
• Cake flour 80g | 2.8oz
• Baking powder 1 tsp
• Salt A pinch
• Pumpkin spice *** 1 tablespoon + ½ teaspoon (Check out this post to see how to make it)

Meringue

• Egg white 130g | 4.6oz (about 4 eggs)
• Granulated sugar 50g | 1.7oz

📌 How to make Pumpkin spice Chiffon Cake

1. Mix all the wet ingredients in a bowl.
2. Add the dried ingredients to a bowl and mix.
3. Make meringue.
4. Add the meringue to a bowl and fold.
5. Bake at 340F | 171C for 40-45 minutes.
6. Let it cool completely.

📍 The printable recipe with instructions is at the very end of this post.

Jump to Recipe

Check out below to see the steps with more detailed tips and images👇🏻

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📌 Step 1: Mix all the wet ingredients in a bowl.

First, add yolks to a bowl.

Set aside all the egg white in a mixing bowl so that we can make the meringue later.

No liquids & oil in egg white!

Make sure that any liquids and oil are mixed in the egg white, bowl and a whisk. That is because they prevent the egg white from whipping up really well.

💬 Yolks contain oil, which is why meringue does not get very fluffy when it gets mixed in!

Next, add granulated sugar and mix them right away.

When you don't mix right away after you add sugar, it creates lumps of yolks that are harder to break down.

Should we whip the yolks?

I often don't do that for this recipe because baking powder is added. But I tend to whip it when I don't add baking powder. Here is why:

When you whip sugar and yolks a lot, it contains more air in it. And the color looks pale when that happens. The air helps to create a fluffier and a little bit taller chiffon cake. Meringue does the main job but it does contribute to it.

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Add all the wet ingredients; milk, oil, pumpkin puree, and dark rum. You can omit the rum if you don't have it.

And mix them until it looks smooth.

For the pumpkin puree, you have 2 choices:

• Canned puree: Use the one that says "100% pure pumpkin" on the label.
• Fresh pumpkin

How to make pumpkin puree from fresh pumpkin

1. Cut a pumpkin in half and remove all the seeds.
2. Place it flat (The cut side facing down) on a tray with parchment paper and roast it in the oven at about 400F | 204C (Adjust the temperature as you like) until the center gets cooked through completely. It depends on the size of the pumpkin and the oven but typically it takes about 30-60 minutes.
3. Once it's cooled enough, remove the skin and puree it with a food processor. All done!

*Don't remove the skin before you bake the pumpkin since it helps to steam the pumpkin nicely in the oven.

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📌 Step 2: Add the dried ingredients to a bowl and mix.

Sift dried ingredients.

Next, let's work on dried ingredients!; Sift cake flour, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin spice altogether.

Why do we add baking powder to a chiffon cake today?

That is because we add pumpkin puree today. By adding it, the chiffon cake gets heavier. Baking powder helps to push up the batter more in the oven so that the cake can rise higher to create a fluffier cake.

Add all the dried ingredients to the wet ingredients.

And mix until it looks nice and smooth and you don't see any lump of flour.

👩🏻‍🍳 If you don't mix enough here, the texture won't be so smooth and you might see small lumps of flour in your finished cake.

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📌 Step 3: Make meringue.

Next, let's make meringue!

Whip until the meringue looks very fluffy and stiff.

Add about half of the sugar when the meringue looks very bubbly like in the image below.

And add the rest when the meringue looks foamier like in the image below:

💡 You can not fix it once you overwhip the meringue, so lower the speed toward the end and check the consistency when you are not sure.

Whipping your meringue with a lower speed toward the end also creates the meringue with finer, smaller air bubbles. And that also leads to a more silky, fluffier texture for your cake!

💬 Now, use it right away while the condition is the best!

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📌 Step 4: Add the meringue to a bowl and fold.

Add about ⅓-1/2 of the meringue into the bowl and fold gently.

When about 75-80% is mixed, add the rest of the meringue.

How to fold the meringue:

I often like to use a whisk when I need to fold a lot of meringue but you can use a spatula as well!

I created a video tutorial before about how to fold ingredients. Check it out to master the move! To see how you can fold with a whisk, check out the video tutorial of this recipe.

Re-whipping the meringue

The meringue separates very quickly in a short time especially because it does not contain lots of sugar.

Mix fast with a whisk and re-whip every time you use it!

Add the rest of the meringue and fold again.

Stop before the batter is completely blended to avoid over-mixing.

Switch to a spatula and clean the side and the bottom to check if everything is evenly blended.

👩🏻‍🍳 Once it looks even, it is done! Bake it right away while the condition is the best.

📌 Step 5: 🔥 Bake at 340F | 171C for 40-45 minutes.

Pour into a pan. Today, I used a chiffon cake pan that is 15cm | 6 inches wide on the bottom. A slightly bigger pan should work just fine as well.

Bake with different pans:

If you don't have a chiffon cake pan, you can also bake with a cupcake pan, a sheet pan, or any small-size pan in general. It bakes a lot faster with them, adjust the time and temperature accordingly.

When you are using regular round pans, I recommend not pouring the batter too deep so that the center is not deflating too much and also so that it is not going to take too long to cook through the center. (That is why there is a hole in the middle for a chiffon cake pan.)

Shake a pan to flatten the surface. And toss it very gently sometimes to eliminate some bigger air bubbles.

And swirl the batter with a toothpick to eliminate bigger air bubbles.

When you touch the surface, it should bounce back but makes bubble sounds very slightly.

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📌 Step 6: Let it cool completely.

Take it out from an oven and toss it gently to remove some steam so that the cake does not deflate too much.

Flip and let it cool completely.

💬 Flipping also prevents the cake from deflating too much.

How to take out a chiffon cake from a pan.

1. Push down the edge all around.
2. Push down the center all around.
3. Flip and take off the pan on the side.
4. Push the side all around.
5. Twist the pan on top and remove it.

You can also remove a chiffon cake by inserting a knife around the edge and center. But you can do it very quickly in this way and there is no need to worry about hurting your cake with a knife!

📌 Whipped cream topping

I LOVE to eat this pumpkin spice chiffon cake with fluffy and soft whipped cream! A slice of chiffon cake with a big drop of whipped cream melts in your mouth.

Whip until it looks soft yet fluffy.

You can double the recipe if you want lots of it!

📌 How to enjoy the cake

I usually love to chill this whole cake with a pan still on and eat the cold one just like a pumpkin pie.

You also can bake it as cupcakes and a roll cake. Or frost the whole cake with whipped cream and decorate it with herbs, pumpkin spice..., etc to make it look very festive!

💬 If you loved this recipe, please share your feedback on this post! I always love to hear how you enjoyed it at home with your friends and family.

📌 Printable Recipe

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