Position a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°. Lightly coat an 8x8" square metal baking pan with nonstick vegetable oil spray and line with parchment paper, leaving a 2" overhang on all sides. Whisk 1¼ cups (156 g) all-purpose flour, ½ cup (63 g) whole wheat flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1 tsp. ground ginger, ¼ tsp. ground allspice, a pinch of ground cloves, and a pinch of ground nutmeg in a large bowl.

Whisk 2 large eggs, room temperature, 1¼ cups (packed; 250 g) dark brown sugar, 1 cup pure pumpkin purée, and ½ cup (1 stick ) unsalted butter, melted, in a second large bowl until smooth. Mix in dry ingredients. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top.

Bake cake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 30–35 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cake cool in pan 20 minutes. Using parchment, lift cake and transfer to a cutting board. Let cool completely.

Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature, and 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature, in a medium bowl just to combine. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in ⅔ cup (73 g) powdered sugar, sifted, then a pinch of kosher salt until smooth. Spread frosting over top of cooled cake. Editor’s note: This pumpkin cake recipe was first printed online in October 2014 as “Pumpkin Cake With Maple Cream Cheese Frosting.” It has been updated to adjust the spicing and sugar level, and to remove the maple syrup from the frosting—if you’re missing the maple flavor, serve slices with a drizzle of maple syrup to finish. Head this way for more of our favorite recipes with pumpkin purée →