We may usually serve pie during Thanksgiving. But when it comes to dessert, a majority of us would agree that nothing really beats a good slice of cake. And nobody can really stop you from serving a cake on your Thanksgiving feast!
Everybody gets excited when someone brings out the cake. And maybe, changing the usual Thanksgiving menu under the dessert category will be just the perfect way to end a good night with your family and friends.
Hence, we’ve come up with a list of cakes having the traditional Thanksgiving flavors. So expect these to go well with any type of Thanksgiving menu that you have planned out!
Enjoy!
Pumpkin
Pumpkins are widely used not only during Thanksgiving, but the entire fall season. It is believed that the Native Americans brought pumpkins as gifts for the first settlers, teaching them how to use these too.
This led to the tradition of making pumpkin pie every Thanksgiving. But as we have already established, a cake can be better than a pie!
So, here are a couple of pumpkin cake recipes for your Thanksgiving feast!
1. Chocolate pumpkin cake
A triple-layer pumpkin spice chocolate cake with orange cream cheese frosting.
Main ingredients:
- Pumpkin puree
- Cocoa
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
Visit Country Living for the full recipe!
2. Pumpkin cake with salted caramel frosting
A moist and flavorful cake topped with salted caramel frosting and candied pecans.
Main ingredients:
- Pumpkin puree
- Ginger
- Cloves
- Nutmeg
- Corn syrup
- Pecans
- Cream cheese
Check out Glorious Treats for this amazing recipe!
3. Pumpkin cake with maple cream cheese frosting
A moist pumpkin cake with chocolate ganache filling between layers and topped with maple cream cheese frosting.
Main ingredients:
- Pumpkin
- Cream cheese
- Maple syrup
- Dark chocolate chips
Visit Cake by Courtney for the full recipe!
4. Pumpkin spice cake
An easy pumpkin spice cake with a heavenly caramel glaze.
Main ingredients:
- Pumpkin puree
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla extract
- Sweetened condensed milk
Visit The Pioneer Woman to get this yummy recipe.
5. Pumpkin cheesecake with cookie crust
This cheesecake uses a pecan cookie crust and a light and fluffy cheesecake packed with pumpkin spice flavors.
Main ingredients:
- Pecan nuts
- Pumpkin puree
- Pecan Sandie cookies
- Cream cheese
- Sour cream
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Nutmeg
You can get the full recipe from Country Living.
6. Pumpkin pie cake
A pumpkin cake with two different fillings – toasted marshmallow and pumpkin pie – topped with vanilla buttercream.
Main ingredients:
- Pumpkin
- Marshmallows
- Vanilla
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Nutmeg
- Sour cream
- Marshmallow fluff
Check out the full recipe from Cake by Courtney.
7. Spice cake with cinnamon cream cheese and pumpkin buttercream
A spice cake that gathers classic fall flavors together topped with cinnamon cream cheese and pumpkin buttercream.
Main ingredients:
- Cinnamon
- Pumpkin
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Buttermilk
- Nutmeg
- All-spice
- Cream cheese
Check out the full recipe from Tornadough Alli!
8. Pumpkin sheet cake with cream cheese frosting
A soft and moist cake packed with spiced pumpkin flavor and topped with a sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting.
Main ingredients:
- Canned pumpkin
- Pecans
- Cream cheese
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Ginger
- Cloves
You can find the full recipe at Cooking Classy.
9. Pumpkin roll
A no-fuss and simple recipe that gives you a log of soft and moist pumpkin cake with luscious cream cheese swirls.
Main ingredients:
- Canned pumpkin or pumpkin puree
- Cream cheese
- Powdered sugar
- Cinnamon
Check out the full recipe on The Soccer Mom Blog!
Cranberry
What is Thanksgiving without cranberries?
It is believed that the pilgrims and the American Indians had them during the very first Thanksgiving.
Today, cranberry sauce is a very important part of every Thanksgiving meal as it helps cut through the heaviness of the food on the table. It also provides a delightful flavor!
Hence, here are cake recipes that make use of cranberries or cranberry sauce!
1. White chocolate cranberry cake
A layered cake that combines the tartness of cranberries with the irresistible sweetness of white chocolate.
Main ingredients:
- White chocolate baking bars
- Cranberries
- Cream cheese
- Vanilla extract
Visit My Cake School for the recipe!
2. Sparkling cranberry white chocolate cake
A moist and flavorful cake bursting with fruity cranberry flavor on the inside.
Main ingredients:
- Cranberries
- White chocolate chips
- Powdered sugar
- Sour cream
- Vanilla extract
Drop by at Life, Love and Sugar for the full recipe!
3. Orange cranberry cake
A cake packed with flavors of orange and cranberries topped with cream cheese frosting.
Main ingredients:
- Cranberries
- Orange
- Cream cheese
- Vanilla
Get the full recipe from Liv for Cake.
4. Cranberry coffee cake
A moist coffee cake with cranberry sauce filling glazed with white chocolate.
Main ingredients:
- Cranberry sauce
- White chocolate chips
- Almonds
Get this yummy recipe from Garlic and Zest!
5. Cranberry sauce upside down cake
A simple upside down cake that you can create with your excess or leftover Thanksgiving cranberry sauce.
Main ingredients:
- Cranberry sauce
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla
See what it takes to make this recipe from Katherine Martinelli!
6. Cranberry apple upside down cake
A simple upside down moist cinnamon spice cake topped with brown sugar glaze and cranberries and apple.
Main ingredients:
- Cranberries
- Apple
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Nutmeg
- Ginger
- Buttermilk
- Dark brown sugar
Visit Sally’s Baking Recipes to see the full recipe!
Sweet Potato
The sweet potato may not have been served on the first Thanksgiving meal, but it did start to appear as a Thanksgiving trend as a replacement for those who are not fond of pumpkin.
A common favorite during Thanksgiving is combining sweet potatoes with marshmallows. But you can do a lot more than that for dessert!
Here are some sweet potato cake recipes to consider for your Thanksgiving spread!
1. Sweet potato cake
A sweet potato cake with toasted marshmallow filling between layers topped with pecan buttercream and toasted pecans.
Main ingredients:
- Sweet potatoes
- Marshmallows
- Marshmallow fluff
- Pecans
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Ginger
- Vanilla extract
Get the full recipe from Cake by Courtney!
2. Sweet potato blueberry chocolate cake
A gluten-free, vegan chocolate cake topped with chocolate sauce, fresh berries, and nuts.
Main ingredients:
- Sweet potatoes
- Blueberry
- Dates
- Cocoa
- Dark chocolate chips
- Vanilla extract
Check out brownble for the full recipe!
3. Sweet potato cake with cashew cream
A gluten-free sweet potato cake topped with cashew cream frosting.
Main ingredients:
- Sweet potato
- Maple syrup
- Cashews
- Almond milk
- Almond flour
- Brown rice flour
- Ceylon cinnamon
- Vanilla powder
To get the full recipe, visit Tuulia!
4. Rich carrot cake with sweet potato
A richly flavored moist carrot cake with sweet potato topped with cream cheese frosting.
Main ingredients:
- Carrots
- Sweet potatoes
- Apple
- Pineapple
- Walnuts
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Lemon juice
- Cream cheese
Visit Your Recipe Blog for the instructions and full ingredient list!
5. Sweet potato sour cream cake
A moist cake that combines the flavors of sweet potato, sour cream, and butter topped with whipped mascarpone cream.
Main ingredients:
- Sweet potato
- Mascarpone cream
- Pecans
- Sour cream
- Honey
Check out Bakes by Brown Sugar for the complete ingredient list and recipe!
Apple
Apples grow in abundance during the late part of the year. And you can still go apple picking in November!
Apple pies are very common desserts during the holidays but did you know that there are great cakes that revolve around apples too? Check out these cake recipes that you can add to your Thanksgiving dinner!
1. Apple pie cake
A cake that combines apple pie filling, buttercream frosting, and delicious apple pie crust.
Main ingredients:
- Apples
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- Cocoa
- Lemon juice
- Vanilla extract
- Pie crust
Visit The Cake Blog to learn how to do this recipe!
2. Apple cinnamon layer cake with salted caramel frosting
A cake that captures all the classic flavors of fall topped with pecan nuts.
Main ingredients:
- Apples
- Unsweetened applesauce
- Pecan
- Pure vanilla extract
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Allspice
Get to know the full recipe from Country Living.
3. Applesauce cake
An easy and fuss-free cake best served with powdered sugar dusting, a dollop of whipped cream, or a drizzle of caramel on top.
Main ingredients:
- Applesauce
- Apple pie spice
- Maple syrup
- Walnuts
- Vanilla extract
Visit The Pioneer Woman for the yummy recipe!
4. Caramel apple cheesecake
A dense and creamy cheesecake topped with apple slices and caramel.
Main ingredients:
- Apple
- Cream cheese
- Jarred caramel topping
- Cinnamon
- Graham cracker crumbs
Check out The Pioneer Woman for the full recipe!
Maple
Thanksgiving is the time for maple. Most Thanksgiving recipes have maple syrup or maple sugar in them whether it may be for appetizers, the main course, or side dishes.
Of course, it is a widely used ingredient for Thanksgiving desserts too. So why not go for a maple cake this Thanksgiving?
1. Maple caramel carrot cake
A spiced carrot cake infused with sweet maple syrup and topped with cream cheese frosting and maple caramel.
Main ingredients:
- Carrots
- Pure maple syrup
- Cream cheese
- Vanilla
- Pecans
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Ginger
- Cloves
Visit Liv for Cake for the full recipe!
2. Maple cake with cream cheese frosting and maple glazed nuts
An old-fashioned moist sweet maple cake coated with sweet cream cheese and topped with maple-glazed nuts.
Main ingredients:
- Sour cream
- Maple syrup
- Almonds
- Walnuts
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla
- Cream cheese
You can view the full recipe at Parsley and Icing
Ginger
Most people would associate gingerbread with Christmas, but it’s great for Thanksgiving too! In fact, you can eat this one all year long if you want to.
The best thing about gingerbread is that it goes well with almost everything. You can mix it with chocolate, nuts, berries, and any type of frosting and the results are great.
Check out these gingerbread cake recipes we found that are perfect for Thanksgiving!
1. Gingerbread cake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting
Two layers of moist and thick gingerbread cake topped with sweet cinnamon cream cheese frosting.
Main ingredients:
- Applesauce
- Molasses
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- Cream cheese
- Vanilla
Drop by The Novice Chef to get the full recipe!
2. Spicy gingerbread cake
A moist gingerbread cake packed with dark, spicy flavor.
Main ingredients:
- Stout beer
- Ginger
- Cinnamon
- Cardamom
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- Dark molasses
- Cream cheese
Check out Hummingbird High for the complete recipe!
Coconut
For most areas, coconut trees provide a bountiful harvest and you can actually do a lot of things with coconuts. That is one crop to be thankful for.
So why not make a coconut cake for Thanksgiving?
One thing about coconut cakes is that they can be very moist and soft. That intense coconut flavor hits you and you feel like you are transported somewhere in the tropics!
1. Coconut angel food cake with Greek yogurt frosting
A sweet angel food cake topped with Greek yogurt icing and topped with coconut, pecans, and fresh fruit of your choice.
Main ingredients:
- Egg whites
- Shredded coconut
- Greek yogurt
- Fresh fruit of choice
Visit Top with Cinnamon for the full recipe!
2. Creamy coconut cake
A buttery cake that is infused with a mixture of condensed milk and coconut cream. It is then topped with coconut whip and toasted coconut.
Main ingredients:
- Cream of coconut
- Coconut flakes
- Condensed milk
- Cool whip
Visit Belly Full for the recipe!
Last thoughts
As you can see, there is always room for cake in a Thanksgiving feast! Who says they do not belong?
Try out any of the recipes above and give your nearest and dearest an irresistible treat this Thanksgiving!
Looking for more ideas for Thanksgiving? Check this out!
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