Thanksgiving Cake Designs
Give your Thanksgiving dessert table a glow-up with easy, festive cake ideas. From decorating store-bought cakes to whipping up pumpkin or apple cakes, these Thanksgiving Cake Designs bring seasonal flavors and show-stopping looks with minimal effort.
Equipment
- Cake Pan
- Mixing Bowls
- Spatula
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cake
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 cups all-purpose flour or boxed spice cake mix
- 1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
- cream cheese frosting for topping
Apple Cake
- 2 Granny Smith apples chopped
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- caramel sauce for drizzling
Instructions
- Start with your base cake—store-bought, boxed mix, or homemade. Scrape off excess frosting if needed.
- Frost with whipped cream, cream cheese frosting, or simple homemade buttercream.
- Decorate with Thanksgiving-inspired touches: cranberries, mini pumpkins, apple slices, nuts, or caramel drizzle.
- For pumpkin cake: bake with pumpkin puree and spices, then drizzle glaze and top with a candy or licorice “stem.”
- For apple cake: fold chopped apples into batter, bake, then top with caramel or crumble and a spiral of apple slices.
- Serve as a centerpiece-worthy dessert for Thanksgiving!
Notes
Other fall flavors include spice cake with cream cheese frosting, cranberry-orange with a tangy glaze, maple-walnut topped with toasted nuts, and chocolate pecan with ganache.