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Earthquake Pumpkin Cake

Earthquake pumpkin cake is a crackled, golden dessert made by baking cake batter with dropped cream cheese pools that sink into a dramatic swirl. Pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice give warm fall flavor, while caramel drizzle adds a glossy finish.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 470
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For pumpkin cake
  • 1 box (15.25 oz) yellow cake mix
  • 0.5 cup pumpkin puree
  • 3 eggs
  • 0.33 cup vegetable oil
  • 0.25 cup water
  • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
For cream cheese earthquake layer (dropped over batter)
  • 16 oz cream cheese softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 0.67 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
For caramel drizzle
  • 0.5 cup caramel sauce

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

Preheat and prepare the pan
  1. Preheat oven to 350F, and grease a 9x13 pan with nonstick spray or grease.
Mix the pumpkin cake batter
  1. Beat yellow cake mix, pumpkin puree, eggs, vegetable oil, water, and pumpkin pie spice until smooth, then spread batter evenly in the prepared pan.
Make the cream cheese layer
  1. Beat cream cheese, eggs, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
Create the earthquake pattern
  1. Drop large spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture over the cake batter without mixing in, leaving visible blobs on top.
  2. Drizzle caramel sauce over the cream cheese blobs.
Bake
  1. Bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes, until the cake is cracked and the cream cheese has sunk to form the earthquake swirl pattern.
Cool and slice
  1. Cool completely before cutting so the cracked slices hold their shape.

Notes

For the clearest crack-and-sink effect, keep the cream cheese mixture smooth and drop it as distinct spoonfuls (don’t swirl it into the batter). Store covered in the fridge up to 4 days; reheat briefly at room temperature. Freezing is yes—freeze slices airtight up to 2 months and thaw overnight in the fridge. For a lighter option, use reduced-fat cream cheese and decrease powdered sugar slightly while keeping the same bake time.