Perfectly Spiced Pumpkin Cake

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.