Pumpkin Pie Decorated with Cream Cheese Frosting

This easy tutorial shows you how to decorate a pumpkin pie with cream cheese frosting using just a few simple tools. It's fun, festive, and a great way to make your pie stand out this holiday season!

What You'll Need for This Pumpkin Pie Design

• Pumpkin Pie. Feel free to use my Perfect Pumpkin Pie recipe, your own, or a store-bought one. Whichever you choose, make sure it's fully baked and cooled before you decorate!
• Small Batch Cream Cheese Frosting. You'll find the small-batch recipe for this cream cheese frosting below. It makes extra, so if you have several pumpkin pies to decorate, it should cover 2 of them. You can also use a store-bought cream cheese frosting from the baking aisle.
• A Fun Design to Use as a Guide. I followed a simple design I found on Pinterest, but use whatever you like. I'd keep the design fairly simple, though!
• Small Round Decorating Tip. I used Wilton's No. 2 decorating tip, but a No. 1 or 3 works too. Ateco's version is very similar, but I'd stick with their size 1 or 2 tips. With either brand, you'll need a coupler to attach the piping tip.
• Small Piping Bag. A 10-inch or 12-inch bag works well here. Choose the brand you're most comfortable with.
• Revolving Cake Stand. My cake stand is from Ateco, and I love it. Wilton makes one too, but it isn't as tall. A stand like this makes it easy to turn the pie as you work.

How to Make a Small Batch of Cream Cheese Frosting

This small batch makes enough frosting to pipe a design on two, maybe three pumpkin pies. If you only need one pie, cut the amounts below in half.

Use a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

• 1/8 cup (2 tablespoons, 31 grams) Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
• 2 ounces (44 grams) Cream Cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup (115 grams) Sifted Powdered Sugar

Beat the butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth. Add the vanilla extract. Lower the speed to low and mix in the sifted powdered sugar.

Don't skip sifting the powdered sugar! Lumps can clog your small, round piping tip.

Helpful Tips for Decorating Pumpkin Pie

• Let the pie cool completely. Make sure the pumpkin pie is fully cooled before you add the cream cheese frosting design.
• Keep the design simple. This tip is for beginners and anyone who doesn't like overly complicated cake or pie decorating. If you're an experienced decorator, a more advanced design will work too!
• Practice first. Try piping on a paper towel or plate before you start on the pie.
• Start with the big shapes. Once they're in place, you can fill the spaces around them with smaller shapes.
• Turn the pie as you decorate. Keep rotating it on the revolving cake stand while you work to create the look of movement.
• Don't worry if you make a mistake. You can cover it with more frosting or carefully lift the frosting off with an offset spatula. I did both when I piped a second pumpkin pie!
• Have fun!