Labor Day weekend is right around the corner, and once it’s over…fall is here! Okay, the official first day of fall is actually September 22nd, but Labor Day weekend feels like the last “hurrah” of summer, don’t you think? While summer still has a few weeks left, now is the time to create cold process soap for fall. Soap will be fully cured in 4-6 weeks, which puts us right around the beginning of October. That’s the perfect time for some pumpkin spice soap! If you’re feeling extra festive, you could actually make this soap while sipping a Pumpkin Spice Latte, which hit Starbucks today.
This Pumpkin Pie Cold Process Soap was inspired by the classic fall dessert. The Cake Pan Silicone Mold creates a realistic pie shape once cut into slices. Walnut shells are added to the soap for the bottom crust layer, and is also piped on top for a crimped crust appearance. The majority of the soap is colored with Sunset Orange Mica and Yellow Oxide Pigment for an orange hue. I made the orange brighter to account for fragrance discoloration from the Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil. The photos shown here are after several weeks of discoloration and the soap will not become darker. If you want a lighter color, you can add some dispersed titanium dioxide to help counter the discoloration. You can also use less fragrance oil, or a fragrance oil that does not discolor.
The “whipped cream” is piped on very last. By this time, the white soap will be quite firm and pipeable. Just be sure to not put the Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil into the white soap! You will most likely have some white soap leftover. I recommend piping extra roses or “dollops” onto parchment or freezer paper to use on top of other projects.
What You’ll Need:
Cake Pan Silicone Mold
2 Disposable Frosting Bags
4B Frosting Tip
2 oz. Cocoa Butter
11.3 oz. Coconut Oil
10.3 oz. Palm Oil
1 oz. Pumpkin Seed Oil
12.3 oz. Rice Bran Oil
4.1 oz. Sweet Almond Oil
5.7 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
13.5 oz. Distilled Water
2 oz. Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil
Titanium Dioxide
Sunset Orange Mica
Copper Sparkle Mica
Yellow Oxide Pigment
Walnut Shells
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SAFETY FIRST: Suit up for safe handling practices! That means goggles, gloves and long sleeves. Make sure kids, pets, and other distractions and tripping hazards are out of the house or don’t have access to your soaping space. Always soap in a well-ventilated area.
COLOR PREP: To ensure that the Titanium Dioxide blends smoothly into the soap batter, we recommend micronizing it before dispersing it in oil. Please note this is an optional tip but it does help with the titanium dioxide clumping in the soap. To micronize colorant, simply use a coffee grinder to blend the colorant to break up any clumps of color and prevent streaks of white from showing in the final soap. We like to use a coffee grinder that has a removable, stainless steel mixing area for easy cleaning. Then, disperse 2 teaspoons of the colorant into 2 tablespoons of sunflower or sweet almond oil (or any other liquid oil). Then in separate containers, disperse 1/2 teaspoon Copper Sparkle Mica and 1/2 teaspoon Yellow Oxide into 1/2 tablespoon of lightweight liquid oil. Disperse 1 teaspoon Sunset Orange Mica into 1 tablespoon lightweight liquid oil. Have 3 tablespoons of walnut shells nearby.
FRAGRANCE PREP: Measure 2 ounces of Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil into a glass, fragrance oil safe container. Set aside.
ONE: Slowly and carefully add the lye to the water and gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside to cool.
TWO: Melt and combine the cocoa butter, pumpkin seed oil, sweet almond oil, rice bran oil, coconut oil and palm oil (remember to fully melt then mix your entire container of palm oil before portioning). Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 130 degrees or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), add the lye water to the oils and stick blend until thin trace. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that releases faster from the mold, you can add sodium lactate to the cooled lye water. Use 1 teaspoon of sodium lactate per pound of oils in the recipe. For this recipe, you’d add about 2.5 teaspoons sodium lactate.
THREE: Once the soap is at a thin trace, split off about 200-300 mL into a separate container. Add all the dispersed titanium dioxide and use the stick blender to mix in the colorant. Set aside. This will be the white topping, so don’t add any fragrance oil to this soap.
FOUR: Split off about 500 mL of soap into a separate container and add 3 tablespoons of walnut shells and 1/4 teaspoon dispersed Copper Sparkle Mica. Use a whisk to mix in the colorants. Add a small amount of the Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil (it’s okay to eyeball it) and mix in with the whisk.
FIVE: Pour about half of the walnut shell soap evenly into the Cake Pan Silicone Mold. Tap it on the counter to help disperse it evenly throughout the bottom. Set the remaining soap aside, it will be used for the crust on top.
SIX: To the remaining soap, add all of dispersed Sunset Orange Mica and 1 teaspoon of the dispersed yellow mica. Add the remaining fragrance oil and use a whisk to fully stir in the colorants and fragrance oil.
SEVEN: Carefully spoon the orange soap on top of the “crust” layer of soap. Be careful to not allow the orange soap to break through the “crust” layer. Once the layer below has been covered, carefully pour the remaining soap into the mold and tap down firmly to help get rid of bubbles. Use a spoon or spatula to help smooth the top.
EIGHT: Place the remaining brown “crust” soap into a disposable piping bag. Cut the tip off the bag and begin piping the soap around the edges of the mold. Don’t worry about making it perfect at this point. =)
NINE: Once you have gone all along the edge of the mold with the brown soap, use a spoon to create a crust-like texture.
TEN: Cut the tip off the other disposable frosting bag and place the frosting tip inside. Fill the bag with the white soap, and pipe eight little dollops in the center of where each slice will be. You will have some extra soap, depending on how big the dollops are. I piped the extra soap onto wax paper to use as toppings for another project.
ELEVEN: Spritz the top of the soap with 99% isopropyl alcohol to prevent soda ash. Allow the soap to harden in the mold for 1-2 days. Carefully remove from the mold, and cut into slices. Allow the soap to cure for 4-6 weeks and enjoy!
- Cake Pan Silicone Mold
- 2 Disposable Frosting Bags
- 4B Frosting Tip
- 2 oz. Cocoa Butter
- 11.3 oz. Coconut Oil
- 10.3 oz. Palm Oil
- 1 oz. Pumpkin Seed Oil
- 12.3 oz. Rice Bran Oil
- 4.1 oz. Sweet Almond Oil
- 5.7 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
- 13.5 oz. Distilled Water
- 2 oz. Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil
- Titanium Dioxide
- Sunset Orange Mica
- Copper Sparkle Mica
- Yellow Oxide Pigment
- Walnut Shells
- Slowly and carefully add the lye to the water and gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside to cool.
- Melt and combine the cocoa butter, pumpkin seed oil, sweet almond oil, rice bran oil, coconut oil and palm oil (remember to fully melt then mix your entire container of palm oil before portioning). Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 130 degrees or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), add the lye water to the oils and stick blend until thin trace. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that releases faster from the mold, you can add sodium lactate to the cooled lye water. Use 1 teaspoon of sodium lactate per pound of oils in the recipe. For this recipe, you’d add about 2.5 teaspoons sodium lactate.
- Once the soap is at a thin trace, split off about 200-300 mL into a separate container. Add all the dispersed titanium dioxide and use the stick blender to mix in the colorant. Set aside. This will be the white topping, so don't add any fragrance oil to this soap.
- Split off about 500 mL of soap into a separate container and add 3 tablespoons of walnut shells and ¼ teaspoon dispersed Copper Sparkle Mica. Use a whisk to mix in the colorants. Add a small amount of the Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil (it's okay to eyeball it) and mix in with the whisk.
- Pour about half of this soap evenly into the Cake Pan Silicone Mold. Tap it on the counter to help disperse it evenly throughout the bottom. Set the remaining soap aside, it will be used for the crust on top.
- To the remaining soap, add all of dispersed Sunset Orange Mica and 1 teaspoon of the dispersed yellow mica. Add the remaining fragrance oil, and use a whisk to fully stir in the colorants and fragrance oil.
- Carefully spoon the orange soap on top of the “crust” layer of soap. Be careful to not allow the orange soap to break through the “crust” layer. Once the layer below has been covered, carefully pour the remaining soap into the mold and tap down firmly to help get rid of bubbles. Use a spoon or spatula to help smooth the top.
- Place the remaining brown “crust” soap into a disposable piping bag. Cut the tip off the bag, and begin piping the soap around the edges of the mold. Don’t worry about making it perfect at this point!
- Cut the tip off the other disposable frosting bag, and place the frosting tip inside. Fill the bag with the white soap, and pipe eight little dollops in the center of where each slice will be. You will have some extra soap, depending on how big the dollops are. I piped the extra soap onto wax paper to use as toppings for another project.
- Spritz the top of the soap with 99% isopropyl alcohol to avoid soda ash. Allow the soap to harden in the mold for 1-2 days. Carefully remove from the mold, and cut into slices. Allow the soap to cure for 4-6 weeks and enjoy!
FYI your pumpkin soap picture is feature by soapythings on Instagram without crediting you. There are 2 additional pictures that might be yours too.
Thanks Sarah, we’ll look into that.
One of my daughters is deathly allergic to walnuts. Any suggestions for a substitute?
You can leave the walnut seeds out and just use a colorant like Brown Oxide. If you want some exfoliation, you can use crushed grape seeds. They take on a brownish hue when they’re mixed in soap: https://www.brambleberry.com/Crushed-Grape-Seeds-P4090.aspx
Brown Oxide: https://www.brambleberry.com/Brown-Oxide-Pigment-P4045.aspx
Hi! I’ve been excited to try making this soap for a while now. I am making a few substitutions so I was wondering if you could share some feedback?
I only have about a tablespoon of crushed walnut. I do have crushed grape seed as well. I was thinking of adding one tsp. of the crushed grape to the walnut for the crust. I think this will work well, and make my crust more brown?
I also don’t have pumpkin seed oil. I do have some olive oil with annatto infused. I also have a different color orange mica. If I use some of that in place and just make sure it looks nice and orangey do you think it will turn out ok? (I’ll be running the difference through a lye calc, of course.)
Also, since I’m not confident in my piping ability yet, I pre made some unscented cp whipped cream dollops. Will I be able to set these in the wet soap to attach?
Sorry for all the questions, I’ve only been making soap for about 4 months now and I love to learn. TIA
Grape seed is a good option, it gives the soap a brownish color. You can also use a touch of colorant like Brown Oxide: https://www.brambleberry.com/Brown-Oxide-Pigment-P4045.aspx
As for the colors, we didn’t try those so I’m not entirely sure how they’ll work. The whipped cream dollops should be fine, just press them into the fresh soap well to ensure they stick. I would recommend making a small test batch with different exfoliant, color, and unscented whipped cream soap to see how it works. That way you can adjust before making a larger batch.
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hello! I’ve been thinking about the holidays and making a holiday themed soap, I think this would be perfect to gift to friends and family for the holidays! However, since it is a pumpkin “pie” I would love to incorporate pumpkin puree into this recipe. I’m still pretty new to soaping so I’m still learning on how to calculate and do substitutions etc, so would I be able to use puree in this recipe and how much? Would really appreciate any suggestions!
Hi Vanessa!
You can definitely incorporate pumpkin puree into this recipe! Make sure it’s pumpkin puree and not pie filling, which can have added sugar and spices. I would recommend adding about .5 ounces of puree per pound. Then, you can add that at trace. 🙂
Because the puree has extra water, I would recommend water discounting by about 15% so the soap doesn’t get too wet. Also, make sure to pop your pie in the freezer for 24 hours after making it. That will keep the pumpkin puree from overheating, which can cause scorching. Cooler temperatures work best!
Read more about working with purees here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/how-to-add-purees-to-cold-process-soap/
And more about how to water discount here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/water-discounting-cold-process-soap-how-why/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Thanks you!
You’re welcome!
I wonder what went wrong. My soap looked exactly like the picture shown on your website but after 6 weeks the orange discolored to brown. It is actually darker than the crust. I used the exact same ingredients as listed in the recipe.
The Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil in this recipe does discolor the soap. Our final bars pictured above do look a lot more brown than when we started. However, we added a lot of Sunset Orange at the beginning to give the base soap an orangey brown hue. Did you add all the Sunset Mica? Also, did you make any changes to the recipe? Let me know and I’ll help you troubleshoot. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I did add the Sunset Orange and made no other changes. I think it is just normal discoloration. Still smells good and got my creative juices flowing. I think I am going to use this idea and make a lemon meringue pie soap.
Glad to hear that Linda! For your next batch, you can add even more orange color or use less Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil. Both will help create a brighter orange color. Have fun making your lemon meringue pie soap. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Mine turned brown too but it smells deeelish!
I wish you would offer this as a kit in the exact amount needed, because to buy everything needed is a pretty big expense for those of us who don’t have a lot of money to play with. Just my thought. 😉
Thanks for the suggestion Nadine! At this time we aren’t able to offer exact sizes of products for these kits, but it’s something we’ll keep in mind. 🙂
This post on soaping on a budget has some great tips as well: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/5-tips-soap-cheap/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Here’s what I do when there are so many ingredients that I might otherwise not buy. I just substitute the ones that call for a tiny amount of oil with olive oil and run through the lye calculator. For this recipe, I kept everything else the same except for used olive oil for the cocoa butter and the pumpkin seed oil. Since the recipe called for so little of these, I don’t think it would make a lot of difference but save some expense. In this case the lye calc ended up the same with 5% superfatting. I already had most of the other ingredients since they are generic for many soaps, so only had to buy 4 additional products plus the awesome mold for this soap. So instead of 6 new items I bought 4 plus the mold to save some money and hopefully not change the outcome too much.
That’s a great tip Linda, thank you for sharing! Using oils you already have can definitely cut down on costs. 🙂
Read more about substituting oils in soap here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/how-to-substitute-oil-in-cold-process-recipes/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Is it possible to use melt and pour soap base instead of making cold process soap? I have lots of melt and pour just wondered if it would work in the silicone pan and look like the pie? Thanks
Yes, you can use melt and pour soap for this recipe. It may be tricky to get the crust on top, but you can skip that. Learn more in this post: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/re-creating-cold-process-melt-pour-soap-designs/
For the frosting, these Foaming Bath Butter recipes work well: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/melt-and-pour-soap/foaming-bath-whip-frosting/
I love the look and can’t wait to try it, but for the soap I have a similar recipe that uses real pumpkin instead of water so you don’t need the mica to get the right color and equal parts orange, clove and cinnamon essential oils for the fragrance, which I prefer over the fragrance oils. I usually put ground oatmeal in as well, but may skip it for this run. Thanks!
That sounds awesome! I love pumpkin soap. It’s perfect for fall. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I looooove this concept! I have a question. Is there a way I could do a melt and pour version of this? Would it hold up? I figured I could use the same amounts of oz from the oils and use it with the white M&P and go from there with the colors. I would love to do a concept like this for my website for the fall. Would love to know your opinion on this!
We have a melt and pour version of Pumpkin Pie Soap I think you’ll love! You can find that here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/melt-and-pour-soap/pumpkin-pie-melt-and-pour-soap/
You can also make the soap in the Cake Pan Silicone Mold. Just pour a thin layer of brown soap and let it harden. Then, spritz with alcohol to help the layers stick and pour in the orange soap. 🙂
You can use this Foaming Bath Butter Frosting recipe for the topping: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/melt-and-pour-soap/foaming-bath-whip-frosting/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Just finished making my soapy pumpkin pie and it came out perfectly! Everyone is in awe at how much it looks like the edible version. Thanks for a great tutorial.
You’re welcome Leslie, I’m so glad the soap turned out well! Enjoy. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I noticed you didn’t use pumpkin purée in the recipe this year. Is there any reason I should avoid it?
Hi Rachael!
You can include pumpkin puree if you like! Because it contains natural sugars, I would recommend soaping around lower temperatures (100-115F). Then, pop the soap in the freezer for 5-24 hours after it’s in the mold. That way it won’t overheat, which will help prevent any caramelization. 🙂
Read more about working with purees here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/how-to-add-purees-to-cold-process-soap/
Pumpkin Swirl Cold Process Soap: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/pumpkin-spice-swirl-cold-process-tutorial/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
That’s crazy awesomeness! You would never know that is a piece of soap. I love Pumpkin Spice too. I use a vanilla stabilizer made for CP soap with fragrances like this that will discolor, that give a lot more latitude for designing with those kinds of fragrances.
Thank you Michael, glad you like this soap! 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi, and thanks for the great tutorial! My wife and I are hosting Thanksgiving this year and I’ve been thinking about “serving” a pumpkin pie soap and I’ve had a few ideas, but I was unsure about the crust around the edge and the color. Now I know. However, the closest I have to the orange you use is the tangerine wow. I have a BB order on the way that should be here Tuesday so I really don’t want to order anything else now. Any thoughts, or suggestions on the color for the pit? I don’t know how tangerine wow and yellow oxide would look mixed. Thanks again!
I have used surplus medium red Brazilian clay with the discoloration of orange 10x to produce a perfect pumpkin color.
Oh that sounds like a great gift for Thanksgiving! I think Tangerine Wow will be perfect for this soap. At first it will look very bright, but as the soap discolors it will turn the nice pumpkiny orange you see here. I would recommend using quite a bit of orange to help combat the discoloration. 🙂
Peech’s suggestion is great too!
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Tangerine Wow Colorant: https://www.brambleberry.com/Tangerine-Wow-Colorant-P4964.aspx
Red Brazilian Clay: https://www.brambleberry.com/Dark-Red-Brazilian-Clay-P5500.aspx
10x Orange Essential Oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Orange-10X-Essential-Oil-P4441.aspx
This looks amazing! I have to try this one soon! It sounds like the same container of soap is used for both the bottom and the top crust. How is the crust on the bottom a darker color than the crust on the top? Is that just due to the additional walnut shells in the pan?
I think it may be a temperature thing! It looks like the bottom gelled a bit, so it’s darker than the top. The top may also have a tiny touch of soda ash. It actually worked in our favor – we love the final bars. 🙂
Read more about gel phase here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/gel-phase/
And more about soda ash here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/explaining-and-preventing-soda-ash/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Oh that looks so divine : ) Grabbing my fork. If only the pilgrims could see this!! Thanks so much!!
Oh thank you Michelle! Glad you like the soap. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry