During the autumn and winter months, there's nothing better than cosying up at home with a hot drink and a slice of delicious vegan pumpkin cake. While you might have decorated your home with pumpkins over the Halloween season, there's still time to enjoy the taste of fall flavours and pumpkin in this rich and delicious cake. Today I'm going to share my easy vegan pumpkin cake recipe, which will go down a treat with anyone in your household.
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Pumpkin cake is one of my favourite treats at this time of year. It's a very comforting cake that uses basic kitchen ingredients and pumpkin pie spice for added flavour. You'll also add pumpkin puree into the mix, which gives it more moisture and taste. This recipe is completely plant-based, so you don't need any eggs or butter, and you'll just use plant-based milk. You would never be able to tell this is an eggless pumpkin cake though, as it tastes and looks just as good as a typical cake.
Of course this cake is most popular in the autumn / fall - around Halloween and Thanksgiving but if you have tinned pumpkin you could make it all year round.
If you are looking for other seasonal recipes check out my Pumpkin Spice Mix and Pumpkin Spice Cookies. I also have a post full of inspiration for Halloween themed food.
Ingredients for Easy Vegan Pumpkin Cake
The combination of pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin puree creates a delicious autumn and winter cake that you can enjoy with your morning coffee or afternoon tea. The topping is one of my favourite parts of this cake, as it uses soft brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice for more flavour. It's then finished off with a light glaze using plant-based milk and vanilla extract. The cake layers work so well together. As you can see, you don't need to use butter and eggs to enjoy the same flavours as other cakes, as there are so many great plant-based alternatives out there today.
Personally, I like to use homemade pumpkin puree where possible in my baking. I know this isn't always possible if you are short of time, but it's a great way to use up any leftover pumpkins from Halloween. You'll just need to bake the peeled and chopped pumpkin in the oven for about thirty minutes until it's soft and cooked. You can then puree it in the food processor to create the pumpkin puree. If you find that it's a bit wet to use at this point, put it into a strainer to get rid of any excess water. If you can't make your own pumpkin puree, canned pumpkin will be more than fine.
As far as the plant-based milk you use, it's completely up to you. I find soy milk, almond milk, and oat milk to be good options, as they can safely be heated without altering the taste of the cake. When making the cake and topping, you can add a drop more milk at any point if you feel that it's becoming too stiff.
Dry Ingredients:
- plain flour (all purpose flour)
- baking powder
- salt
- pumpkin pie spice
- caster sugar
Wet ingredients:
- pumpkin puree (homemade or tinned)
- coconut oil
- plant based milk (I use oat)
- vanilla extract
Topping:
- plant based butter
- plain flour
- soft brown sugar
- ground cinnamon
- pumpkin pie spice
Glaze:
- icing sugar
- plant based milk
- vanilla extract
Aside from the pumpkin puree this cake needs only simple ingredients. See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease and line a 9x9 inch cake tin with parchment paper or use a silicone cake tin.
Mix all the wet ingredients together in a large bowl. Remember to make sure that the milk is at room temperature or slightly warm or otherwise the coconut oil will solidify.
Sift the dry ingredients into the wet and combine. Don't over mix or the cake will come out dense.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tin and spread out evenly.
Prepare the topping by mixing all the ingredients together in a medium bowl with a fork. Be patient and a crumbly textured mixture will form. Crumble and sprinkle this over the top of the cake mixture in an even layer.
Place the cake on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Keep an eye on the cake at the end to ensure the topping doesn't burn.
Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Make the drizzle by sifting the icing sugar into a small bowl and slowly adding the milk and vanilla extract until the perfect consistency for drizzling is achieved. Drizzle over the top of the cake to decorate.
I generally always have a little helper in the kitchen!
Hint: make sure that the milk is slightly warm or at least room temperature. If you add it cold from the fridge it will make the coconut oil set and you won't be able to mix it in.
Substitutions & Variations
This recipe is naturally vegan, dairy free, egg free, nut free and soya free which makes it the best pumpkin cake in my opinion! You can of course make some modification that suit your taste.
- Spices - you can adjust the amount of spices you use according to how strong a pumpkin flavor you prefer.
- Topping - You can change the topping to a different icing if you prefer. Try the vegan cream cheese frosting from my Vegan Carrot Cake recipe or you could even whip up a vegan chocolate buttercream.
- Glaze - the glaze is totally optional, feel free to miss it out if you don't want any extra sugar.
- Sugar - you can use coconut sugar instead of soft brown sugar if you prefer
- Oil - you can use vegetable oil or canola oil instead of coconut oil if you prefer
Equipment
I used an electric freestanding mixer to make this recipe, although you definitely don't need one, you can make it by hand with a wooden spoon or use an electric hand mixer. Silicone cake pans are a good investment - I really like this one.
Storage
This vegan cake will keep well in an airtight container in a cool place for 2-3 days.
Top tip
Crumble and sprinkle the topping evenly over the top of the cake so you get a little bit with each bite.
Print📖 Recipe
Vegan Pumpkin Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
During the autumn and winter months, there's nothing better than cosying up at home with a hot drink and a slice of delicious vegan pumpkin cake.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
300g plain flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1.5 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
150g caster sugar
Wet ingredients:
100g pumpkin puree
100g coconut oil
200ml plant based milk
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
Topping:
80g plant based butter
50g plain flour
200g soft brown sugar
¾ Tbsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp pumpkin pie spice
Glaze:
50g icing sugar
2 tsp plant based milk
½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease and line a 9x9 inch cake tin.
Mix all the wet ingredients together. Remember to make sure that the milk is at room temperature or slightly warm or otherwise the coconut oil will solidify.
Sift the dry ingredients into the wet and combine. Don't over mix or the cake will come out dense.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and spread out evenly.
Prepare the topping by mixing all the ingredients together with a fork. Be patient and a crumbly textured mixture will form. Crumble and sprinkle this over the top of the cake mixture in an even layer.
Place the cake on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Keep an eye on the cake at the end to ensure the topping doesn't burn.
Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the drizzle by sifting the icing sugar into a bowl and slowly adding the milk and vanilla extract until the perfect consistency for drizzling is achieved. Drizzle over the top of the cake to decorate.
This pumpkin cake vegan recipe would be great for a family gathering or Halloween party as we are entering the Christmas season. It's something a little different to the typical fruit cakes that are served at this time of year, and kids and teens will love trying it too. Don't let the pumpkin in the recipe put you off at all, as it doesn't taste like a healthy ingredient once it's mixed with the other ingredients. Have some fun decorating the final product to suit your personal tastes before serving your freshly baked cake to your friends and family.
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If you are looking for other vegan cake recipes here are some that I would recommend.
-
Vegan Double Chocolate Protein Muffins Recipe
-
Easy Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins (Bakery-Style)
-
Vegan Blueberry Muffins (Best Dairy-Free Recipe)
-
Vegan Chocolate Beetroot (Beet) Muffins Recipe
I also have some more vegan pumpkin recipes you might enjoy...
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