Perfectly moist and utterly delicious vegan pumpkin cake with a cinnamon buttercream frosting. Packed with holiday spices and ideal for any special occasion!
Ooooh this vegan pumpkin cake you guys! Soooo good.
It sort of reminded us of carrot cake. Or a spice cake.
It’s deliciously spiced in the same way that a carrot cake usually is, with the cinnamon and the nutmeg and it’s also sweetened with brown sugar.
This pumpkin cake adds in some ground ginger and cloves too, so it’s really a treat.
So if you like carrot cake, or spice cake, then you’ll love this too!
But try our vegan carrot cake too of course! And our vegan pumpkin cupcakes are based on this recipe and just as good!
How To Make Vegan Pumpkin Cake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add light brown sugar, white granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger and ground cloves.
- Prepare a flax egg by adding 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed to a bowl with 3 tablespoons of hot water. Let it sit for a minute to become gloopy.
- Then add the flax egg, pumpkin purée, canola oil, apple cider vinegar and vanilla extract.
- Mix into a thick batter. Don’t overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly between two prepared cake pans (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with circles of parchment paper on the bottom).
- Place into the oven and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for a few minutes before removing them from the cake pans and transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
The Frosting
When it came to the frosting, I had a look around the web to see what a good pairing usually is and I saw a lot of recipes using a brown butter frosting.
So, naively I set out to try and make one using vegan butter. And oh my what an utter disaster. You don’t even want to know how badly that turned out.
So it seems browning butter really needs actual butter! Hahaha! Who knew (probably everyone). Apparently it’s the milk proteins in the butter that brown, and there ain’t any of those in the vegan varieties!
So then I decided on a cinnamon buttercream frosting and that was just perfect.
There’s cinnamon and other spices in the pumpkin cake and so the pairing with a cinnamon flavored frosting did the job fabulously well.
And then I sprinkled it with some extra cinnamon and tossed some crushed walnuts on top and the result was utterly divine.
Canned Pumpkin or Fresh?
I searched high and low in our small town for some canned pumpkin because when you’re making pumpkin desserts, canned pumpkin purée is the business!
Sadly though it seems canned pumpkin isn’t a ‘thing’ around here. I guess pumpkin desserts aren’t really a thing around here either. Maybe folks here don’t realize how good they are!
So I had to do things the old fashioned way and make pumpkin purée from scratch! Was pretty easy really, just bought some ready peeled and chopped pumpkin cubes and baked them on a parchment lined baking tray at 350°F (180°C) for 30 minutes. No spices or oils, just plain.
And when baked, you just let it cool and then puree it in a food processor! The baking part gets rid of any excess moisture so you don’t end up with pumpkin puree that is too ‘wet’. But if you do, you can just stand the pumpkin purée in a strainer so any excess water runs off.
So it was really too easy. Probably still better to use canned though if you can get it, saves time!
Storing and Freezing
Keep it covered at room temperature where it will stay fresh for 2-3 days, or keep it covered in the fridge where it will stay fresh for up to a week.
It’s also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
More Delicious Vegan Cakes
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Vegan Gingerbread Cake
- Amazing Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Red Velvet Cake
- Vegan Vanilla Cake
- Vegan Banana Cake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Pumpkin Cake
Ingredients
For the Pumpkin Cake:
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour (250g)
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar (200g)
- ½ cup White Granulated Sugar (100g)
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- ½ tsp Nutmeg
- ½ tsp Ground Ginger
- ½ tsp Ground Cloves
- 1 Flax Egg 1 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed Meal + 3 Tbsp Hot Water
- 1 ½ cups Pumpkin Purée (337g)
- ¼ cup Canola Oil (60ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
For the Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting:
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 3 ¾ cups Powdered Sugar (450g)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 Tbsp Soy Milk or other non-dairy milk
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
For Decoration:
- Cinnamon
- Crushed Walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray two 7 inch cake pans (*see notes) with non-stick spray and cut out circles of parchment paper line the bottoms.
- Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the light brown sugar, white granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.
- Prepare your flax egg by adding 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed meal to a bowl and then adding in 3 Tbsp of Hot Water and allowing to sit for a minute to become gloopy.
- Add the flax egg, pumpkin purée, oil, vinegar and vanilla to the mixing bowl and mix into a batter. Don't overmix.
- Divide the batter equally between the prepared cake pans.
- Place into the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.
- Transfer to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare your frosting by adding the vegan butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and soy milk to the bowl of an electric mixer. Starting at slow speed, gradually increase the speed until the frosting is thick and smooth. If your frosting is too thick, add in soy milk a drop at a time until it reaches the right consistency.
- Add the cinnamon last and mix on low until just mixed in.
- When your cakes are completely cooled, frost them and then sprinkle cinnamon and crushed walnuts on top.
Notes
- Measure your flour correctly. Either weigh it out on a food scale for the most accurate results or use the spoon and level method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup.
- Pumpkin purée. I used homemade pumpkin purée. I baked peeled and chopped pumpkin in the oven (plain, no oils or spices) for 30 minutes at 350°F (180°C) until soft and cooked and then pureed it in the food processor. If you do it this way and your purée is a bit ‘wet’ then stand it in a strainer so any excess water can run off.
- Cake Sizes: This cake can be adapted for different cake sizes as follows:
- Three 6-inch round cake pans – bake for 25 minutes.
- Two 8-inch round cake pans – bake for 25-30 minutes.
- One 9-inch round cake pan – bake for 30-35 minutes.
- 9×9 square cake pan – bake for 35 minutes.
- 9×13 sheet cake – bake for 25 minutes.
- Storing and freezing: Keep it covered at room temperature where it will stay fresh for 2-3 days, or keep it covered in the fridge where it will stay fresh for up to a week. It’s also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
- Nutritional information is for 1 slice of 10 with a generous amount of cinnamon buttercream frosting. It excludes crushed walnuts.
Akash Das says
Hey Alison, thanks for the recipe. But, can I substitute Brown sugar with white sugar?
Alison Andrews says
Hi, yes you can! 🙂
Jojo says
Have you tried to make this gluten free?
Laura says
I doubled the recipe and made a three layer cake. I substituted vegan butter with coconut oil. And topped the cake with coconut as well as walnuts. The coconut complimented pumpkin very nicely. Company loved it. Vegans and non-vegans! Thank you for the recipe!
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful to hear that Laura, and thanks so much for sharing. 🙂
Vicki says
I’m not vegan – but was looking for a dairy free (a relative with a lactose allergy) dessert and this looks great. Can I use 1 egg instead of the flax seed egg?
Alison Andrews says
Sure! 🙂
Laura says
Amazing, so tasty and brilliant for Christmas time! Not a lot of fuss too if you get the purée. I was lucky enough to find some in the UK, in Sainsbury’s!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome, thanks Laura! Yes, it saves lots of time if you use canned pumpkin purée and it’s every bit as good. 🙂 Thanks for the fabulous review.
BC says
So darn delicious! I was surprised what a huge hit this cake was with vegans and non-vegans alike. I don’t think any of us got as much as we wanted, despite me doubling the recipe.
I made 2 recipes of this cake for Thanksgiving to make a 4 layer cake. For two of the layers I used the flax egg, but for two of the layers I folded whipped aquafaba into the already combined remaining ingredients. Both ways were equally delicious, but the whipped aquafaba made prettier, slightly lighter layers. I then iced only between the layers and top, leaving the sides naked. It was not only delicious but beautiful. And that cinnamon icing, well, it’s truly divine!
Thank you very much for sharing this great recipe, and making this newbie to vegan baking look like a pro.
Alison Andrews says
Wow, sounds amazing! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Leah says
This cake came out great! It was very sweet, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Substitutions:
I used canned pumpkin. It must be more dense than pumpkin puree, so I thinned out the cake batter with water.
I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose baking flour.
I omitted the cinnamon in the frosting and the walnuts on top.
It was still amazing!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Leah, so glad it worked great! I’m thinking you needed more liquid because of using gluten-free all purpose flour, because gluten-free flours absorb more moisture so usually need to have a little more added in, I usually increase the oil when making a cake gluten-free, but really glad to hear even water did the trick! Canned pumpkin purée vs homemade can also be a factor if the homemade variety is more ‘wet’. But I definitely think the gluten-free played a part here as well. Thanks very much for sharing, it’s super helpful. 🙂
Barrie Sigler says
I made this cake mainly for my daughter who is vegan, but EVERYONE loved it. It was the hit of my Thanksgiving dinner!
I will make it soon again regardless of who’s at the table…. vegan or omnivore
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic! Can’t tell you how much I love hearing this. Thanks so much Barrie! 🙂
Katie says
Would this work as a bundt cake and if so would there be any modifications?
Samantha says
Is there anyway to make this gluten free!? This is exactly the recipe I’ve been looking for but cannot use wheat flour. I have almond, coconut and rice flour options! Thanks in advance.
Alison Andrews says
A single type of flour like rice or almond or coconut is very unlikely to work well, if you want to make it gluten-free it has to be a gluten-free all purpose flour blend.
Emily says
Hi there! This looks AMAZING! Can it be made in a bigger pan though, if the recipe is doubled or 1.5x? 7″ is so tiny that I’d have to order the pans online and I’d probably never use them again 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Hi Emily! Yes, for 8 inch pans if you increase the recipe by half that will be perfect for 8 inch. Just get out the calculator and be very precise with the measurements and then it will go perfectly. 🙂
Tiffany says
This recipe was great! I did change a few things. I just made one square cake without layers, so I baked it for an extra fifteen minutes. I’m also not a fan of frosting so I covered the top with apple chunks and brown sugar. They crisped up perfectly! The cake came out exactly the way I wanted it to. Thanks for this great go-to recipe!
Aline says
Hi Allison just wanted to let you know your recipes are amazing. The measurement by weight for this particular recipe turned out just perfect I’ve tried to just measure pumpkin before not the same results as measuring by weight. I am new to trying to cook vegan dishes as my new daughter-in-law is vegan. I would love to find a great black bean burger recipe many of them seem very bland do you have a good suggestion?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Aline, so happy the recipe worked out great! Yes, measuring certain ingredients by weight is definitely the most accurate. We recently put up a vegan black bean burger recipe that we think is awesome! 🙂
Maria says
I found this recipe while I was searching the internet for recipes for egg-free pumpkin cake. I made cupcakes with the batter the first time to test it and they came out really wonderful. I then used it for the birthday cake of my 2-year old son, who is allergic to eggs. I made pumpkin chocolate frosting for the cake and added some orange peels. The combination turned out really good. What I really like about this recipe is that all the ingredients are easy to find and the result is really good – you get a really fluffy, moist and delicious cake. I think the amount of sugar is a bit too much, I made it with just 100 g brown sugar and 100 g white sugar and it was perfectly sweet.
Alison Andrews says
Sounds great Maria, thanks for sharing! 🙂
Michelle says
Super delicious!! Best cake I’ve ever eaten ?
Alison Andrews says
That is such a wonderful thing to hear! Love it! Thanks so much for posting and the fabulous review. 🙂