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.
Jody says
I love this cake. It never rises like the cake in the picture, but it tastes amazing.
Thank you for sharing!!
Alison Andrews says
As long as it tastes amazing! Thanks so much for the awesome review! 🙂
Richard Haas says
I don’t have cloves on hand, but I do have pumpkin pie spice. Do you know how much of that I would use in place of the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves?
It looks great, and I can’t wait to try it.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Richard, I would use 3 tsp of pumpkin pie spice. All the best! 🙂
R says
Love it!
Alison Andrews says
Yay! Thanks for the great review! 🙂
Sabine Hannemann says
Thank you so much for this recipe! It is the first vegan cake i tried where the texture is really like it should be: springy and a little moist. Will bake this one very often!
Chev says
Hi again! How can I make this into a single layer 8 inch round cake? Thank you!
Alison Andrews says
I would probably try just halving the recipe and see how that goes. 🙂
Cindy says
Will this work for cupcakes?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Cindy, yes it will work for cupcakes (a perfect 12), you can also check out our vegan pumpkin cupcakes recipe. 🙂
Hayley says
Can I double this and make it in 2 9” pans?
Alison Andrews says
Yes! Just be careful with your measurements and that will work great! 🙂
Maddiiiiigirl says
I’ve seen some cute pumpkin shaped cakes made out of bundt cakes. Would this work for those?
Alison Andrews says
Hi there! I think this could be adapted, it would just be a case of monitoring it during baking as the baking time would change. 🙂
Sibell says
Delicioso me encanto soy tu fan #1
Alison Andrews says
Thank you so much Sibell! 🙂
Laura Kneeland says
I made this for my daughter’s birthday, and it was AMAZING!! Previously I have not had much luck with vegan cakes, but following this recipe exactly made for a perfect cake that everyone loved. Thank you!!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome Laura! Thank you so much for the amazing review. 🙂
Laura says
Just wanted to let you know that one year later, on her 21st birthday, my daughter requested this cake again! It was just as delicious as last year, and again people asked for the recipe. You made me look like a star baker two years in a row!
Alison Andrews says
That is such good news! Thanks for sharing Laura!
Melody says
I made this with whole wheat flour and subbed the refined sugar for maple syrup. instead of the buttercream, I did a salted caramel glaze (made with maple syrup, coconut milk, vanilla extract, and salt). Can’t wait to try it!!
Jennifer Mitchell says
Hi Alison,
We have just transitioned into spring (Southern Hemisphere) but my favourite time of year is autumn. I decided to make your pumpkin cake with cinnamon buttercream frosting since as it is autumn in the Northern hemisphere. It was one of the best vegan cakes that I have eaten all year. I had all the ingredients on hand and baked it in between walking the dog and having my children here for brunch on the weekend. We demolished it on Sunday which was Fathers’ Day here in Australia. Thank you for this recipe. I think it will come in handy at Christmas time too with some added Christmassy additions.
Alison Andrews says
So glad you enjoyed it Jennifer! Thanks so much for sharing. 🙂
Ivelisse says
Can I use a bundt cake pan instead, without dividing the batter?
Alison Andrews says
I’m sure you can, but it would bake for a longer time. I’m not sure exactly how much longer, but I would estimate about 45-50 minutes, you’d just need to just keep a check on it.
Leigh says
Can you make it without the flax seed egg? Like with the lemon cake?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Leigh, you can replace it with something else, like 3 Tbsp applesauce or 3 Tbsp of extra oil or even 3 Tbsp extra pumpkin purée. But it will need to be replaced with something to keep the recipe balanced. 🙂
Leah says
I made this tonight and it was amazing! It tasted so good that even my non-vegan family members enjoyed it! The frosting tasted like real buttercream frosting – I was in awe! I was wondering though, do you think it would be possible to make the frosting less sweet (more like a lighter, whipped frosting)?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Leah, so happy to hear you enjoyed it and thanks for the awesome review! You can try our vegan cream cheese frosting which would be a good match for this cake and is a bit less sweet. Otherwise vegan whipped cream makes a great cake topping too. 🙂
Leah says
Those both sound tasty! Thanks so much!