Vegan Pumpkin Cake is the ultimate fall comfort dessert! It’s moist and spiced! Perfect with a cup of coffee or tea for breakfast or afternoon snack. Enjoy this cozy dessert and you won’t miss any butter or eggs in this recipe. It’s so easy, you only need one bowl and one spoon to make this cake.
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Vegan Pumpkin Cake smells like autumn with its damp fallen leaves and rain puddles. It reminds me of cozy evenings in front of the fireplace wrapped in a big blanket with a good book.
The cake tastes like cinnamon and cloves and ginger and nutmeg, like your favourite coffee shop where you hide from the rain. It makes me remember those storybook moments that never happened and long for whispers from my childhood.
It’s still warm outside but I can already smell the autumn wind in the air. And I can’t wait to make this Vegan Pumpkin Cake again and again once the leaves start turning orange.
I love making vegan cakes, yet I am not vegan. I like the simplicity of the batter. I like the ease of preparation. I like the full, vibrant flavour and delicious texture.
I discovered vegan baking a few years ago. It was one cake and I made it a few dozen times. After I got comfortable with that recipe I started experimenting.
Can I reduce the amount of oil and still have the cake soft and moist? Can I reduce sugar? Can I add water, orange juice, fruit, peanut butter?
I’ve made so many different versions of these vegan cakes over the years and I have so many more ideas.
Try more of my Vegan Cakes:
- Vegan Banana Cake,
- Vegan Gingerbread Cake
- Vegan Pumpkin Spice Cake (similar to the one I’m about to share but different)
- Vegan Chocolate-Prune Cake
Why use pumpkin purée in a cake?
This Vegan Pumpkin Cake is sweet and spiced. You can’t taste the pumpkin much, I use it mostly to make the cake moist instead of eggs, buttermilk, and oil. There’s still oil in the cake but very little.
How to make Vegan Pumpkin Cake
Like most of my vegan cakes this one is really easy to make, just mix all the ingredients and bake. Technically you are supposed to mix all the wet ingredients in one bowl and dry in the other before combining them but I like mixing everything together at once.
Only one bowl to clean and one spoon to wash.
NOTE: Make sure to NOT over mix the batter. Once everything is in a bowl, mix just until the flour disappears. Do not try to mix everything until smooth. Over mixing will result in tough cake.
What to do with leftover canned pumpkin purée
I use canned pumpkin as it’s so much easier than making your own but if you prefer then you can definitely use homemade pumpkin puree.
If you do decide to use canned pumpkin like me and now you are stuck with an almost full can of pumpkin in your fridge then I have you covered!
- for those long rainy and lazy weekends try my Vegan Pumpkin and Chili Pretzels
- if you have only a few minutes to mix the batter then these Reese’s Pumpkin Cookies will fit the bill
- and your brunch will not be complete without Pumpkin Ricotta Pancakes
- breakfast will be amazing with Ricotta Pumpkin Waffles
- and, of course, for the super indulgent treat, you must make my Pumpkin Cranberry Fudge!
- finally, if you are a fan of Instant Pot like me, try my Instant Pot Pumpkin Pudding Cake
And to round up pumpkin flavoured breakfast treats you should also try Vegan and Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes from The Fit Cookie (I know, technically cupcakes shouldn’t be eaten for breakfast but who could resist?), Spelt Pumpkin Waffles from My Wife Can Cook, Pumpkin Smoothie Bowl from Mid-Life Croissant, and the best way to finish breakfast Pumpkin Spice Latte from Champagne Tastes made with real pumpkin.
Vegan Pumpkin Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3/4 cup water
- 1.5 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- icing sugar and more pumpkin spice for dusting on top (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Oil and flour 8-inch cake or pie plate.
- In a large bowl combine pumpkin puree, brown sugar, oil, and water. Mix well until smooth.
- Add flour, baking powder, salt, pumpkin spice and mix just until flour disappears. Make sure to NOT over mix. Mix only just until flour disappears. Over mixing will result in tough cake.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Marcie says
October 27, 2018 at 8:33 pmThe cake wasn’t fluffy and quite dense. Thoughts?
Julia says
October 27, 2018 at 8:47 pmDid you follow the recipe exactly or make any substitutions? If no substitutions were made then my guess would be that you over-mixed it. You really need to barely mix just until the flour disappears. Mixing for longer makes it tough.
Kristina Lopez says
November 1, 2018 at 11:02 pmI think that’ was my issue too! My bad…it would be more clear if you put “don’t over mix” because my whisk was small so it took more times to make it look like batter…:(
Julia says
November 2, 2018 at 10:50 amThanks for your comment. Sorry you had issues with the cake batter. I updated the instructions based on your comments and added notes to make sure to not overmix.
Tia says
October 14, 2018 at 11:15 amVery moist. Not too sweet. Great texture. I would make it again! I will be using the whole can of pumpkin puree next time and not just 1/2 can. Excellent recipe. Thank you for sharing, Julia. 😀
Julia says
October 14, 2018 at 1:01 pmTia – I am very glad you liked it. Let me know how it will turn out with more pumpkin. I think you might need to add a bit more flour since pumpkin adds more moisture
Chris says
May 26, 2018 at 9:02 pmThink this would taste ok using whole wheat flour?
Julia says
May 26, 2018 at 9:07 pmI have never tried baking with whole wheat flour so I can’t say. Sorry