Vegan Pumpkin Cake

5 from 6 votes

This Vegan Pumpkin Cake recipe is super moist, packed with pumpkin pie spice, and is so delicious, all while being completely eggless and dairy-free! It's the perfect Autumn cake for any celebration.

Prep Time40

Cook Time25

Cooling Time2

Total Time3 5

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: Servings

Calories: 672kcal

Author: Megan Calipari

Cost: $7

Equipment

1 Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment Or a handmixer
1 Large Bowl
1 Medium Bowl
1 Whisk
1 Spatula
2 8" Round Cake Pans
Parchment Paper

Ingredients

2 ⅔ Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
¾ tsp Kosher Salt half this amount if using table salt
5 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice See note!
1 ½ Cup Light Brown Sugar, tightly packed
1 Cup Canned Pumpkin Purée Not pumpkin pie filling
¾ Cup Non-Dairy Milk
¾ Cup Canola Oil
2 teaspoon White Vinegar
2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

For the Frosting

24 tablespoon Non-Dairy Butter, room temperature see note
6 Cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
¼ Cup Baking Molasses See note!
1 ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Instructions

To Make the Cake

Preheat oven to 350*F. Prepare two 8-inch round cake pans by greasing them and inserting parchment circles into the bottoms.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk to combine.
2 ⅔ Cups All-Purpose Flour, 2 ½ tsp Baking Powder, ¼ tsp Baking Soda, ¾ tsp Kosher Salt, 5 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
In a large mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, pumpkin purée, non-dairy milk, canola oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Whisk well to combine, then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk to form the batter. See note.
1 ½ Cup Light Brown Sugar, tightly packed, 1 Cup Canned Pumpkin Purée, ¾ Cup Non-Dairy Milk , ¾ Cup Canola Oil, 2 tsp White Vinegar, 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Divide the batter evenly between the pans and gently spread it out with a spatula or knife. Bake the cake layers in a 350*F oven for 24-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then remove from the pans onto a parchment-lined sheet tray to cool completely, about 2 hours.

Make the Brown Sugar Frosting

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, cream the vegan butter until its completely smooth. Then, add the powdered sugar and mix on low until it comes together.
24 Tbsp Non-Dairy Butter, room temperature, 6 Cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
Add the molasses and vanilla and mix on low until combined. Then, turn the speed to medium and mix until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
1 ½ tsp Vanilla Extract, ¼ Cup Baking Molasses

Stack the Cake

Place a cake upside down onto a cake board or cake stand. Top the layer with about ¾ cup of frosting and use a butter knife or an offset spatula to spread it out, then top with the remaining cake layer, upside down again.
Use the same butter knife or offset spatula to frost the outside of the cake with brown sugar frosting and decorate as desired. I used a round pastry tip to pipe a border around the top and sprinkled it with cinnamon.
Serve!

Notes

If you don't have pre-made pumpkin pie spice, use this blend:

2 ¾ teaspoon Cinnamon
1 ¾ teaspoon Ginger
½ teaspoon Nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon Cloves

Whisk only until the batter is formed, then stop. Over-mixing can result in a tough cake.

Choose a vegan butter that comes in stick form. My favorite is Country Crock Plant Butter Sticks.

Do not use blackstrap molasses! Use baking (sometimes called golden) molasses like Grandma's.

To make the cake even easier to stack, place the cake layers in the freezer for about 30 minutes to 1 hour before stacking. This makes them more firm and stable.

Nutrition