How is it mid-October already and I’m only just now posting a pumpkin recipe? Can you forgive me?
Please say yes. Please say yes. Please be my friend.
This pumpkin cake is inspired by fall and my love for all the pumpkin things and my Vegan Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread.
It’s simple, requiring just 1 bowl to make! And it comes together in about 1 hour. How cool is that?
I’ve been doing more experimenting with aquafaba as an “egg” in gluten-free baking and it’s working wonders. This cake is another proud accomplishment in my line of testing vegan/gluten free goods. Oh joy (and more to come).
The base is whipped aquafaba (chickpea brine) and coconut sugar, which keeps this cake entirely naturally sweetened! Cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice amp up the fall flavor, while pumpkin puree and banana add incredibly moist texture and natural sweetness.
The result is a fluffy, tender, pumpkin-infused cake laced with rolled oats and almond flour.
As for the gluten-free blend, I went with a light blend I’ve been loving lately. But I feel pretty confident that, as long as it’s a rice-based blend, it should do well here! And of course, if you’re not gluten-free, feel free to sub spelt flour, whole-wheat flour, or unbleached all-purpose for the gluten-free blend.
I hope you all LOVE this cake! It’s:
Tender
Fluffy
Wholesome
Naturally sweetened
Pumpkiny
Perfectly-spiced
Hearty
& Insanely delicious
This would make the perfect cake for entertaining this fall or if you just want something special on hand for a lazy weekend. I opted for my vegan cream cheese frosting – which requires the cake to be refrigerated – but you could easily go for my vegan buttercream frosting as well (recipes linked below). It would also be just as delicious naked (oy!).
If you try this cake, let us know! I love seeing your comments, ratings, and photos tagged #minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
1-Bowl Pumpkin Cake (Vegan + GF)
Ingredients
CAKE
- 2/3 cup aquafaba (chickpea brine – the liquid in a can of chickpeas // or sub 4 flax eggs*)
- 1 1/4 cup coconut sugar (or sub organic cane sugar)
- 1/4 cup ripe banana (mashed // primarily for binding)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup or agave nectar
- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin purée
- 1/4 cup olive oil, grape seed oil, avocado oil, or melted coconut oil
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (plus more to taste)
- 1 cup water or unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
- 1 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour* (or sub meal with less-desirable results)
- 2 1/3 cup gluten-free flour blend*
FROSTING optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C) and lightly butter/grease two standard 9-inch cake pans. Dust with gluten-free flour and and remove excess. Set aside.
- Add chickpea brine to a large mixing bowl and beat on high for 2-3 minutes until light and airy and loose peaks form. Then add coconut sugar a little at a time and continue beating until light and fluffy and semi-firm peaks form.
- Add mashed banana, maple syrup, pumpkin puree, oil, sea salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice and beat or whisk to combine (see photo). Add water or unsweetened almond milk and apple cider vinegar and beat/whisk again.
- Add gluten-free oats, almond flour, and gluten-free flour blend and stir with a wooden spoon or whisk. The batter should be semi-thick but pourable. If too thick add more water or almond milk. If too thin, add more almond flour or gluten-free flour blend.
- Divide between cake pans and bake for 45 minutes – 1 hour, or until deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out completely clean.
- Remove from oven and let rest in pans until completely cool. Once cooled, gently loosen the sides with a butter knife and use a plate to invert and flip the cakes out of their pans. Transfer to a serving plate or cake stand and frost with desired frosting of choice.
- If frosting with cream cheese frosting, store in the refrigerator up to 3 days. If frosting with buttercream, store at room temperature up to 3 days. Freeze to keep fresh for up to 1 month (though best when fresh).
Notes
*The almond flour (which is comprised of blanched almonds making it different than almond meal) I would recommend is WellBee’s, which can be found on Amazon. You can try subbing almond meal but I haven’t tested it that way and cannot guarantee the results. Almond flour gives a drier, fluffier texture that’s ideal in this cake.
*For the gluten-free blend in this recipe I used Fork and Bean’s Light GF blend, but I would think Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 GF Baking Blend and my DIY Gluten-Free Blend would work well, too! And, of course, if you’re not gluten-free, feel free to sub spelt, whole-wheat, or unbleached all-purpose flour for the gluten-free blend.
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated without icing.
Lara says
It was really fast and easy to make and SO DELICIOUS (although I only used 1/4 of the suggested sugar amount and 1/2 of the syrup) ! I subbed the almond flour for 1/2 the amount of oats and 1/2 the amount of flour and it was perfectly fine! As a topping I just whipped plain ol’ coconut cream and that also worked it’s magic :)
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing, Lara!
Ingrid says
Loved making this for our thanksgiving dinner this year. My vegans and non vegans enjoyed it. The vegan buttercream frosting paired really well with this cake. I added maple syrup to the frosting and topped the cake with chopped roasted pecans. I decorated the cake with organic edible flowers from the garden. Looked very pretty. No one noticed it was vegan and GF. Thanks again for sharing this recipe.
Yay! We are so glad you enjoyed it. And what a lovely idea to decorate with edible flowers! Thanks for sharing! xo
Ivan says
Do you have to use oats for the pumpkin cake or can you go without?
I’d recommend keeping it as close to the recipe as written as possible. If you venture into making some modifications, let us know how it goes!
Christina B Whittaker says
I made this cake exactly as outlined in the recipe with the “cream cheese” icing and it was fabulous!! We had two desserts at our Canadian Thanksgiving feast, this cake and the traditional (and nonvegan, nonGF) pumpkin pie. Only two of the 10 people were GF/vegan, and yet lots of pie left with the cake almost gone! I heard words like moist, “is it really GF and vegan?” and lots of “where did you find this recipe – I love it”! It will now go into regular rotation of my GF vegan desserts that everyone will eat :-) Thank you !!
Wonderful – thanks for sharing Christina! Glad you all enjoyed it!
Kanika Khanna says
I used this recipe to make cupcakes recently. It was my first time using aquafaba and had no idea how it’d go. I can’t bring myself to think of all the aquafaba I’ve wasted over the years — it worked like a dream!
And this recipe was totally worth making! I subbed applesauce for the banana, but followed every other part of the recipe. It yielded 24 cupcakes (I baked them for a little under 25 minutes at 350, as my oven runs hot). No one had any clue it was vegan either :) Definitely making again!
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing, Kanika!
Kelsey Jackson says
Has anyone tried oat flour instead of whole oats. I’m trying to use this recipe to make mini layered cake but it’s difficult to get even fluffy layers with the whole oats.
But… I did follow the recipe exactly (used baby food puree banana -thats all I had) with the buttercream frosting. Holy cow it’s so yummy ? the buttercream frosting tastes sooooo good. Was not expecting this. So worth making it. My husband did say he wished it tasted more “pumpkin-y” so maybe would add more spices next time.
Thanks for sharing! I’m not sure about using oat flour vs oats, but let us know if you give it a try!
Dee dee says
I can’t have bananas. Can you recommend a substitute?
Applesauce can be subbed, but it may be a little more crumbly. You could also try coconut yogurt! But we haven’t tried these substitutions and can’t guarantee the results…let us know if you give it a try!
Colleen says
OH my gosh. I just made this cake in spring and let me tell you, it’s delicious, and easy. It’s the right balance of sweet, and a great texture. I have never made a gf + vegan cake but I am so impressed. It’s really moist. I put mine in the oven for 42 min instead of 45 and I think that helped keep it from becoming dry. The buttercream frosting is a must with this cake, it pairs together so well. I can’t figure out how to include a picture of my cake but it turned out well! Seriously this recipe is almost fool-proof. Using aquafaba sounds like a weird concept but it was awesome. Just gotta put some elbow grease into really whipping it up- it’s so worth it.
Chris says
Excellent cake. I made this as a double layer cake and a snack , all from one recipe (it makes a lot, imo). I substituted the following: 2 chicken eggs for the road egg, homemade sliced applesauce for the banana, eliminated the liquid sweetener and increased my organic sugar by a quarter of a cup, and subtracted one tablespoon of the gluten free flour for a tablespoon of organic cornstarch. I used a version of MB diy gluten free flour (I sub sweet rice for the white rice). I was worried when it came out of the oven because it smelt strongly of baking soda, however I didn’t taste it. I love the ingredients as they’re high in fiber. The cake is flavorful and rose well in the oven. I plan on making this again. I made dairy free cream cheese frosting recipe from this blog and left a comment on that post.
Meghan says
Is there something you can substitute the banana with ? I’m looking to make a 1st birthday cake for my son who has egg, dairy, peanut, tree nut, avocado and banana allergies. Trying to make something healthy and he loves pumpkin so this sounds perfect if it can be used without banana. Thank you.
Hmm, maybe applesauce?
Terry says
The cake is a pure bliss! It’s totally my new black now :3 Thank you so much for the recipe!
I’m ovo-lacto vegetarian so I allowed myself to use chicken eggs instead of flax eggs/aquafaba and to sub almond milk with cow milk. Also I replaced both almond flour and gluten-free flour blend with whole-wheat flour. And it worked out perfectly! For topping I made a frosting by whipping mix of powdered sugar, vanilla extract and something we call “smetana” (there’re no good translation for it cuz it’s exclusively local, it’s more or less resemble reeeally dense sour cream).
Lisa says
One thing I forgot to ask about: the brine from the chickpeas did not whip up with peaks. I added a little cream of tartar and still no good. Is the chickpea brine supposed to be refrigerated before whipping?
Casey says
I had difficulty with this recipe from the second step. When adding the coconut sugar to the aquafaba, it never formed any peaks at all. Even though I did it exactly as directed, slowly. What is the trick?
You can add a little cream of tartar to help form peaks. However, it’s not critical that stiff peaks form – just that it thickens and creates air!
Sandra Gro says
The pumpkin cake was divine. Moist, full of flavor and puffy and light. The cake deserves a 5 stars, but the icing did not work so well. I would recommend another buttercream. I choose the ‘buttercream’ option, and it did not hold up at all. The icing on top of the cake was ok, although it was very soft after about 20hrs of refrigeration. The issue was the icing that went in the middle of the cake. It basically all leaked out down the sides and did not hold in the middle at all. So, the middle did not have a layer of icing like the photo shows. It all dripped out, and then when I took it out of the fridge after 20hrs, in a few hours, it had dripped out more leaving hardly any in the middle for eating. It must made it a lot of cake to eat with only the icing layer on the top. It needs a much more stable buttercream layer in the middle.
Christina Davis says
Do you see any reason this couldn’t be baked as cupcakes?
Thank you!
I would think so, yes! I’d say look at this recipe for inspiration. https://minimalistbaker.com/1-bowl-pumpkin-muffins-vegan-gf/
Malia Acohido says
Thank you for posting all your recipes! My son is allergic to wheat, eggs, nuts, peanuts, sesame, and mustard, and it has been TOUGH relearning how to cook, as well as learning how to bake for the first time! Your website is definitely a go-to for me anytime I want to make something special. We have tried your gf, vegan cornbread and love it. I am really interested in making the gf, vegan pumpkin cake for our Halloween and Thanksgiving parties. While my son is not allergic to almonds, I am having trouble finding almond products that are free from cross contamination with other nuts. Question: is there an almond flour you recommend that is not processed in a facility with other nuts? OR Do you think this recipe for vegan, gf pumpkin cake would work if I used the Bob’s Red Mill Gf flour blend for the entirety? Subbing more Gf flour for the almond flour? Thank you for any advice. Warmly, Malia in PDX
Katie says
Made this a couple of weekends ago for a friend’s birthday party and it turned out amazing. The guests didn’t even realize it was GF. I modified the recipe a little bit. I did not make it vegan- used 3 chicken eggs instead of the aquafaba, cut the sugar to 1/3 of what the recipe said, and added an extra 1/4 cup of maple syrup. I separated out the eggs and beat the whites to stiff peaks, added the yellows in with the pumpkin. I topped it with maple cream cheese frosting and hand-ground roasted walnuts. It looked amazing, smelled divine, the texture was awesome, and the fall-forward flavours were perfect for the season. All I had was brown rice flour on hand. I think it would have been a bit more cake-like with white rice flour instead, but it was great with brown- just a little more mouthfeel than your average cake.
Thank you for sharing your modifications, Katie! We are glad to hear that it was a hit!
Di says
Hello, I was wondering if there’s an substitution for rolled oats since I can’t have any oats either. Thank you! ?
Other readers had success with quinoa flakes! See the comments above for further tips :)
Karina says
Hi Dana, this recipe looks delicious! I’m thinking of using this recipe to make a Battenberg cake, so it would be stacked with another cake (likely chocolate!), but are you able to comment on the texture of the cake? Do you think it is suitable (not too spongy/light) for stacking with another cake? Thank you!
Megan says
Hello! I wanted to follow up with my pervious comment. The cake turned out well! However I made one mistake that I want to mention. The oats that I used must have been too thick. They really affected texture and made the cake have a surprising mouthfeel. Make sure to not use thick rolled oats!
Also, I added just a little bit of vanilla to the cream cheese frosting and I really liked the taste.
I plan on making this cake again because even with the oat issue, everyone liked it! I know it would be perfect if I would have used thin or maybe instant oats.
Anna says
Hello! I grew pumpkins in my garden this year and still have 5 to use!! So rather than buy a can of pumpkin puree, do you know what I would do to a home grown pumpkin? Do I cook it first to make a puree? Bake/roast/boil? I know it’s a more labour intensive version but hate waste so want to use up my pumpkin glut :)
Hi Anna! This should help.
Megan says
I’m making this right now for thanksgiving. Beating the chickpea water and the sugar resulted in something that looked like whipped cream. I never really saw “peaks” but I didn’t know what that really meant. I used Bob’s gluten free flour also. It is currently cooking in the oven and smells amazing! I’m going to try the cream cheese frosting. I’ll let everyone know how it goes!
Juliet says
Holy shit. I used this recipe to make cupcakes and they turned out AMAZING. This was my first time ever using aquafaba, and my first time ever experimenting with gluten free baking, so I was a little scared haha (I have had some not-so-good gf baked goods in the past). The texture of this is so amazing, chewy, moist, perfect.
I made vegan cream cheese frosting to go with it and didn’t like it, but that was due to the v cream cheese, not your recipe. It just tastes overwhelmingly like fake butter flavor, which I don’t love (I used Daiya brand). So when I make these again, I’m going to serve it with whipped coconut cream instead, which is probably my fav vegan “icing” and lower sugar too :)
A few simplifications I made:
1 can pumpkin instead of measuring out 1.5 cups
1 mashed banana instead of measuring out 1/4 cup
This recipe made 18 very large muffins/cupcakes – would probably make 24 normal sized ones (I used tulip wrappers, not regular muffin liners).
Lisa Erhard says
This cake is unbelievably good! Ended up putting the batter in the final stage of mixing in my food processor because it wasn’t mixing very easily by hand.
Prep time took a while. I suppose the time given for prep does not take into account all the work and measuring everything and of course looking back at the directions a bunch of times.
It does come out of the oven extremely moist but I assume after cools down it will have dried a bit.
The batter tasted very very sweet to me, but the actual baked cake tastes less sweet. I suppose it’s a good rule of thumb when you’re putting in the sweetener to taste the batter as you go along to check to see how you like it.
The only problem now is that this cake is so good I’m afraid my husband and I will eat it up before we have a chance to bring it to the party we’re planning to in two days! Can this be frozen? That’s the safest way to keep us from eating it!
Thank you for this amazing recipe.
Lisa
Christie says
Thanks for posting your recipe, it looks delicious! I’d like to try it but I am almond-sensitive . Any suggestion for a substitute for the almond flour? Thanks!?
Hi Christie! I’d probably recommend oat flour, or, maybe even a seed meal? Like, sunflower seed meal?
Yulca says
I just put this into the oven (in 2 muffin trays) and can’t wait for the muffins to be done, they smell amazing. My husband’s non-vegan colleagues will love them for sure.
A useful tip that might help those struggling with the aquafaba peaks:
In most aquafaba-based recipes I’ve worked with so far, they ask for cream of tartar, lemon juice, or vinegar to be added to the chickpea brine prior to beating. Apparently, the acid helps stabilizing the proteins => firmer peaks! So that’s what I did here, too – I added the vinegar at the beginning of step 2 into the unbeaten aquafaba and then followed the recipe as outlined here (though I obviously didn’t add any vinegar/lemon juice in step 3 anymore). It worked extremely well, the aquafaba fluff was so firm that I could put everything on top of it which is added in step 3 without the peaks collapsing :).
Other than that: Dana, your blog really changed my life. We are not vegan, but we really enjoy exploring new tastes and textures, and we feel that eating things from your blog, we are doing something good for our taste buds AND bodies ;). Keep up the good work! All the best from Germany!
Juliet says
Great tip about adding the acid! My aquafaba never really formed stiff peaks so I was afraid it wouldn’t turn out right (but didn’t want to beat it to death). Will try that next time!
Kelsey Jackson says
How much vinegar did you use?
Yulca says
1 tsp, as written in the recipe.
Monica says
Hello,
I’m new to gluten free baking and excited to try this recipe out for a customer order. Will this cake store well in the fridge, tightly wrapped of course, for a day or two before assembling and frosting? Or would this effect the texture at all? May be a dumb question but I’m just scared of gluten free baked goods and could use any tips to make this as successful and yummy as possible!
Thank you so much in advance!
Hi Monica! You can refrigerate it for a couple days before frosting!
Lisa says
My little grand nephew has to eat gluten free, vegan for health reasons. I do the same diet. When I asked what he misses, he said, “pumpkin cake.” I made your recipe for him, Thank you so much for letting him enjoy a normal birthday cake! After reading comments about others who had difficulty maintaining the “meringue” I decided to stabilize it by whipping a sprinkle or two of xanthan gum into the bowl before adding sugar. The froth held up well. I also dissolved coconut palm sugar in the liquid ahead of time, reduced the total amount of sweetener slightly, and used apple sauce in place of banana and half the oil. The cake was fantastic in spite of my manipulations. Thanks again!
Vedika Rai says
Hi Dana,
I only want to make a one layer version 9 inch of this – do I need to half the recipe?
Hi Vedika! Just half the recipe!
Susie M says
Your vegan/gf pumpkin bread is my favorite fall treat ever, so I’m VERY excited to try this recipe. However, some people in my family don’t prefer the texture of the whole oats; do you think I could replace them with more flour (oat, almond or gf all purpose)? How much flour? Thank you!
Hi Susie! You could try subbing it for quinoa flakes. You can also try subbing a mix of almond flour and GF blend! Hope this helps!
Karen says
I made this pumpkin cake recipe into muffins today, and they are SOOO delicious! I did use 2 eggs in place of the aquafaba and it worked fine, no worries. What a delicious recipe! Thanks so much, Dana, for all the wonderful recipes you share on this site. I have made so many of them, and they have all been outstanding!!
Rebecca says
Can I sub bob’s 1 to 1 gluten free flour for the almond flour, or would almond meal be better??
Robyn says
How can I turn this into a cupcake version? Is there a way to replace the gluten free flour mix?
Lisa says
Yields 24 cupcakes. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, or until they spring back when gently depressed.
Alivia says
Hi, could you please clarify what pumpkin purée is. I know in America you can purchase this in a can. Is this steamed or roasted pumpkin that is then smashed to a paste? could I roast the pumpkin with spices and then purée it?
Thanks!
Hi Alivia! That should work if you’d prefer to do it yourself!
Naomi Deck says
Hi,
I’m loving all these recipes-that are giving me access back to loved classics that I thought had to be forgotten due to a long list of allergies!
I’m based in Australia, where oats aren’t considered gluten free. For this reason I was wondering if I’m better off just skipping this ingredient in your recipes or substitute with something else?
Jacob Krafft says
Do you think Tapioca flour would be a suitable substitute for almond flour?
I don’t think so – will likely make it too gummy…Maybe try more oats?
Andrea Hosfeld says
Hi Dana,
I just wanted to say thank you for all the time you put into testing recipes and experimenting with new methods and ingredients. I made this wonderful cake for a Christmas gathering of friends. It was everything you promised and I was completely surprised that a cake that was both vegan and gluten free could taste so much like ‘normal’ cake… only it wasn’t normal at all, it was sublime, with a beautiful flavour, and gorgeous texture. I made the cream-cheese icing with some homemade vegan butter and cream cheese and it was delicious. I can’t really say thank you enough. I’ve recently had some terrible reactions to gluten and was feeling a bit hopeless since I’m a vegan and already have cut out dairy and eggs… It’s nice to know I can treat myself to something so wonderful and still not have to worry about feeling ill. Thank you!
Andrea xx
So kind! Thanks Andrea!
Amy says
Turned this recipe into cupcakes with great results! Love how moist and fluffy these are! I did however sub sunflower seed flour for almond flour as I work in a nut free office and they turned green after cooling! Apparently the cloryphyll in the seed reacts with the baking soda giving it a green colour. As much as I love green it isn’t the most attractive quality in a baked good.. do you have any suggestions about how to minimize the green colour? Maybe other nut free gluten free flours?
Mallo says
Did you try it with something other than almond flour? I’d like to try it this weekend as well.
Julie says
I made this for my 3 year old’s birthday. Everyone liked it. Next time I would increase the spices as it was fairly mild. This was my first time baking a cake and it was very easy to put together. I ended up needed to put some skewers to keep the cake from sliding once it was iced. The icing get’s a bit runny (doesn’t hold it’s shape) when it’s on the table for awhile but outside of that there were no issues. We added some natural sprinkles and it was a hit with everyone even the littlest ones who are used to more traditional birthday cakes.
Julie says
I made this a second time for another birthday! This time I used 2 eggs rather than the aquafaba and doubled the cinnamon and pumpkin spice. I also added diary free chocolate chips. I used the “buttercream” frosting recipe and preferred it over the cream cheese icing. We are fans and so were all of our guests.
Stacey says
Can I use organic sprouted whole wheat flour instead of the GF blend?…also, oat flour or almond meal, which would you pick to replace the almond flour if you had a choice? (That’s just what I have on hand)
Hi there! That should work. If replacing the almond flour, I’d probably just recommend more whole wheat. And honestly, if you can use WHITE or PASTRY whole wheat, all the better.
Jane says
This cake came out great. I’m going to make it next week as the gf vegan Thanksgiving dessert option. The only change will be to make it as a one layer sheet cake. And instead of the butter cream frosting, I’ll try the cream cheese frosting. I’ve tried a lot of gf vegan recipes and this one is definitely a winner.
Hako says
Can you provide a recipe for frosting used here? I love the “dripping” effect around cake – thanks!
Yes, it’s this one!
Eden Passante says
Drip icing is my favorite look for cakes this season! So modern and yummy! Great recipe and I love how its made out of one bowl!
Debbie says
This cake is in the oven now! The batter was delicious, yes I had to taste it. I was so surprised by how the brine whipped up like egg whites!! Can’t wait to try this.. taking to work tomorrow for Halloween! Can’t decide on which frosting to make!
Thanks for the recipe.
Susannah says
Hello…LOVE this cake. I have one question and one comment: I see in the printed recipe that you’ve omitted the maple syrup or agave from the instructions. I assume it gets added with the banana and the oil? Question: I think I’d like to grind the whole oats before adding as we did’t love the chewiness of the whole oats in the final product. Do you see anything wrong with grinding them a bit? Not to powder form, but just to make them smaller?
Thank you for your reply…I really love your recipes!
Susannah
Jessie says
Did anyone try it with flax seed eggs? If so, how did it go?
Kowshik Chandra says
As I don’t have any blender, will it work good if I use hand to blend it?? Also thanks for the recipe of cake. I was searching for this recipe of PUMPKIN CAKE for long time.
Natalie says
Do you know if aquafaba goes bad? I have some aside in the fridge as I have also been experimenting with it, and I wonder how long one can keep it!! Any ideas?? I am going to make this cake this weekend for Halloween.
For me it lasts up to a week, sometimes more!
Kathleen says
I save and freeze the brine when I make multiple batches of hummus. Works fine.
Kendra says
Made this the other day and am LOVING it! It’s not too sweet and perfect in the morning with a cup of hot tea. I did’t have all the almond flour so I ended up replacing part of it with the gluten free flour mix and it turned out fine still. Also substituted part of the maple syrup for coconut sugar. I definitely would recommend and will be making again!
Melissa @SicknessBeGoneWellness says
Love this site! I have a few clients that will be thrilled about this recipe!! I think I will make this on our next event!
Vicki says
going to make this for the Holidays
Vicki says
I’m going to make this for Thanksgiving
Candice says
If I use the flax eggs, would I still beat it to get peaks to form?
They won’t beat into peaks, so just add them in with the wet ingredients. Let me know how it goes!
Pam says
Any substitutions for oats? Many celiacs cannot tolerate oats and there is some debate as to whether they can be considered, in fact, gluten free.
You can try subbing a mix of almond flour and GF blend!
Christine says
I have an allergy to oats so I substituted quinoa flakes :-)
Christine says
I never was able to get my chickpea juice to whip-even bought a new mixer with a wisk attachment!!! I had to sub quinoa flakes for the rolled oats due to allergies, I made my own almond milk and topped it with the cream cheese frosting (I made my own cream cheese from cashews, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice) It was amazing tasting!! The cake was super dense and kind of dry, but I chock that up to my quinoa flake substitution and maybe I should have increased the liquid addition……anyway, it was a huge hit and I will definitely make it again!!
Thanks for sharing your experience! I’ve never baked with quinoa flakes and am not able to make any recommendations or trouble shoot there. But as for the chickpea brine, did you use it from a can? And was it semi-thick to begin with or watery? Maybe different brands add more water?
Christine says
I made my own chickpea brine then cooked it down to thicken it up. That didn’t work, but I did get enough chickpeas to make some hummus :-) I also tried canned….Idk….will try it again for sure cuz it taste sooooo good!!! I get so many recipes from you! Thanks!
Nix says
My daughter has multiple severe allergies(dairy, egg, peanut, treenut, shellfish & coconut, and has a gluten sensitivity!)- I LOVE your blog & your recipes, as they can be adapted to her needs :)
A question here: Could I use chickpea flour instead of almond flour, as she is allergic to almonds?
Thanks :)
Hi Nix! I don’t think that would work, personally. It may affect the flavor too much. What about sorghum flour? But if you give it a try let me know how it goes.
Richelle says
Hi,
Would a gluten free all-purpose flour work in place of the gluten free flour blend? :)
Thanks!
That should work!
Lisa says
My grandson and I make this cake this past week, it was so delicious one of the best pumpkin layer cakes I had. We will be making it again the coming week, the whole family just loved it. Thanks again for a great recipe. Lisa
Naomi Slater says
Very informational. i would also like to try. thanks for sharing..
Lindsay Cotter says
I love using aquafaba! Your cake is gorgeous and would make a great dessert for Thanksgiving!
Deborah says
Would this hold shape in a bundt pan?
We haven’t tried it so certainly let us know if you do!
Debra says
It came out great in the bundt! I have a photo but can’t see a way to link to it.
Stacey says
Did you cook it for the same length of time in the bundt pan?
Marcia says
I am still unable to print your recipes :-( . This just started happening and I don’t know why. I touch the print button and all I get is headings followed by blank pages. Very frustrating. Any thoughts? I’m not very computer savvy so please pretend I have no idea what you are talking about! Thanks!
Monica says
I made this and outside of undercooking it, it was perfect! I loved it, my coworker’s loved it, even my dog was tempted to love it! This is a keeper recipe for sure!
taryn says
I would LOVE to make this, but we cannot have almond anything… Anyone have a suggestion for a non-tree nut substitute for the almond flour. Since I haven’t tried it before I’m not sure if the consistency is very different from other flours. Thaaaaaanks!!
Hi Taryn! I think you could sub oat flour if that’s an option. Or, maybe even a seed meal? Like, sunflower seed meal?
taryn says
Awesome! I will try this wkend & let you know :)
Also, love all of your stuff!!
Kristen says
Did you try it with something other than almond flour? I’d like to try it this weekend as well.
ruth marshall says
Hi,
I don’t own a mixer, do you think mixing by hand is OK?
Hmm, that might take a while and may not yield the best results with the chickpea water. But if you try it, let me know!
Patti says
Can this be baked in a bundt pan? Love your recipes so does my family! Blessings.
lesli says
did you try to bake in a bundt pan? i was going to ask the same question.
Michelle @ Modern Acupuncture says
So happy this is gluten free, thank you! <3
Barbara P says
Made this today. It is delicious! I did not frost it and made it like a quick bread.
Jenny says
Gorgeous pictures. I am not vegan but I won’t say no to this. Thanks for sharing!
Christine says
Hi! This looks amazing, however “naturally sweetened” for me is no sugar whatsoever (I can’t have it). Is there any way I can sweeten this with mashed dates instead of maple syrup, and can I totally omit the coconut sugar altogether?
You can totally try it, but I can’t guarantee the results. Of course, stevia is always an option – you can sub up to half the sugar for that “i think.” Let me know if you give it a try!
Sophie says
Can we make this in a cupcake pan? What temperature and how long do you suggest baking it?
I’ll be making this for my birthday! I can’t wait to make this! Thank you!
I would think so, yes! I’d say look at this recipe for inspiration. https://minimalistbaker.com/1-bowl-pumpkin-muffins-vegan-gf/
Lisa says
Yields 24. Bake at 350 until toothpick comes out clean, and top springs back when gently depressed.
Rob says
I’ve never been a huge cake fan, but your photography makes this cake look so tantalizing that I’m actually dying to try a slice! Can’t believe this is vegan and gluten free too!
sam aidun says
Being a vegan for many years, the egg replacement has always fascinated me – just the fact that it is possible to replace an egg is amazing. The chick pea egg replacer in your recipe is one I didn’t know about. I will have to try that. I made a substitution – the sugar – luckily, sugar is easy to substitute with dates, agave etc. Woo Hoo – Thanks so much for the awesome recipe!
Thanks Sam! xoxo
Jessica @ Jessica in the Kitchen says
Could this pumpkin cake be any more dreamy?! Totally loving that chickpea brine!!
Christine says
Looks amazing! Unfortunately due to dietary reasons I can’t have oats or gluten free flour. Almond and potato flour is okay though. Any suggestions to replace those?
Heidi @ Red Checkered Tablecloth says
Those photos are GORGEOUS! This cake seriously looks SO good! :)
Tami says
this looks so yummy and love that it’s easy to make ? How necessary is the added 1 1/4 c sugar?
Thank you
You can definitely try and scale back, and/or sub some with stevia extract to taste. However, I tested it this way and definitely found it to be the right amount of sweetness! Plus, this cake serves 12 generously, so keep that in mind!
Tami says
Thank you for the reply. I have a long list to add this to, too much yumminess to make! Can’t wait to try it.
Philia says
Hello!
I have a question and you seem to be good person to ask as I’m pretty sure you know a lot about these things (I mean, your recipes are phenomenal). What’s the differences between raw cane sugar, normal came sugar, coconut sugar and brown sugar? I know that brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses added back in but I don’t know much about the others. I’m pretty sure the nutritional information wouldn’t be much different (but who am I to say, I have no experience whatsoever) but do they make a difference in baking?
Lisa says
It’s just about refinement. Normal cane sugar, brown sugar, and so called sugar in the raw are products of science. All nutritional value from the sugar cane has been removed. Sucanat (natural sugar cane), coconut palm sugar, and other less refined sweeteners are healthier options.
Sue says
I just made this recipe and it’s in the oven. I had one problem; the aquafaba collapsed as soon as the coconut sugar was added. I started with just a bit of sugar. What went wrong here?
Thanks!
If it “collapses” that’s OK because coconut sugar is typically kind of heavy in weight compared to granulated sugar. It will behave sometimes and other times it won’t. Hope the cake still turned out delicious!
Sue says
OK; thanks for the input. The cake is delicious!
Jane says
So glad I checked these comments because my peaks just collapsed with the sugar and I didn’t want to go on with all the expensive ingredients that I just measured out if it was going to fail. Onward I go.
Anni says
Have just made this cake, it looks and smells wonderful!
Can’t wait for it to cool down so I can ice and eat it! The only thing I wasn’t sure about was the pumpkin spice, we don’t have it in England, so I just made up various amounts of cinnamon, cloves and ginger, are these the right spices? I’m just guessing.
Marie says
That’s pretty much what pumpkin spice is! Some also include nutmeg, but that’s the devil’s handiwork! :-)
Yep! That works! I usually go heavy on the ginger and cinnamon :D
Anni says
Thanks for the confirmation, I shall add more cinnamon and a little less cloves next time, and a dash of nutmeg too! The cake tastes delish! I was hoping to share it with my dance class tomorrow night, but it keeps shrinking!
Moira says
Hi new subscriber and first time commenting! This cake looks amazing! It’s not easy to get pumpkins in my part of the world though :( Can I replace it with something else…would butternut squash work?
Kathleen says
Butternut squash, cooked, puréed and then cooled would work fine.
Agreed!
Christina says
Does it matter if the chickpea brine is from a regular can of chickpeas or should it be low sodium? I have made many of your recipes and have never been disappointed!!
I don’t think it matters, but I always use the regular (not low sodium)
Aleksandra says
I am so excited for pumpkin season!
Kathryn says
So for chickpea brine we just use the juice from a can of chickpeas? You might want to be more specific in the recipe for those of us who are clueless. Thank you!
Thanks for the feedback, I’ll add that note! But yes!
amy says
PUMPKIN!!!
You found my weakness
Kathryn says
Looks yummy. I adore pumpkin flavor. But I know there is no way I could gather and prepare the ingredients and get it all mixed up and in the oven in 10 minutes. I would love to know how you do that. I LOVE your new shorter haircut, BTW. It looks gorgeous on you! Another thing I would love to know is how you food bloggers stay so slim, yes, I would :)
Ha! I have all the GF blends pre-mixed, so that’s probably how it goes so quickly! Thanks for the compliments on the hair. I’m still adjusting to the shorter length. As for staying slim, only sampling recipes and not eating the whole thing and exercise is the “trick” :D
Cassie says
Ah, this looks DELICIOUS. I have to make it for the fall. Cheers!
Thanks Cassie!
Sara @ Last Night's Feast says
What a gorgeous looking cake! Wonderful photography. This looks delicious.
Thanks Sara! xoxo
Yael says
How do I make chickpeas brian?
I bought your book and love it.
The photos are stunning like the food.
Thank you for your work -art
Yael
Maraika says
Chickpea brine is the water that you get from a can of Chickpeas. Or water that you have cooked your dried chickpeas in. I would start off with the canned variety.
Daisy @ Simplicity Relished says
This looks perfect– and *almost* healthy enough to eat for breakfast. Don’t mind if I do…
Coney says
What is chickpea brine?
Maraika says
Chickpea brine is the water that you get from a can of Chickpeas. Or water that you have cooked your dried chickpeas in. I would start off with the canned variety.
Maya | Spice + Sprout says
This looks incredible! <3
Kristin says
Is there something I can use instead of banana? I’m allergic. Thanks in advance!
Hmm, maybe applesauce?
Lisa says
Applesauce worked fine. The small can of pumpkin purée had more than 300g, so next time I plan to sub that for the banana. Since the banana is meant to work as a binder, and I wanted to stabilize the meringue, I whipped to stiff peaks, adding a couple sprinkles of xanthan gum at the end, the meringue didn’t fall when other ingredients were folded in.
Janet says
Yes Kristen applesauce should work nicely here. I use applesauce exclusively in baking in lieu of any oils and it leaves a much more moist and healthier baked item.. Much like I’d imagine the banana does here.. (As well and a binding agent).
Diana says
Do you have any suggestions for substituting almond flour? My husband is allergic to tree nuts, so almonds are a no-go.
Also, how many eggs should I use instead of the chickpea brine?
That’s hard, as almond flour provides a really nice texture in this recipe. I’d probably recommend a blend of oat flour, gluten free blend, and a bit of potato flour in its place. As for the eggs, I would think 2 large or 3 small chicken eggs would sub in the place of the chickpea brine. Hope that helps!
Isabel says
Can you provide the nutrition facts for this recipe? Thanks!
Li says
Yes please provide !
Added!
Natalie says
Ohh this sounds so yummy and your photos are absolutely gorgeous!
– Natalie
Rhian @ Rhian's Recipes says
Wow this sounds incredible! So inventive to use aquafaba too!!
Kirstyn says
Aqua Fava!! Used it to make macaroons last year, awesome! Can’t wait to try!
Dina (Olive Oil and Lemons blog) says
I have made meringues with chickpea water before and was amazed at the results. Great idea to use this in a cake instead of eggs. The recipe looks enticing and it’s not too late, ’tis the season for a while.
Jess @Nourished by Nutrition says
This cake is a stunner! I’ve been wanting to experiment more with aquafaba, but just haven’t gotten to it. This looks like the perfect place to start! Also, thanks for including the substitution options at the bottom of the recipe. I always find this helpful even if they haven’t been tested.
Thanks Jess! Hope you give it a try.
Deborah says
I love and appreciate all your recipes and the time you put into testing and preparing these for us less experienced newcomers to the vegan diet. I turned to the vegan change in my lifestyle eating mainly for the fact that I have diabetes. One of the things I have learned is that “OIL”, “FAT” especially animal fat or saturated fat is an extreme factor to completely eliminate as it makes absorption of one’s own insulin the cause of diabetes. In a lot of your recipes you use fat, albeit it olive oil or vegetable fat, and coconut oil (saturated fat). Otherwise, your recipes are so very tasty and diet “appropriate” for us diabetics. In a lot of your ingredients you give substitutions for things, could you please make a point of doing this for your ingredients of fat even if it is considered to be one of the better fats. For diabetics, there are no “good” fats to be had other that perhaps what comes from nuts, and even then it is to be carefully monitored. Thank you.
Kathryn says
What is aquafaba?
Aayushi says
It is the chickpea brine, or and white bean brine :) It’s incredible! It’s called aquafaba because it translated to bean water! :)
Kathryn says
Thank you for enlightening me!