This really is the BEST vegan pumpkin cake. It's a tasty, easy, 1-bowl recipe with no unusual ingredients. You'll love how moist, flavorful and delicious this vegan cake topped with ginger frosting is! Make it with canned pumpkin, the inside of a jack-o-lantern or even try butternut squash. Dairy-free and eggless pumpkin cake.
Preheat the oven to 325F/170C. Grease and line 2 x 9” cake pans.
In a large bowl, lightly whisk the milk, vinegar (or lemon juice), and vanilla together. Allow to sit for 2 minutes, then whisk in the pumpkin puree and melted coconut oil.
Sift in the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Gently stir to combine, but don’t overmix.
Spoon the batter into the cake pans until nearly full. Bake for 25 minutes or until risen and firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before adding the frosting.
For the frosting:
In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until smooth, then beat in the vanilla and ginger syrup. Sift in the icing sugar and milk and beat until thick and smooth. If necessary, add a little milk or icing sugar to get the right consistency. Frost over the completely cooled cake.
Notes
NOTE: You can use canned pumpkin puree, or make your own by scraping out the flesh from the inside of a pumpkin and the stringy innards. Pick out any seeds and save for another recipe. Use a hand blender to puree the pumpkin. Measure out 150g / ½ cup of the pureed pumpkin and use that for the recipe.Tips
You can use either apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to create 'buttermilk'. It may curdle slightly when the vinegar is mixed with the milk, but this is fine.
In the USA, use organic sugar and double-check that it's vegan. In most other countries, sugar is usually vegan.
Don't overmix the batter when the dry ingredients are sifted into wet. You don't want any streaks of flour, but gently mix and don't beat it vigorously. Otherwise, it won't be so light and fluffy.
If you want your cake to look a bit more 'perfect', you can trim the domed tops of your cakes before frosting them. This makes them more evenly shaped when you slice into the cake. However, I don't tend to do that as it's a bit wasteful. But if you're making a special occasion cake you may want to trim them!
Storage and Freezing
This vegan cake is freezable: you can freeze the un-frosted cakes for up to 1 month. Wrap them well and freeze them. Then let them defrost and add your favorite frosting.
The frosted cake is best stored on the kitchen counter for up to 5 days. You don’t need to tightly wrap it, but a cake tin will ensure the cut edges don’t dry out and keep it clean.
You can store un-frosted cake layers, well wrapped, on the kitchen counter for up to 5 days. If you need to keep them longer than that, freeze them.