55 Minuten
30 Minuten
As soon as the first autumn breeze whistles around the corner, I only want one thing: pumpkin, cinnamon, and a slice of cake to go with it. That’s why today I’m sharing my favorite vegan pumpkin cake recipe with you - beautifully moist, fluffy, and topped with creamy cream cheese frosting. I use Vegan Protein Iced-Coffee Pumpkin Spice for both the batter and the frosting. Its pumpkin spice note brings exactly the warmth this cake needs, while also providing a good serving of plant-based protein.
Team pumpkin soup or Team pumpkin cake (vegan or not)? For me, the latter is the clear winner today.
Nährwerte pro Portion
ZUTATEN
-
For the batter:
- 20 g Hokkaido pumpkin (seeded)
- 0.1 tbsp chia seeds
- 0.3 tbsp water
- 10 g soft margarine
- 0.5 tbsp brown cane sugar
- 15 ml oat drink
- 0.1 tbsp lemon juice
- 25 g wheat flour
- 5 g ground hazelnuts
-
2 g
Ausverkauft - 1 g baking powder
- 0.05 tsp baking soda
- 0.1 pinch salt
- 0.2 tsp pumpkin spice or a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and a little clove (or more, to taste)
- 0.1 pinch turmeric
- a few tbsp vegan chocolate chips
- 0.1 tsp margarine for greasing the loaf pan (approx. 25 cm)
-
For the frosting:
- 15 g vegan cream cheese
- 5 g vegan vanilla yogurt
-
1.5 g
Ausverkauft
- A little oat drink if needed
- Missing an ingredient for the vegan pumpkin cake? You’ll find alternatives below
Hinweis: Die angegebenen Nährwerte sind Richtwerte und können je nach verwendeten Produkten, Portionsgröße und Zubereitung abweichen.
Zubereitung
Prepare the pumpkin purée first: Wash the Hokkaido pumpkin, remove the seeds and cut it into pieces. Cook it in a little water for 10-15 minutes until soft, drain the water thoroughly and purée it finely. If it is too thick to purée, you can blend in a splash of the oat drink (this counts toward the 150 ml). Let the pumpkin purée cool completely!
Then make the chia egg: Mix the chia seeds with the 3 tbsp water and let the mixture swell for approx. 10-15 minutes until it forms a gel-like mass - your chia egg is ready.
Prepare the oven and pan: Preheat the oven to 175 °C conventional heat (160 °C fan) and grease the loaf pan with 1 tsp margarine.
Mix the dry ingredients: Combine the flour, ground hazelnuts, protein powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin spice, chocolate chips and turmeric in a large bowl.
Mix the wet ingredients: In a second bowl, beat the softened margarine with the brown cane sugar for 2-3 minutes using a hand mixer until light and creamy. Then stir in the chia egg, pumpkin purée, oat drink and lemon juice. Does it look a little grainy? Don’t worry, that is completely normal.
Bring everything together: Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and stir briefly until no pockets of flour remain. Overmixing will make the crumb tough. Don’t be surprised: The batter is relatively firm!
Into the oven: Quickly fill the batter into the pan (the baking soda acts very quickly), smooth the top and bake the cake for approx. 45-55 minutes. By now, your kitchen should really smell like autumn. Start checking with a skewer at the 45-minute mark and cover the surface with aluminum foil if it gets too dark.
Let the cake cool: Leave it in the tin for 10 minutes to set, then remove the vegan pumpkin cake from the tin and let it cool completely on a wire rack.
Mix the frosting: Beat the vegan cream cheese with the protein powder and yogurt until smooth, then let the cream thicken in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes. This makes it nice and creamy instead of grainy.
Frost the vegan pumpkin cake: Only spread the frosting on the completely cooled cake - otherwise not only the frosting will melt, but your entire autumn romance will too. It’s best to put it in the refrigerator for a short while afterward.
Recipe Note
Good to know: Vegan Protein Iced-Coffee Pumpkin Spice contains caffeine. That’s why this vegan pumpkin cake is not suitable for children, pregnant people, or breastfeeding people! You can find a caffeine-free version among the alternatives below.
And now, while your cake is hopefully already giving off a wonderful aroma on the cooling rack, I’ll tell you why this vegan pumpkin cake recipe works so well, what role the Hokkaido pumpkin plays, and what the frosting is all about.
Why Hokkaido pumpkin is the best pumpkin for baking
When I think of my Hokkaido cake, one word immediately comes to mind: uncomplicated. The skin of the Hokkaido pumpkin doesn’t need to be removed! It becomes wonderfully soft when cooked and can be puréed right away. This saves time and also gives the batter its beautiful orange color. In terms of flavor, the pumpkin adds natural sweetness and a slightly nutty aroma that goes perfectly with turmeric and warm pumpkin spice seasonings.
My tip for baking with pumpkin: Cook a larger batch of pumpkin purée and freeze it in portions. That way, you can spontaneously bake a pumpkin cake anytime, even when the season has long since ended.
Baking pumpkin cake is such a joy on a quiet Sunday afternoon! So, have I convinced you that a pumpkin cake with Hokkaido pumpkin is really the best idea ever?
Moist instead of dry: the secret to this batter
Not a fan of dry cake? I totally get it. That’s why our moist pumpkin cake recipe relies on several sources of moisture:
Pumpkin purée naturally provides plenty of moisture.
The oat drink keeps the crumb of the pumpkin cake tender and soft without overpowering the flavor.
And the chia egg is a really great substitute for a hen’s egg! A vegan pumpkin cake without eggs works better than many people think!
Don’t worry, when baking you don’t have to deal with moisture sources or swelling behavior! ;) Our pumpkin cake batter stays wonderfully simple: mix the dry and wet ingredients separately, briefly combine everything uuuand done.
Extra tip for a really moist vegan pumpkin cake: Just mix the batter briefly, otherwise the cake will become tough instead of moist.
Short on time? Then our cake is perfect!
Short on time but craving a quick pumpkin cake? I know the feeling. The good news: the actual preparation time is short; the oven does the rest - about 55 minutes during which you can put your feet up.
To reduce the preparation time even further, you can cook and freeze the pumpkin purée in advance. This keeps this vegan pumpkin cake recipe easy to make - even on busy days.
And our simple pumpkin cake tastes even better the next day! So you can bake it the night before and just add the frosting in the morning. Perfect for the office or family coffee time.
A classic reimagined: vegan pumpkin cake just like Grandma’s
Do you remember Grandma’s pumpkin cake, and that scent of cinnamon drifting through the entire hallway? That same feeling is captured in this recipe! What makes this vegan pumpkin cake almost the best pumpkin cake in the world for me are the same ingredients that made Grandma’s version so special: warming spices, a moist sponge cake and a creamy topping - just without eggs or cow’s milk products. Just right for nostalgic afternoons with coffee and cake. If you’re in the mood for more classic cake recipes with a modern twist, take a look at our vegan apple cake with custard too.
Cream cheese frosting: the finishing touch
The vegan cream cheese frosting makes this pumpkin cake the real star. Because nothing beats pumpkin cake with cream cheese! The consistency is creamy, and the frosting has a pleasantly mild flavor without being too sweet. We deliberately skipped additional sugar because the Vegan Protein Iced-Coffee Pumpkin Spice already provides sweetness and flavor. Simply stir all the ingredients until smooth and spreadable.
Important: Let the cake cool completely before spreading the vegan pumpkin cake with frosting; otherwise, everything will melt again. It’s best to store it in the refrigerator afterward. Covered, it will keep for about 3 to 4 days.
Substituting ingredients
Missing an ingredient right now, or want to adapt the recipe to your kitchen? No problem, here are some alternatives:
Hokkaido squash → butternut or nutmeg squash (peel it beforehand)
Chia seeds → 1 tbsp ground flaxseeds with 3 tbsp water, binds just as well
Margarine → vegan butter (1:1) or about 80 ml neutral rapeseed oil (the crumb will be slightly denser with oil)
Brown cane sugar → light brown cane sugar or coconut blossom sugar (1:1)
Oat drink → any other unsweetened plant milk, e.g. soy or almond milk
Lemon juice → apple cider vinegar in the same amount
Wheat flour → spelt flour or a gluten-free flour blend
Hazelnuts → ground almonds (1:1)
Vetain Vegan Protein Iced-Coffee Pumpkin Spice → currently no 1:1 alternative, because it provides flavor, sweetness, and protein at the same time. For a caffeine-free version (e.g., if children are eating too), you can use a neutral vegan protein powder and stir in a little more pumpkin spice. If you leave out the powder entirely, stir in a little more flour; otherwise the batter will be too runny
Baking powder → cream of tartar baking powder (1:1)
Baking soda → a little more baking powder or omit it
Pumpkin spice → mixed yourself from cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and a little clove, or just cinnamon if necessary
Turmeric → simply omit it; it only provides the golden color
Chocolate drops → chopped vegan dark chocolate, or omit them
Vegan cream cheese → vegan quark
Vegan vanilla yogurt → vegan plain yogurt with a little vanilla, making the frosting slightly less sweet
This keeps this vegan pumpkin cake flexible, allowing everyone to create their very own version of our pumpkin cake recipe.
Another important point: Our pumpkin cake recipe is vegan (obviously) - but of course you can also use dairy butter or a chicken egg if you like!
ZUTATEN
-
For the batter:
- 20 g Hokkaido pumpkin (seeded)
- 0.1 tbsp chia seeds
- 0.3 tbsp water
- 10 g soft margarine
- 0.5 tbsp brown cane sugar
- 15 ml oat drink
- 0.1 tbsp lemon juice
- 25 g wheat flour
- 5 g ground hazelnuts
-
2 g
Ausverkauft
- 1 g baking powder
- 0.05 tsp baking soda
- 0.1 pinch salt
- 0.2 tsp pumpkin spice or a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and a little clove (or more, to taste)
- 0.1 pinch turmeric
- a few tbsp vegan chocolate chips
- 0.1 tsp margarine for greasing the loaf pan (approx. 25 cm)
-
For the frosting:
- 15 g vegan cream cheese
- 5 g vegan vanilla yogurt
-
1.5 g
Ausverkauft
- A little oat drink if needed
- Missing an ingredient for the vegan pumpkin cake? You’ll find alternatives below
Hinweis: Die angegebenen Nährwerte sind Richtwerte und können je nach verwendeten Produkten, Portionsgröße und Zubereitung abweichen.
