Soft Vegan Pumpkin Cake with Pumpkin Spice Frosting — This is a fast, easy pumpkin cake that you’d never guess is vegan! I topped it with a spiced buttercream frosting for even more pumpkin flavor!
Ultra Moist Pumpkin Cake
I’m not into complicated, fussy, layer cakes that dirty 10 bowls, only to create a cake that’s so huge it goes stale before it’s finished.
I’m all about one layer, one bowl, no mixer, smear some frosting on it, and dig in. That’s this cake.
It’s the same recipe that I used when I created the Soft Vegan Pumpkin Bread, which was just barely adapted from the Vegan Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins.
And now, I turned it into a cake. The recipe that keeps on giving.
The vegan pumpkin cake is so soft and moist, comforting, and if you didn’t know it, you’d think it was made with eggs and butter. But it’s not, and you won’t miss them one bit.
Certain ingredients like pumpkin, bananas, and avocado are great in vegan baking because they’re thick, creamy, fluffy, or fatty, and are great for replacing eggs and butter.
Because there’s no butter in the cake, you need to replace the fat from another source. I used Nutiva Coconut Oil from iHerb.com.
Since bland pumpkin desserts aren’t worth eating, all my pumpkin recipes are nicely spiced without being over-powering, and this cake is no exception.
It’s pleasantly spiced with pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and has molasses and vanilla for extra depth. If you’re more sensitive to cinnamon or a certain spice, dial them down, to taste.
The spices in the cake are complemented by the pumpkin spice buttercream frosting. I wanted to eat this by the spoonful. And did.
I used the Sugarfree Coffeemeate in the frosting because that’s what I use in my coffee. I’m a person who likes a little coffee with my cream, and this is my dream creamer. It’s only available September through December, and I’ve been hoarding it.
It was splendid in the frosting. It added extra creaminess and boosted the overall pumpkin flavor. It helped the frosting to not set up ‘crunchy’, which can happen with buttercream frosting that’s been exposed to air. It does firm up, but not in a crunchy way. Crunchy cake is never good.
The cake is supremely soft, moist, springy, and bouncey. There’s just enough satisfying density, without being overly heavy, a curse that tends to plague vegan baked goods.
I love it when I can keep a recipe vegan and on the healthier side as cakes go, without making any sacrifices in taste.
It’s some of the best pumpkin cake I’ve ever tried, vegan or otherwise.
What’s in the Vegan Pumpkin Cake?
To make the vegan pumpkin cake itself, you’ll need:
- Pumpkin puree
- Granulated and brown sugar
- Coconut oil
- Vanilla almond milk
- Molasses
- Vanilla extract
- Spices
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
And for the frosting, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter (sub vegan butter, if desired)
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Pumpkin spice coffee creamer (or milk)
How to Make Vegan Pumpkin Cake
The cake is very fast and simple to make. Just combine all the ingredients (except flour and baking powder) in one bowl, and whisk together in mere seconds, before being turned out into a pan and baking.
While the cake cools, you can make the pumpkin spice frosting. See my notes in the “Tips” section below on how to make the frosting vegan as well.
Then, simply slap on the frosting and dig in!
Can I Substitute the Coconut Oil?
The bread doesn’t taste like coconut, and even if you don’t like coconut, I recommend using it. It adds a subtle, very understated flavor you can’t put your finger on. Substitute with canola or vegetable oil if you must.
Can I Double This Recipe?
I’ve never doubled this recipe, but I imagine you can do so without issue. Bake the cake in a 9×13-inch dish.
Tips for Making This Easy Pumpkin Cake
Although the cake is vegan, the frosting is not vegan because I made it with Coffeemate’s seasonal Pumpkin Spice Latte non-dairy creamer. If you want to keep the frosting vegan, use vegan-friendly butter and milk alternatives. Easy swaps.
Note that this recipe calls for pure pumpkin puree and NOT canned pumpkin pie filling. They’re two different products!
I personally am comfortable storing buttercream-frosted items at room temp, but if you prefer to store in the fridge, that’s fine, but note the fridge will dry the cake out more quickly.
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Soft Vegan Pumpkin Cake with Pumpkin Spice Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
Cake
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ⅓ cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, other milks may be substituted including coconut, soy, rice, cow, preferably at room temp
- 2 tablespoons mild or medium molasses
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- ¾ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
Frosting
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened (half of 1 stick; use vegan butter to keep recipe vegan)
- about 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 3 to 4 tablespoons Pumpkin Spice Latte coffee creamer, or sub non-dairy milk
- pumpkin pie spice, for sprinkling
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 375F. Line a 9-by-9-inch pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients through optional salt, and whisk to combine. Using room temp milk will prevent coconut oil from re-solidifying, but if it does, a few small white clumps are okay.
- Stir in the flour and baking powder until just combined, don’t overmix. Batter is quite thick.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.
- Bake for about 27 minutes, or until center is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
- Allow cake to cool in pan, on top of a wire rack, for at least 30 minutes before turning out onto the rack to finish cooling completely. While cake cools, make the frosting.
Frosting:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine (vegan) butter, 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, 3 tablespoons creamer, and beat with an electric mixer on medium high speed until smooth. As needed, drizzle in more creamer until desired frosting consistency is reached. If frosting is too loose, add a bit more confectioners’ sugar, playing with the sugar and creamer ratios until desired consistency is reached.
- Turn frosting out onto cooled cake, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula. If you have extra frosting, it will keep airtight in the refrigerator for many weeks, and can be used at a future date.
- Sprinkle pinches of pumpkin pie spice over the frosting before slicing and serving cake.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Vegan Fall Recipes:
Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies— (Vegan if you substitute the butter for margarine). These pumpkin oatmeal cookies are bursting with chocolate chips in every bite! They’re thick, hearty, perfectly chewy, and not at all cakey.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies— (Vegan if you substitute the butter for margarine). Between the molasses, pumpkin pie spice, and pumpkin pie spice extract that I used, these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies beautifully showcase the flavors of fall!
Soft Vegan Pumpkin Bread — If you want to make a believer out of anyone who doubts that vegan baked goods can taste amazing, this recipe will change their mind!
Chocolate Chip Vegan Pumpkin Muffins — These vegan pumpkin muffins are studded with mini semi-sweet chocolate chips. Plus, they’re packed with five different warming spices, which makes then extra flavorful!
Vegan Apple Cinnamon Muffins— These apple cinnamon muffins are studded with BIG chunks of apple! They’re so easy to make and are perfect for a quick snack or breakfast to-go.
Sweet Potato Muffins — The muffins are super soft and tender in the interior with slight chewiness around the edges. They’re springy, moist, fluffy, light, and accidentally vegan but you’d never guess it.
I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, however all content and opinions expressed here are my own.
Sheet cakes for the win! So midwest. I don’t think I had a homemade layer cake (we’d sometimes see them from the store, but defnitely not made with love by my mom) until I was well into my 20s. I like them fine, but I find the frosting to cake ratio to be much more to my specifications in a sheet cake.
Love that you used pumpkin pie spice AND more spices. I can almost taste the cake through my computer!
It’s poppin’ with spices. Not too much but no one would ever call this cake bland. I mean with pumpkin you just HAVE to doctor it up b/c it’s inherently…bland and gloppy. And we are the same. Simple one layer cakes were the only way. No one brings a 2-3 layer cake to a potluck. They bring 1 layer cakes…or a pan of bars :)
These are so pretty! They look perfect! So soft, fluffy and that frosting and dusting of pumpkin spice – oh man!
You are the queen of rocking out some great pumpkin recipes this season!
I can’t wait to try your version of pumpkin cake. I like that you used coconut oil in it instead of veggie oil. I used half applesauce and half oil in the sheet cake I made to cut down on the oil content, but I’ve been a bit nervous to try it with the coconut oil. I should just go for it, right? What do you think about using coconut oil in that pumpkin bundt cake we both love? I think I’m going to try it with both recipes as well as yours. It’s going to be pumpkin mania over here with 3 pumpkin recipes, right? I have a few class parties coming up so I will just pawn off all 3 recipes to hungry kids. I wish I had time to bake today as I’m totally in the mood, but I have to drive 5 boys on an all day field trip to Pointe Reyes. At least I will be in Pointe Reyes and get to enjoy the calmness of it after being in the car with craziness for 1/2 hour. Wish me luck. I’m jacking up on the caffeine right now! xoxo, Jackie
Enjoy your day – it sounds so nice! And yes as long as your family is okay with coc oil (there is a slight, tiny trace of it – but not in an overt way). I prefer it to using canola/veg oil the past year or so. I want to try our pumpkin bundt with it but have gotten into the habit of this vegan cake/bread/muffin batter, I havent remade that cake yet with coc oil to see. LMK how it goes!
I also don’t like fussy and complicated recipes – I don’t have the time or patience. The buttercream frosting here sounds divine. So perfect for fall!
One of my favorite pumpkin recipes is my smoked gouda mac and cheese that my friends have been asking me to make again soon!
smoked gouda mac and cheese with pumpkin sounds perfect for fall!
Mega creative points for using the coffee creamer in a tasty icing! Such a great idea. Also, this cake is totally my style: Mega-moist, pumpkin-licious and spiced, without being the d-word (dry!). You never cease to amaze me, and now I have another great excuse to buy that creamer! (I’ve been stalking it–weird?)
Mega-moist, pumpkin-licious and spiced, without being the d-word (dry!). <-- you nailed it, all of that! Yes! And if you havent tried this creamer, GET IT! So good! It's kinda hard to find for me (I can only get it at Target b/c the groc stores sell out immediately or don't stock it)
You never cease to amaze me. This looks amazing. Perfect fall dessert!
Vegan and easy and I know you’d love it :)
I am totally in love with this cake! I mean, I am pretty sure it is fair to call it breakfast too. All that coffee creamer makes this a breakfast cake for sure! Ok, at least brunch and I it is perfect for holiday parties! Not only is it pretty look at, festive and crazy tasty, but it is vegan. This means pretty much everyone can have a square or two! YUM!
It’s such a versatile batter, Tieghan. I was wondering how it would do from muffin to bread to now cake, but it totally works and yes to your logic about this being a breakfast food :)
I love recipes that keep on giving–I have a few muffin recipes like that and will always cherish them. This cakes look SO, so moist–seriously, I’m starting to wonder why I’ve ever made pumpkin cake with eggs, haha. Great idea to use the spiced creamer in the frosting! :)
Laura I have a pumpkin bundt cake that I love (not vegan) but since I’ve started really playing around with vegan baking and pumpkin, I wonder the same thing as you. Why I even bothered with the eggs. This cake may be slightly denser but is every bit as wonderful. I should do a side by side comparison one day…when I need two cakes all at once :)
Love that it’s vegan Averie! This recipe is fabulous :)
mmmm this looks delicious! and vegan?! i’m so impressed, wow! :)
The pumpkin spice buttercream sounds amaaaaaazing. It’s pretty much impossible to have too much pumpkin this time of year. Gotta add this one to my long list of pumpkin recipes to bake! :)
Because of the coffee creamer, that means I can eat this cake for breakfast – no? I mean I frost banana bread with cream cheese frosting and call that breakfast… ;)
I love finding stand-by recipes like this. Ones to use as cake, muffins, quick bread, you name it. Heck, even make cupcakes out of this and pile high with whatever. Truly an irreplaceable recipe. I love this coffee creamer! I’m sippin’ some vanilla coffee with it mixed in right now. Just bought another huge bottle from target yesterday. Why oh why must this creamer be seasonal?!
Sally I completely agree – why must it be seasonal! They made the peppermint one year-round and I hope they make this one the same!
And yes, this is my pumpkin cake recipe akin to my blondie base or my choc chip cookie base. It’s been relayed and parlayed :)
I love your logic and yes, cake for breakfast :)
Someone brought that creamer to work and it’s good in coffee, so I can imagine it is great in frosting! Its also the perfect solution for keeping the frosting white while adding flavor. I saw something on TV about using a boxed mix and just adding pumpkin to it but I think from scratch is always better, especially with a 10 min prep time!!
They do have those Frosting Creations packets (Duncan Hines) – but not sure if they come in pumpkin flavor. Plus this was already in my refrigerator door and super handy to boost the pumpkin flavor! And yes adding 1 can pumpkin to 1 box cake mix is the oldest 2-ingredient cake trick in the book but as scratch cakes go, this one is as easy as it comes!
These cake squares are beautiful. I can’t wait to try them :)
I think every time I make something pumpkin I decide it is my favorite food ever-I want to try your bars and the creamer! My most recent pumpkin craving tough has been this pumpkin grilled cheese: https://scrumptiousgruel.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/pumpkin-week-in-spring/
Pumpkin grilled cheese sounds so good right now!
What an interesting use for creamer! Love it and that icing looks prefect on this cake. I could not even tell it was vegan when I first saw it (beside the title of course).
Would love to make this icing and use it on some vegan brownies too. Maybe you have again inspired me for future post? ^_^
You’d never guess it was vegan and that it also can double as muffin batter or quickbread batter!