This vegan chocolate pumpkin cake is a party in your mouth. The pumpkin flavor is hidden but the moisture it contributes is not. The next time you bake a chocolate cake, add a little pumpkin and you won’t be sorry.
Chocolate Pumpkin Cake (vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free)
Chocolate cake is magical, isn’t it?
But the thought of re-making it with a hidden veggie makes it more so. Here, I decided to add pumpkin to see what it would do for the texture.
As it turns out, pumpkin is a wondrous ingredient to put into chocolate cake. Like beets, it adds incredible moisture and texture. And nutrition.
How is Pumpkin Healthy?
Adding pumpkin to baked goods is nutritionally useful because pumpkin is loaded with vitamins and minerals. And it is really high in the antioxidant beta-carotene.
This antioxidant is one of the plant carotenoids converted to Vitamin A in the body.
Vitamin A is essential for healthy, glowing skin, strong eyesight, and our immune system.
Pumpkin also adds Vitamin A, anti-oxidants, both of which support skin and eyesight, and it is packed with immunity-boosting nutrients.
The nutritional facts are for the cake without frosting.
Here, I frosted the cake with my basic chocolate frosting here. I have a few recipes on my blog, just put “frosting” into my search at the top of the page. If you want to keep the sugar down in your frosting, try my frosting that has less sugar naturally with the aid of arrowroot.
How to make this Chocolate Pumpkin Cake?
You make this cake just as you would any cake. The only difference is mix in the pumpkin puree with the wet ingredients. I used a bpa-free organic brand but you can probably use fresh pumpkin if you want to cook it up and puree it.
In this recipe, I added spices that coincide with pumpkin but those are optional if you want to leave them out. A way to deepen the chocolate flavor instead is to add a few tablespoons of cold coffee! You won’t taste the coffee I promise.
Another tip from a blog follower. She emailed me that she made this cake as a bundt cake, with the only difference, baking it for 60 minutes.
I hope you try my recipe. If you do, please comment below on how it turned out.
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Chocolate Pumpkin Cake
This vegan chocolate pumpkin cake is a party in your mouth. The pumpkin flavor is hidden but the moisture it contributes is not. And it is vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free.
Ingredients
Small Bowl
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup organic cane sugar
- 1 (15-oz) can pumpkin puree (I used organic bpa-free canned pumpkin; not pumpkin pie mix)
- 1/3 cup light olive oil
- 2 tsp vanilla
Large Bowl
- 1 3/4 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cacao powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder (Be sure to use a brand that is aluminum-free or else your cake could taste like metal)
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (or just 1/2 tsp each of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg)
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
Prep
- Preheat oven to 350F.
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Rub butter or coconut oil on inside of 3 (8-inch) cake pans to make a triple-layer cake or 2 (8-inch) cake pans for double layer cake.
- Dust with cacao powder, shake out the excess and set aside.
- Mix the almond milk and vinegar in a large mixing bowl, and let set for a few minutes to activate.
Make the Cake
-
Mix up ingredients in the small bowl first. Stir until combined.
-
Mix up large bowl next.
- Dry blend with a hand-mixer or spoon to thoroughly break up cacao clumps and combine mixture thoroughly.
- Add the small bowl (wet) to the large bowl (dry), and hand blend or stir until mixture is just creamy - avoid over blending.
- Divide batter evenly between your 3 cake pans (for triple layers) or 2 cake pans for double layer cake.
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Bake 35 minutes, or until a test comes out clean. Cool before removing from pan.
Dee Dine is the recipe developer and writer behind Green Smoothie Gourmet. She shares her super healthy wholesome recipes on her blog and her Instagram that she feeds her family and friends. She gravitates toward recipes that are fast to create, plant-based, nutritious, easy, and use familiar ingredients. And chocolate is always a good idea! More about Dee.
Kaye
What about the frosting? Please?
Dee Dine
Sure, Kay. I used a variety of this one. I think I added a bit more chocolate.