Vegan Pumpkin Cake

5 from 27 votes

Here's the perfect pumpkin cake to evoke that snug-as-a-bug-in-the-rug spirit of the season: a Chai Spice Vegan Pumpkin Bundt Cake. The tender, moist crumb is topped with a creamy vegan cream cheese glaze.

Prep Time30

Cook Time1 5

Total Time1 35

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Soy-free

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: slices

Calories: 320kcal

Author: Vaishali · Holy Cow Vegan

Equipment

Large bowl
12 cup bundt cake pan

Ingredients

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup vegan yogurt
⅓ cup nondairy milk (I used oat milk but any nondairy milk is fine)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
⅔ cup avocado oil or any neutral oil
1½ cups sugar (use a bit more if you like your cake sweeter. Taste the batter and add more if you want to)
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
15 oz pumpkin puree

For vegan cream cheese glaze

4 oz vegan cream cheese (at room temperature)
¾ cup powdered sugar (I don't make the glaze overly sweet, but you can add more powdered sugar if you like it sweeter)
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
1 tablespoon nondairy milk

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Prepare a bundt pan by oiling and flouring it thoroughly.
In a large bowl, whisk the flours, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Dump in the rest of the ingredients: vegan yogurt, oil, pumpkin puree, sugar, nondairy milk, pure vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar. Mix well using a spatula until there are no dry streaks of flour, but don't overmix.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top, if needed, with a spatula.
Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes or until a toothpick near the center comes out clean.
Set the bundt pan on a rack to cool for 30 minutes, then unmold and continue cooling the cake on a rack.

Make the vegan cream cheese glaze

Place the room temperature cream cheese in a bowl and whisk until smooth and creamy.
Add the cardamom and vanilla and half the powdered sugar. Beat in, then add the rest of the sugar and the milk and beat in until smooth. You can add a little more milk if you want to make the glaze runnier.
Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake. Slice and serve.

Notes

If you don't want to bake this in a bundt pan, a springform pan or a regular cake pan would work too. Divide the batter between two 8-inch cake pans, or bake in a single rectangular 9 X 13 inch (approx) pan.
You can skip the glaze for a healthier cake, or make it with whole wheat pastry flour. If using regular whole wheat flour, use half whole wheat and half all purpose flour.
You can sub maple syrup for the sugar. The batter may appear runnier, but it will bake up fine.
You can refrigerate the cake for up to a week. For longer storage wrap the cake tightly with cling wrap, place in a freezer safe container or bag and freeze. If storing in the freezer, freeze glaze separately and glaze the cake before eating.
Fresh ground spices are always best in any recipe, but if you grind up your own spices make sure no large or gritty pieces remain and you have a fine powder.

Nutrition