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Soft Vegan Pumpkin Cake with Pumpkin Spice Buttercream 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! 

Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Cooling Time
30 mins
Total Time
1 hr 7 mins
Servings: 12
Calories: 190 kcal
Course: Cake
Cuisine: American

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:
    Cup of Yum
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Stir in the flour and baking powder until just combined, don’t overmix. Batter is quite thick.
  4. Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.
  5. 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.
  6. 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:
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Sprinkle pinches of pumpkin pie spice over the frosting before slicing and serving cake. 

Notes

  • Storage: Cake will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days. 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. Unfrosted cake will keep airtight in the freezer for up to 4 months.
  • Adapted from Soft Vegan Pumpkin Bread with Brown Sugar Streusel Crust.

Nutrition Information

Serving 1 Calories 190kcal (10%) Carbohydrates 39g (13%) Fat 4g (6%) Saturated Fat 2g (10%) Polyunsaturated Fat 1g Cholesterol 10mg (3%) Sodium 97mg (4%) Fiber 1g (4%) Sugar 36g (72%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 12Serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 190

% Daily Value*

Serving 1
Calories 190kcal 10%
Carbohydrates 39g 13%
Fat 4g 6%
Saturated Fat 2g 10%
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g 6%
Cholesterol 10mg 3%
Sodium 97mg 4%
Fiber 1g 4%
Sugar 36g 72%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.