This Vegan Pumpkin Spice Cake with cream cheese frosting is perfectly moist, perfectly spiced, perfectly delicious and looks just perfect! It’s truly the best vegan pumpkin spice cake you’ll ever try!
This Pumpkin Spiced Cake has been made in collaboration with Curry’s. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. (For more information along with affiliated links, check out my disclosure policy.)
The BEST Vegan Pumpkin Spice Cake
This is the BEST vegan pumpkin cake ever! Topped with a smooth vegan cream cheese frosting, this cake is full of warm pumpkin spice, silky sweet caramel and all those cosy fall flavours whilst being absolutely delicious!
I tried my first pumpkin dessert 3 weeks ago and I am officially a pumpkin fan! I love the flavour and the variations in which you can use it! This pumpkin spice cake has officially become a favourite.
It is cram packed full of spice and caramel, full of fall flavours and has a tasty tangy cream cheese frosting, with adorable little pumpkins piped onto the outside. Honestly, have you ever seen something as cute as this? I think not – haha! And yet, this pumpkin cake is entirely vegan, dairy-free, eggless, and can be made gluten free.
Vegan Pumpkin Spice Cake ingredients
- Self Raising Flour: To make the cake super fluffy. This yields an extra tender cake texture.
- Dairy-free milk: You can use any dairy-free milk, but I find soya milk works best for activating the buttermilk.
- Apple cider vinegar: Mix with the milk to make a vegan ”buttermilk”.
- Sugar: Helps to bind and sweeten the cake.
- Raising agents: Baking soda and baking powder helps with the fluffy and light texture.
- Pumpkin spice: A mixture of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.
- Oil: Sunflower oil works best. You can use melted coconut oil as an alternative.
- Pumpkin puree: I have linked the exact puree I use here.
Then of course we have the delicious, smooth and creamy vegan cream cheese frosting, which go together like a dream!
- Block butter: Make sure the butter is chilled before use.
- Dairy-free cream cheese: I prefer Violife and ASDA’s own Free From cream cheese.
- Icing sugar: Adds sweetness and binds the frosting.
- Ground cinnamon: Adds a slight spice and beige tone to the frosting.
- Food gels: I used a brown and orange food gel to colour the buttercream pumpkins. Make sure to use a gel as opposed to liquid food colours, as this will heavily effect the buttercream consistency.
How to make a vegan pumpkin spice cake
This cake is super easy to make, and decorate. You’ll need a few tools and several ingredients to make this delightful, autumnal and ridiculously yummy cake.
- Pre-heat oven and line cake tins.
- Whisk together the buttermilk.
- Mix together the dry ingredients.
- Add in the wet ingredients and fold together using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
- Pour batter into the lined cake tins.
- Bake!
- Cool.
- Frost and decorate.
- Slice and serve.
I recommend allowing the cakes to cool in the pans first, then transfer them to a cooling rack to fully cool evenly. Only when the cakes are fully cool should you begin to frost! Otherwise, you’ll have cake layers slipping onto the floor!
Vegan cream cheese frosting
This cream cheese frosting is easy to make and is SO GOOD! it’s tangy, creamy and best of all, spreads and pipes like a dream. With only butter, cream cheese, icing sugar and cinnamon, it can be whipped up in minutes.
My biggest tips for making the frosting ultra creamy and velvety smooth is to keep whipping. I like to whip my frosting for at least 5-8 minutes on high speed. This allows extra air to enter the frosting and makes it smooth and light in colour and texture.
- Add the dairy-free butter and cream cheese into a bowl and whip for 2-4 minutes until pale and creamy.
- Sift in the icing sugar and cinnamon. This will ensure that there are no big clumps of icing sugar or cinnamon in your final frosting.
- Use a splash of dairy free milk to make it light and creamy.
How to decorate a vegan pumpkin spice cake
I am in love with the design of this cake. I mean… just look at it! isn’t it stunning, effective and yet so simple to create. First and foremost, DO NOT frost your cake until it is COMPLETELY cooled. After they have cooled down in the tin, place them onto a cooling rack until cool to the touch, then place them in a sealed container for at least 6 hours or overnight. This makes the cakes incredibly moist and super delicious.
Once you have filled the cake with the frosting and caramel, continue frosting the outside of your cake. Smooth out your sides with a cake scraper or pallet knife then place the cake in the fridge for around 30 minutes. This will help get the cake firm so its easier to transfer onto a serving plate or cake stand. This will also make it easier for piping on the pumpkin details.
Mini Pumpkins
With any left over buttercream, you’ll want to separate it into two separate bowls. You’ll colour one bowl with orange food gel and a sprinkle of cocoa powder, and you’ll add cocoa powder to the other bowl. Transfer the coloured frostings into two separate piping bags, the orange fitted with a small around tip nozzle. Simply snip the tip off the brown frosting. First pipe on the pumpkins in a scattered and random pattern. Then follow them up with a small line on top to make the stalk. If you wanted, you can finish off the cake with more little pumpkins to the top of the cake and around the decorated edge (as seen in the photos). Voila, your epic pumpkin spice cake is complete!
Best appliance for making cakes!
I am extremely excited to have partnered with Currys to bring you this scrumptious cake! Currys is an electrical retailer here in the UK and sell an incredible range of homeware and baking appliances, large and small! I am always impressed by their endless selection of mixer, blenders and machines!
To help bring this pumpkin cake to life, I used the 4.8L Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, in the colour ‘Milkshake‘ which is exclusive to Currys. It’s a gorgeous matt grey colour and truly one of the prettiest stand mixers I’ve seen! To help make the cake batter I used the paddle attachment and the whipped frosting with the balloon whisk attachment. I am the biggest fan of Kitchenaid especially their stand mixers.
Currys range is FANTASTIC, and is sure to get you ready for baking this Winter! Shop the Kitchenaid here, perfect gift for any baker, experienced or novice, this festive season!
Looking for more autumnal bakes? Check these out
The BEST Vegan Caramel Apple Cookies
Mini Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecakes
Vegan Pumpkin Spice Sheet Cake
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Vegan Pumpkin Spice Cake
- Total Time: Overnight
- Yield: 10–12 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This is truly the BEST EVER Pumpkin Spice Cake recipe. It’s moist, perfectly spiced, full of silky caramel and smothered in creamy cream cheese frosting. It’s the ONLY pumpkin cake recipe you will ever need!
Ingredients
Ingredients for the cake
- 480ml of dairy-free milk
- 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
- 420g of self raising flour
- 350g of caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
- 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoons of ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons of ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
- 120ml of sunflower oil
- 100g of pumpkin puree
Ingredients for the frosting
- 400g of dairy-free block butter
- 80g of dairy-free cream cheese
- 360g of icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- Orange food gel
- Cocoa powder
- Vegan caramel sauce – optional
Instructions
Method (Cake)
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees c fan and line three, 8 inch loose base / push up cake tins with greaseproof paper. If you don’t have 3 cake tins you will have to bake the cakes separately. Just cover the unused batter until you’re ready to use it.
- In a bowl, combine the dairy-free milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined. Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. This creates a vegan ‘buttermilk’.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger.
- Mix well to combine.
- Add the oil and pumpkin puree into the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix.
- Pour equal amounts of batter into the lined cake tins. Make sure to tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
- Pop the cakes into the centre of the preheated oven and bake for around 25-30 minutes. You will know they are done when you put a knife or skewer in and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch.
- Place the cakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool slightly before removing them from the tins. Leave the cakes to cool fully on the cooling rack. Once cool, pop them into a sealed container to keep them fresh before frosting.
Method (frosting)
- In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter and cream cheese, whip until creamy. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work great too.
- Sift in the icing sugar and cinnamon. Whip on high speed for around 5 minutes to incorporate it.
- Place one of the cakes on a serving plate or cake stand. Dollop or pipe some of the buttercream on top and spread out until even using an off-set spatula or pallet knife.
- Optional filling: Make a well in the middle of the buttercream and fill with 1-2 tablespoons of caramel sauce.
- Place the second cake layer on top. Press it down gently so it sticks, repeat for the third cake. Coat the whole cake with a thin layer of buttercream. This creates a crumb coat.
- Place the cake into the the fridge to set for 10-15 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the fridge and apply a second/final coat, this time making it thicker, then using a cake scraper to make the edges of cake smooth.
- Add some of the white frosting into a piping bag fitted with a star tip nozzle and pope a swirl around the top edge of the cake.
- Separate the left over frosting into two separate bowls. Colour one with with a dab of orange food gel and a dash of cocoa powder to create a deep orange colour. Add some cocoa powder to the second bowl to create a chocolate coloured frosting. Transfer the orange frosting into a piping bag fitted with a small round tip nozzle, and transfer the brown frosting into a piping bag and snip off the tip.
- Use the orange frosting to pipe little pumpkins around the cake in a scattered pattern. Then use the brown frosting to create a stalk at the top of the pumpkin. If you have left over frosting, you can pipe some mini pumpkins to the top edge of the cake.
- Slice and enjoy!
Notes
To store: Store this cake in a sealed container in the fridge. Best eaten within 3 days of making.
Remove from the fridge and leave at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.
Un-iced cakes can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature for 2 days.
What vegan butter to use? My favourite vegan / dairy-free butters are the Naturli Vegan Block and Flora Plant Based Butter Alternative.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25-30 minutes
- Category: Cakes and layer cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Very excited to give this one a try!!!!
Author
Aw thank youuu!!! Happy baking xxx
I’ve made this recipe several times over the last few months for birthdays. It comes out perfectly every single time and always well loved! A real favourite!
Author
I am SO HAPPY you enjoyed!!! It’s deffo a fave cake base recipe of mine during autumn and for autumnal birthdays too 🙂 xx
Can I use regular dairy products?
Author
Hello, as i have only recipe tested this bake with vegan ingredients, i wouldn’t be able to state if using other ingredients would work. x
I’m going to give it a shot this weekend, I’ll update!
Author
Yay! I cant wait to hear what you think! Happy baking x
What type of self-raising flour did you use?
Author
Hello, just regular self raising flour. The brand i used was Home Pride xx
I used regular cake flour and added a teaspoon of baking powder for every 100 gr of flour and had good result. And then the extra baking powder from the recipe too.
I saw this cake on my FYP on instagram and had to make it. WOWIE, hand on heart best vegan cake I have ever made!!!!!!! My family loved it!!!! Thank you so much x
Author
Hello, aww thank you so so much, im over the moon you all enjoyed 🙂 xx
totally honest, I welled up with tears when I tasted the batter. made the pumpkin puree and an easy caramel sauce myself too! brillant recipe!
Author
Thank you! So happy you enjoyed xx
excuse me how much amount of cocoa it is? is a beautiful cake I love Fall and when i saw this cake I said I want to do it, thanks for sharing with usa big hug Julie
what flour would you use to make these gluten-free? Can you use Allulose as a sugar replacement?
Thank you in advance for your reply.
hello, do you think i could use apple puree instead of pumpkin?
I can’t get vegan cream cheese where I live. What else could I do? This looks so good. I really want to give it a try.
What frosting tip did you use to make the pumpkins
Author
hello,
I use a wilton 1M tip xx
This must be the best cake I ever made. The batter was perfect and the frosting amazing. Decorating and making it was super easy, I love the decor, I am crap at it but managed to make it look spectacular thanks to your guidelines. My parents in law loved it as well and were stunned it was vegan. The slices look stunning too and it keeps it shape very well when sliced without support.
I will make this again and again and again.
How did you make the speckled brownish orange colors all over the white frosting?
Author
Hello, The spices added into the frosting make the beige, speckled colour 🙂
Sooo many vegan recipes I have tried and every time the cake was flat, crumbly or did not turn out right. But this one!! It came out perfectly! It tasted amaying and I am just so grateful. Will definetly make again!
Author
This makes me so incredibly happy! Thank you so so much xxx
getting ingredients ready to make this cake… does 1x measurements make one 8inch cake or the entire three tier cake? or do I need to 3x for the entire cake?
What tip is used to pipe the white icing on top? Please and thank you 😊
Loved the recipe! But my cream cheese frosting is too runny and soft. I added more icing sugar but still, and become too sweet. What have I done wrong?
Author
Helloo,
Aw thank you! Glad you enjoyed! Was your butter chilled and was the cream cheese firm too before whipping it up? x
Absolutely delicious! the cake itself cooked evenly and was super moist one of the best bakes I’ve done
I was questioned if I was certain this was vegan as it was the best cake they’d eaten since becoming vegan
Is there a way to use GF flour? I usually use 1 to 1 Bobs red mills. Can I add seething to make it self rising?
I would like to bake the cake, but why are there no quantities in the recipe?
Author
hello, Of course there are. You need to scroll to the bottom of the page to veiw the recipe card, or simply click the ‘jump to recipe’ at the top of the post. Hope this helps x
Delicious cake! Dense and moist with a delicious frosting. However, I would call this a “spice cake” vs “pumpkin spice”. With the small amount of pumpkin in it, doesn’t taste pumpkin like at all. I may try playing with the ratios a bit to see if I can make it taste a little more like pumpkin spice!
This cake was so delicious. Wonderfully fluffy and you never would have known it’s vegan. Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Author
Awh so happy you enjoyed xx