Spiced vegan pumpkin coffee cake with a cinnamon swirl and generously topped with pecan crumble! Tender, moist and utterly delicious!
This cake is the perfect accompaninent to your morning or afternoon coffee. If you're in North America, it's amazing for Fall and Thanksgiving! The cake is:
- Not too sweet and lightly spiced
- Melts in your mouth
- Fluffy and moist
- Vegan (egg and dairy free)
- EASY to prepare
- Perfect for breakfast, afternoon tea or dessert
- Will convert pumpkin skeptics (such as my partner)
Ingredients for the vegan pumpkin cake
The main component of the recipe is an easy vegan pumpkin cake (surprise!). You'll need basic ingredients including:
- All-purpose / plain flour
- Cane sugar (if you're in the USA, use organic such as this brand to make sure it is vegan)
- Pumpkin puree (I used homemade)
- Plant-based milk
- Sunflower oil or any liquid oil
- Spices including cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves
- Baking powder. It may sound like a lot of baking powder in the recipe but this is needed to make sure the cake is fluffy. You will not taste it in the final cake.
I didn't have ground cloves so I popped it in a blender with all the liquid ingredients then used it in the recipe.
You can probably use just the vegan pumpkin cake recipe in muffins, and layered cakes too! Though, I really do love the cinnamon swirl and crumble for this coffee cake.
Preparing the batter for the vegan pumpkin coffee cake
This step is SUPER easy. Simply add all the liquid ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix until there are no lumps. We need to do this first to ensure there are no lumps of pumpkin puree.
Then add all your dry ingredients and mix through! The batter will be relatively thick for this recipe but it will bake beautifully!
Preparing the cinnamon swirl and crumble
To make the mixture for the cinnamon swirl, simply combine coconut or brown sugar and cinnamon.
To prepare the crumble, add all ingredients to a bowl and mix until it is crumbly. Try to make sure there are no chunks of butter or flour! However, we want some chunks/bits/crumbles as this is what makes it a 'crumble.'
Assembling the vegan pumpkin coffee cake
After you line a 20 cm (8 inch) cake tin with baking paper, spread half the cake batter in the tin. As the batter is quite thick, you'll need to smooth the surface.
Liberally sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top. I left some chunks of sugar in the layer and it was fine. Top this with the remaining cake batter.
The last step is to sprinkle the crumble on top. It may look like A LOT of crumble but it works with the final cake.
Alternatively, you can bake this cake in a 20cm loaf tin and make it a vegan pumpkin bread! Just keep in mind that it'll take more time to bake the pumpkin bread (say around 1 hour 10 mins).
Baking the vegan pumpkin cake
It's pretty straight forward baking the cake. However, my only tip is if your crumble is browning too quickly but your cake is still uncooked, cover your baking tin with a small baking tray or aluminium foil. This traps in the heat and forces the middle of the cake to cook, rather than the outside.
If you chose to make this cake a vegan pumpkin bread, it's vert likely your cake will brown quickly on top. Use the same tips as above to prevent burning!
Want more easy vegan pumpkin desserts?
- Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pumpkin Cheesecake (baked)
- Pumpkin Chai Donuts
- Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Or see my other simple vegan cakes and bakes
You may also like:
Vegan Pumpkin Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cake wet ingredients
- 1 cup (200g) pumpkin puree, (~½ can pumpkin puree)
- 1 cup (250mL) dairy free milk, such as almond, soy or coconut,
- ¼ cup (65 mL) light-tasting vegetable oil, such as sunflower or rapeseed
Pumpkin Cake dry ingredients
- 2 cups (300g) plain or all-purpose flour*
- ½ cup (100g) cane sugar, or coconut sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground cloves**
Cinnamon swirl (optional)
- ⅓ cup (55g) dark brown sugar, or coconut sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
Pecan Crumble
- ½ cup (60g) plain or all-purpose flour, or white rice flour for gluten free
- ½ cup (50g) pecans
- ¼ cup (55g) vegan butter
- 3 tbsp (~ 40g) cane, coconut or brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 20 cm (8 inch) round cake tray with baking paper.
To prepare the cake:
- Add all the wet ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix until there are no lumps. Add all the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Set aside.
To prepare the cinnamon swirl layer:
- In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix until well combined.
To prepare the crumble topping:
- In a medium bowl, combine all the crumble ingredients and mix until well combined.
To assemble the cake:
- Spread half the cake batter into your cake tin and smooth the top with a spatula or spoon. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top. Dollop the remaining cake batter on top and smooth the surface. Sprinkle the crumble on top.
- Bake the cake in the oven for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer can be inserted into the middle and there is no wet batter on it. If the cake is browning too quickly at any point, cover it with an oven-safe tray or aluminium foil.
- Allow the cake to rest in the cake tin for at least 5 minutes. Remove the cake from the tin, serve and enjoy!
- The cake can be kept at room temperature for 1 day or in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days.
Notes
Please leave a comment below if you made this recipe, have any questions or thoughts! Your comment will help other readers and Rainbow Nourishments.
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