October, my birth month, full of abundance, colours, letting go, shedding, going inwards, ….. my interpretation and offering to this time, a Plantbased Pumpkin Layer Cake.
Deliciously moist 4 layers of spiced pumpkin sponge cake layered with my Vegan Macadamia Mascarpone Frosting topped with grapes, figs, flowers and Autumn leaves.
It’s a celebration cake for your Autumnal gatherings.
To get the most flavour I recommend to make your own pumpkin puree either by steaming or baking. I used to bake or boil my pumpkin, but now I tend to use the steaming method the most. It’s quick and makes a really lovely puree. In this cake I’ve used Hokkaido squash, hence the beautiful rich colour in the sponge.
To steam your pumpkin or squash, very carefully open your pumpkin, scoop out the seeds and chop into large chunks. Place into steaming basket or pot filled with little water, cover and steam until tender. Leave to cool down, scoop out the flesh away from the skin and blend until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.
The below sponge recipe is for 2 layers, please double the recipe to make 4 layers or make the recipe twice as I did, depending on how many 6″ cake tins you have. The frosting is enough to make a four layer naked cake or a two layer frosted cake.
Plantbased Pumpkin Layer Cake (vegan & gluten-free)
Ingredients
Two layer cake:
- 100g ground almonds (1 cup)
- 35g buckwheat flour (1/4 cup)
- 70g brown rice flour (1/2 cup)
- 30g arrowroot (1/4 cup)
- 1tsp baking powder
- 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2tsp cinnamon
- 1tsp ground ginger
- 1/4tsp ground cloves
- pinch nutmeg
- pinch sea salt
- 100g coconut sugar (3/4 cup)
- 2tbsp ground flaxseed + 6tbsp water
- 240ml pumpkin puree (1 cup)
- 80ml olive oil (1/3 cup)
- 80ml almond milk (1/3 cup)
- 2tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1tsp vanilla
- 60g pecans, chopped (1/2 cup)
Frosting:
Topping:
- seasonal fruit
- fresh flowers
Instructions
- Mix 2tbsp ground flaxseed with 6tbsp water and set aside to thicken.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350F)
- Grease and line the base and dust the sides of two 6" round cake baking tins.
- In a large bowl whisk together ground almonds, buckwheat flour, brown rice flour, arrowroot, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, salt and sugar and set aside.
- In a small bowl whisk together flax eggs, pumpkin puree, olive oil, almond milk, apple cider vinegar and vanilla.
- Add the wet mix to the dry mix and mix until well combined. You should have muffin consistency. Fold in chopped pecans.
- Spoon the mixture evenly into your prepared tins and level out the surface.
- Bake for about 30 min or until a cocktail stick comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven once ready and leave to cool down for 20 min before removing from the tins.
- Repeat the process to make another 2 layers.
- Once the cakes are completely cool, you can frost the cake. Place the bottom layer onto a cake plate and using spatula spread generously with some macadamia frosting. Top with the second cake layer and continue with the third and fourth layer.
- Decorate your cake to your liking with fresh seasonal fruit, flowers, toasted pecans,...
- Enjoy!
Notes
This recipe is for 2 layers, I made it twice to get 4 layers. You can double the recipe to make 4 layers at the same time or make the recipe twice, depending on how many 6" cake tins you have.
The frosting is enough to make a four layer naked cake or a two layer frosted cake.
You can replace the buckwheat flour with any other gluten-free flour of your choice.
This is such a gorgeous cake! So beautiful with the perfect texture and a delicious frosting too – yum!!! Perfect for your birthday month Hana! Looking forward to celebrating with you, my dear friend! Xxx
Thank you so much Dear Teresa! It was a good one, wasn’t it?! I loved it too :) Thank you so much for your lovely comment! xxx
Hi there,
I am wanting to make a 3 tier wedding cake with something like this recipe.
I am wondering about storing it? I would ideally like to make it the day or two before and then just assemble on the day.
What do you think about this?
Thanks so much
Hi Marcella, you can happily make this cake a day before and assemble it on the day. I would just leave the cake in the tins covered with a tea towel at cool room temperature overnight, or if you prefer removing them from the tins and loosely wrapping in cling film or just covering with a tea towel, they will not get dry, they are moist cakes. I often bake layer cakes the day before and assemble the next day. Hope it goes well :)
Hi!
Can the cake layers be stored in fridge or in the freezer??
Hi Evija, you can store them for couple of days in the fridge or longer in the freezer.
Hi, can I replace the buckwheat and rice flour and the arrowroot with just regular spelt flour? Would I have to adjust the amount of some of the liquid ingredients?
Thanks!
Hi Annika, yes, you can. The gluten-free flours tend to absorb more liquid but I tend to make the mix thicker too. Better start with less almond milk and see how the batter is before adding more.
Thanks so much! Will try that :)