Gluten Free Pumpkin Cake

Lately I've been taking a cake decorating class at the local community college. It was mostly for fun, although I hope to be able to incorporate some of my new skills here as well. For the final night of class, we had to design a fancy cake and decorate it during class. Since my class coincided with pumpkin spice everything season (LOL), I decided to make a gluten free pumpkin cake. Then I decorated it with a fall theme of vibrant colored leaves and pumpkins made from vegan buttercream.

This is a delicious cake for autumn - whether it be for a Halloween party or Thanksgiving dessert. Or as you know, I'm fully in favor of just eating cake because it's Tuesday and you can! 😉 Thanks to the pumpkin puree, this cake is so moist with the perfect soft texture you want from a cake. I topped mine with cinnamon buttercream, which was an amazing compliment to the pumpkin flavor. The decoration shown here is a mixture of colored cinnamon buttercream and chocolate buttercream.

This cake doesn't quite use a whole can of pumpkin puree, so if you're looking for ideas to use up the rest, check out these 30+ recipes for using leftover pumpkin puree.

Why You 'll Love This Recipe

• The cake is moist with the perfect soft cake texture.
• It can be decorated as simply or as fancy as you like.
• It's both gluten free and dairy free as written.

Ingredient Notes

• Gluten Free Flour Blend - I used Bob's Red Mill 1-to1 flour for this recipe. You can use the gluten free flour blend you prefer, but ensure it contains xanthan gum or a similar binder. Using another brand of flour may result in a different outcome in your bake as all gluten free flour blends are a little different in their makeup.
• Baking Powder - this leavening agent helps the cake rise and creates a light texture.
• Pumpkin Pie Spice & Cinnamon - A combination of spices create that fall flavor profile that is so popular.
• Salt - This crucial ingredient helps to balance the flavors of this dessert. Don't be tempted to skip it.
• Sugar - To add some sweetness to the pumpkin flavor.
• Vegan Butter - I used Country Crock plant butter for this recipe. Any stick type vegan butter will work. If you're not dairy free, use regular butter in the same measure.
• Oil - I used extra light olive oil, but any light flavored cooking oil will do. Don't be tempted to switch out butter for the oil - the combination of the two fats helps the cake to be more moist.
• Vanilla - Provides complexity and sweetness to the flavor of the cake.
• Eggs - Since this cake requires 4 eggs, I would not try an egg substitute here.
• Pumpkin Puree - It is important to use pumpkin puree and NOT pumpkin pie filling, which has sugar and spices added to it.
• Non-Dairy Milk - Use your favorite unsweetened non-dairy milk. If you're not dairy free, use regular milk in the same measure.

See recipe card for full ingredient list and quantities.

How to Make a Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cake

A stand mixer or handheld mixer will make this recipe easy to put together. Before mixing the cake batter, make sure to grease your cake pan and line it with parchment paper.

STEP 1: Combine the gluten free flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Whisk together until well mixed and set aside.

STEP 2: In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine sugar and butter. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes.

STEP 3: Add the oil to the creamed butter and sugar. Beat for 1-2 minutes more.

STEP 4: Add the vanilla. Then add the eggs one at a time, mixing for 60 seconds between each addition.

STEP 5: With the mixer on the lowest speed, add half of the dry ingredients followed by half of the milk and pumpkin puree. Then repeat with the remaining ingredients.

STEP 6: Divide the cake batter between two 9-inch cake rounds.

Cake Pan Sizes

I've used two 9-inch round cake pans for this recipe. If you don't have that size of pan, you can use one of the following equivalent cake pan sizes with adjusted baking times:

Make the Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

This frosting is a surprising twist on classic American buttercream frosting. The cinnamon adds such a nice flavor and compliments the pumpkin cake perfectly.

Making diary free buttercream frosting is so easy to do. You'll want to start with vegan stick butter that is at room temperature. You can substitute vegetable shortening for butter, but don't use margarine. Beat it until it's smooth and creamy. Add the cinnamon and vanilla, then slowly add powdered sugar. Once all your sugar has been added in, you will add a little non-dairy milk and voila frosting!

Once the frosting is ready, you will assemble your cake and decorate.

How to store leftover cake

This cake does not need to be refrigerated. You can keep this cake in an airtight container, like a cake keeper, for up to 4 days.

Or if you have a lot of leftover cake, you can freeze some for later. Slice individual servings and wrap them in plastic wrap. Place the wrapped slices inside a freezer bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before serving.

Other fall recipes to consider:

If you try this recipe, please leave a 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the comments below.