Spiced Pumpkin Cake

This cake was a huge hit at last night’s Mathematicians Potluck!  Rich, soft, and light in texture, it’s probably the best gluten-free cake I’ve made so far.  The recipe is adapted from healthyrecipesblogs.com/pumpkin-cake, takes about 15 minutes to make, 45 minutes to bake, and serves 12 – which, by coincidence, was exactly the number round the table!  It’s not quite vegan, but you can make it so by using flax eggs rather than the eggs mentioned here, and molasses rather than honey (although I think honey is perfectly acceptable).

Ingredients:

3 large eggs
1 cup organic pumpkin purée – I used half a 15 oz can
4 Tbsp (half a stick) vegan baking shortening, melted and allowed to cool
½ cup honey OR ½ cup molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp coarse kosher salt
2 cups blanched almond flour;  I used unblanched almond flour and it was fine.
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp Jamaican allspice (or you can use pumpkin pie spice, if you have any – I don’t)
1 tsp baking soda

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°F;  oil a 9” pie plate or (my preference) an 8” spring-form pan.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs lightly, then beat in the pumpkin, melted butter equivalent, honey, vanilla, and salt, mixing until smooth.  I used an electric beater, but you could easily beat the batter by hand.

Whisk in the almond flour, spices, and baking soda until well mixed.

Pour the batter into the prepared pie plate or spring-form pan, and smooth out the top.  Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the top is springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 30 minutes before serving, or wait until fully cooled before transferring to a cake tin.  The cake will keep for 2-3 days, especially if wrapped in plastic.

Slice and serve with a generous squirt of coconut or almond whipped cream!

Here, as ever, is the .pdf version of Spiced Pumpkin Cake.