Vegan Gluten-free Pumpkin Cake (Oil-free!)

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Yes, this cake is different and is baked at 400°F instead of the traditional 350°F. It makes a difference!

Step 2

Lightly spray an 8x8 baking dish (I used stone) with nonstick spray. The cake releases easily and beautifully this way. Otherwise, the cake will stick badly without it.

Step 3

To a large bowl, add the oat flour, cornstarch, baking powder, pumpkin spice and salt. Whisk well.

Step 4

In a separate medium bowl, combine the milk, syrup, molasses and pumpkin until completely smooth. Pour over the dry ingredients and whisk gently just until smooth and combined. Do not overmix. Oat-based batters can cause dense results if they are overmixed.

Step 5

Pour the batter into the dish and give it a good shake side to side to even out the top.

Step 6

Bake for just 23 minutes or until a toothpick is clean from the center. Each cake I tested was perfect at this time. A couple of dry crumbs are ok, but there should be no wet batter.

Step 7

Cool 1 hour before frosting (if using) or decorating with powdered sugar/spices. Slice and serve. Gluten-free cakes need to be completely cooled so that they finish cooking, or they can have an unbaked texture if sliced too early. So be patient!

Step 8

To decorate the cake to make it extra fancy, I topped it with my vegan vanilla buttercream frosting, freshly grated nutmeg and freshly ground cinnamon and it was just divine! But if you want to skip the frosting, a good dusting of powdered sugar, fresh nutmeg and cinnamon is still just as delicious! Or you could add my simple cream cheese glaze! Store this cake at room temperature sealed well, so it stays moist. It keeps well for up to 3 days.