Vegan pumpkin pie cake with cream cheese frosting and candied pecans

Another pumpkin recipe?

YES. I told you. I really did warn you beforehand; in fact, I already apologized, the proactive fellow that I am.

Now, this isn’t entirely my fault. My mother was the primary baker of this particular creation, I must admit, as she and I split the duties of being cake-making overachievers during a little dessert party (as opposed to, you know, a dinner party) we hosted last weekend. I begged and begged to be the one to make dessert for our bunch of lucky guests, but she insisted upon making her own. We compromised, and I made my own fabulous chili chocolate cake chili cake.

So that’s how you end up with two giant layer cakes for a single party.

Problem? I think not.

My mother is very different from myself in her baking tastes. I am always looking for new and exciting desserts and rarely re-make the same recipe, whereas she is a huge fan of tradition and well-loved recipes from trusted cookbooks. This pumpkin pie cake is one of those recipes. It was perhaps one of the first homemade layer cakes I had ever eaten, and as such it holds a special place in my heart is a milestone in my cake-consuming life that I have not since forgotten.

And a good way to start out it was. The cake, another one of those reduced-calorie recipes from Cooking Light, is absolutely wonderful, with tender and moist crumb and fluffy frosting that doesn’t overpower the entire dessert. It’s easy to see why she likes to make it so much.

Um. Kind of. A bit of a stretch, but I can sort of empathize.

So to fulfill her monthly baking quota, my mother whipped up the pumpkin cake layers with fresh pumpkin puree herself—but being the petulant overgrown child that I am, I ended up doing the frosting and, as you can see, adding my favorite candied pecans. Because why not.

There's always room for more sugar.

Right now I’ll just let the recipe and the pictures speak for themselves. There are variables to be found and civilizations to be researched. I could write a thousand and ten words about the merits and culinary beauties of this cake and none of them would be as effective as those two things.

Here it is.

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Vegan pumpkin pie cake with cream cheese frosting and candied pecans

Adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients

Cake

200 grams • granulated sugar • 1 cup

110 grams • brown sugar • ½ cup

56 grams • canola oil • ¼ cup

124 grams • silken tofu • ½ cup

30 grams • ground flaxseed (preferably golden) • 2 tablespoons

90 grams • warm water • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons

420 grams • pumpkin puree • 15 ounces

250 grams • all-purpose flour • 2 cups

5 grams • baking powder • 1 teaspoon

4 grams • baking soda • 1 teaspoon

2 grams • cinnamon • 2 teaspoons

1 gram • nutmeg • ¼ teaspoon

1 gram • allspice • ¼ teaspoon

1 gram • cloves • ¼ teaspoon

3 grams • salt • ½ teaspoon

Frosting

28 grams • coconut oil, softened • 2 tablespoons

226 grams • nondairy cream cheese substitute, softened • 8 ounces

360 grams • powdered sugar • 3 cups

10 grams • orange juice • 2 teaspoons

1 recipe candied pecans as described here

Instructions

To make cake, start by greasing two 8 inch round cake pans and lining them with parchment. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, and oil and beat on medium speed for about two minutes. Add tofu, flaxseed, and water; beat until well blended. Add pumpkin and mix once more.

In a large bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and salt. With mixer on low speed, spoon flour mixture into wet ingredients just until combined.

Divide batter evenly between baking pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with some moist crumbs attached. Cool for ten minutes before removing from pans and letting cool completely on a wire rack.

To make frosting, combine coconut oil and cream cheese substitute in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. With mixer on low, gradually add powdered sugar until combined. Add orange juice and beat until light and fluffy. Spread frosting between cake layers and on top, leaving the sides naked. Sprinkle candied pecans on top. Slice and serve up.

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Yes, there is only about a quarter of the cake left.

As you can see, I got myself a new background. Nice black piece of construction paper, basically, because I am not at all high-tech or fancy or whatever. Iggy Azalea would be ashamed.

But your taste buds will not complain.