Years ago I had a recipe for a Pumpkin Chocolate bundt cake—I think it was from Eating Well Magazine? I made it for pretty much every special occasion in the fall—Halloween, Thanksgiving, my birthday, even Christmas! Sadly though, the recipe wasn’t vegan and after becoming vegan I never bothered to go back and try to veganize it. A few weeks ago my little sister was in town and wanted to celebrate her birthday with a big family dinner at my parents’ house. She was making her own cake and asked me to bring a vegan cake for my family. As I thought about what to make my mind wandered to an old recipe of mine, and I decided to make some swaps to give it some festive fall flair. And that is how my Pumpkin Chocolate Cake with Ginger was born!
This cake is SO easy to make! It’s a simple 1 layer cake so it is very low maintenance. Simply mix (by hand!), pour into the pan, and bake. And because it’s just 1 layer it’s easy to transport to holiday gatherings—no wobbling cake layers to slide apart in the car.
The best part? This easy recipe can be jazzed up and decorated for multiple occasions! Having a Halloween party? Then drizzle the top with white chocolate in a spider web design and top with a few plastic spiders to give it a spooky feel. My kids thought this was the coolest thing ever—spider cake! If you’re feeling fancy, say for Thanksgiving, keep it elegant with a dark chocolate drizzle and some sparkling candied ginger on top! I would even argue that you could carry this dessert all the way through until Christmas—there’s no reason the pumpkin love has to stop after Thanksgiving!
Or, you could just make this cake to jazz up a regular Tuesday. There are no rules for cake eating.
This cake is moist, fudgey, and super flavorful! I love finding little bit of candied ginger—the chocolate tempers it just enough so that it is sweet, not spicy! This cake lasts for at least 4 days on the counter—I haven’t been able to keep one around any longer than that to know how much longer it keeps 🙂
Whenever you choose to whip up this incredibly easy cake please take a picture and share it so that I can see! Tag it with #frieddandelions // @frieddandelions. I love to see what you’re working on in the kitchen!
Pumpkin Chocolate Cake with Ginger
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 3/4 cup dairy free milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup flour (I use white all purpose flour)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 oz 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup neutral vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder (optional to boost chocolate flavor)
- 1/2 cup diced candied ginger (sometimes called crystalized ginger)
For the Chocolate Drizzle:
- 1/4 chocolate chips (I like Enjoy Life)
- AND/OR 1/4 c white chocolate chips (I like King David brand)
- 1 t coconut oil (for each type of chocolate used)
- candied ginger for garnish optional
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8-inch cake pan with oil. Cut a circle of parchment paper to line the bottom and spray paper as well.
- Mix the milk with vinegar in a small bowl and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients—flour through salt. Set aside.
- Add the pumpkin, maple syrup, oil, vanilla, and espresso to the milk mixture.
- Pour over top of the dry mix and mix well so that all of the dry mixture is incorporated. Fold in diced candied ginger.
- Pour prepared cake batter into pan. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool 10 minutes on rack, and then remove from pan. Allow to cool completely on rack. Place on serving plate, with the baking bottom side up (you may need to trim the baking top with a large bread knife so that it sits flat, but I find that it usually squishes down just fine).
For the Chocolate Drizzle:
- Melt the chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon of coconut oil in the microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring between. Mine melted after 1 minute.
- Using a fork or spoon, drizzle the chocolate back and forth over the cake. To make a spider web design drizzle the white chocolate along the top of the cake. Then use a toothpick to drag the chocolate from the center to the outside of the cake.
- Decorate with more candied ginger if desired!
Can you replace the non dairy milk with regular milk
Yes, but it would no longer be vegan. I have not tested it this way as I do not consume dairy.
Does the 1/2 c chopped candied ginger get stirred into the batter? Or is some reserved for the top. Maybe I am missing something but I didn’t see it in the instructions. Thanks!
Oh goodness! I can’t believe you are the first one to notice this! I will update the recipe—yes, stir the diced ginger into the batter, and then you can also use more to garnish! Yummy!!! Thank you for letting me know!
Awesome deliciousness! Used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten free 1 to 1 and it was great…very moist, but not gummy like so many gf egg free cakes (and baked goods) can be! My son wants it for his B-Day on the 3rd! Thank you so MUCH!
Oh wow! I’m so happy to hear that it worked with the gluten free mix as well. Thank you so much for the feedback! And so glad your little guy liked it—happy soon-to-be birthday to him!
This cake is just so perfect. Quick and easy, yet fun and/or elegant. It’s got it all!! LOVE that spider web design!
Thanks! That’s it exactly—super easy to make, but it looks super fancy! And you can deck it out for Halloween too!!!
That cake looks so moist and decadent!
It totally is! Super moist—on day 4 it still tasted fresh!!! Can’t believe it actually lasted that long on my counter 🙂
Oh my gosh, this cake looks amazing! I love chocolate and ginger together!
Me too! Such a good flavor combo!
This cake looks so perfect – I love pumpkin and chocolate together!
Me too! Such a rich pair!
This looks soooo good! It’s a perfect fall cake for both Halloween & Thanksgiving!
I’m not a baker (just like Amy said) but I’m going to try this for one of these holidays! Pinned both!
You can do it, promise! And yes, it will be perfect for all of the fall holidays! I’ll be making this one over, and over, and over….
I like your “Thee are no rules for cake eating.” I can envision that as a sampler on my kitchen wall.
Yes, totally! That’s a great idea actually! Who says cake has to be a special occasion treat? Not me. Not me.
Of course I meant “THERE are no…”
Oh, ha, I didn’t even notice! I read it as “there.”
Oh my goodness!!! I can’t wait to jump into this recipe. It sounds fantastic!
Thank you! It’s so quick and easy! I made two last week and have one in the freezer to thaw for a church group later this week!
This cake looks fabulous, Sarah! I am so impressed. I’m going to have to ask someone to make it for me. I’m a terrible baker. lol
See, but that’s just the thing! It’s SO easy! You can do this. I have completed confidence in you. Just mix the ingredients and bake—it’s truly no fail!