Pumpkin Spice Cake
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Yield: 2 9-inch cakes
 
Vegan, Gluten-Free, Oil-Free, Soy-Free Option, Nut-Free Option

This cake is moist and light, but still has some heft, just like you want from a pumpkin spice cake. It's really decadent made as a layer cake with frosting, but if you halve the cake recipe and leave it bare, it can also hold its own as a pretty reasonable snack cake.
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons flax meal
  • 6 tablespoons water
  • 1 cup millet flour
  • 1 cup brown rice flour
  • ½ cup tapioca starch
  • ½ cup potato starch (or arrowroot flour)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
  • 1 cup plain, unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 ½ cups sucanat (raw or regular sugar are fine as well)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup plant milk
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flax meal and water. Set aside for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it forms a thick gel.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of two 9-inch round non-stick cake pans with circles of parchment paper.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices.
  4. In a large bowl, whisk the applesauce and sucanat to combine. Whisk in the flax gel. Add the vanilla extract and pumpkin puree and stir until totally blended. Gently whisk in the plant milk.
  5. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and whisk until just combined.
  6. Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the cakes feel firm in the center and a toothpick comes out clean.
  7. Cool cakes completely before frosting.
Notes
Soy-Free Option: Choose a plant milk other than soy.

Nut-Free Option: Choose a plant milk that doesn't contain nuts.

Gluten Option?: I haven't personally tried this, but I write my gluten-free recipes to mimic regular flour, proportionally by volume. If you don't need to avoid gluten, this recipe should work if you replace the GF flours and xanthan gum with 3 cups of regular flour. If you try it out, let me know!
Recipe by Leaves of Kale at http://www.leavesofkale.com/2014/10/pumpkin-spice-cake-with-vanilla-buttercream-vegan-gluten-free/