Let me get real here for a second. And I’m sorry, but things might get a little sexual. So if you’re one of those people who reads my blog to your children or listen to my instagram stories in front of them, I am recommend you do neither…ever. Unless you’re one of those cool parents who cusses in front of their children while also teaching them to not say those words at school. I commend you for your bravery, especially since mom shame is real. Now let’s get sexual. This cake makes me feel things, deep in my soul. It gives me butterflies and makes me wonder what might happen when I hang out with a slice for the first time. Then after we have our first date, I find myself daydreaming about every bite. I think this cake is my soulmate. My lover, my King, my soulmate.
I’ve been watching too much 90 Day Fiance. What’s up with everyone calling each other king and queen. It creeps me out. Do you do that? Stop it.
But for real, I love this cake with all my heart. It’s currently sitting in our fridge right now and I’m keeping myself away from it. You know how sometimes you know a relationship isn’t healthy for you, but you stay in it? That’s kind of my relationship with this cake. I want to be with it, but I know I should just be eating my vegetables instead because my skin will break out as soon as I have a slice. I hope in my next life that I can eat sugar without having acne. I also hope to be born with brunette hair instead of blonde so I don’t have to spend so much time at the salon. Big dreams for my next life, big dreams.
This cake is like biting into the best part of fall. The cake is fluffy yet moist (stop being upset with that word, we have bigger fish to fry in 2020), it’s packed with pumpkin pie spice flavor, and the frosting is absolutely perfection. And let me get one thing straight here – if you are a person who “doesn’t like frosting” you need to get TF out of here. I don’t know what you’re doing here and I want nothing to do with your obscene viewpoints. If you don’t like frosting, something is wrong with you. My husband is one of those people and it’s the one trait in him that makes me question our 9 years together. But at the same time, I get to eat the extra frosting he leaves behind, so it really works in my favor. But still…question yourself if you’re a frosting scraper. Question how you were raised and what went wrong along the way. Because this cake deserves to be loved. It deserves to be cared for. Don’t disrespect it. Don’t disrespect fall.
Pumpkin Cake
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 16 squares 1x
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup coconut sugar (or maple sugar, organic cane sugar, etc.)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup grapeseed oil (or other preferred liquid fat)
- 1 14-ounce can pumpkin puree
- 1 3/4 cups gluten free flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- pinch of salt
For the frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese (dairy or almond milk)
- 1/2 stick softened unsalted butter (or 4 tablespoons ghee)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup organic powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons caramel sauce + extra for garnish
- pinch of cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8×8 baking dish.
- In a large bowl, cream together eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract using a handheld mixer or standing mixer. Once the mixture becomes more pale in color, add the oil and pumpkin puree and mix together until combined.
- Next add the gluten free flour, 1/4 cup a time, and use a spatula to folder in until no flour remains. Lastly, add the baking powder, soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt; until completely combined. Pour mixture into the greased baking dish and place in the oven to bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle. Let cool on the counter.
- Once the cake is completely cooled, place cream cheese in the large bowl of a standing mixer and whip until smooth. Then add the butter and vanilla extract, and whip for another 4-5 minutes until soft and combined. Add the powdered sugar slowly, 1/4 cup at a time until none remains, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Lastly, add caramel sauce and cinnamon and whip until completely combined.
- Once the cake is cooling and frosting is whipped, add the frosting on top of the cake and use an offset spatula to smooth out the frosting on top. I like to pour on a tablespoon or two of extra caramel sauce then mix that into the frosting to make a swirl throughout. Cut into 16 squares and serve up! Store in the fridge then let a slice come to room temperature before eating!
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I can’t wait to make this cake!! I just went buck wild on some GF baked goods at my baby shower last weekend so I need to cool my jets/guts for a few weeks. But this is going to be the next GF dessert I make fore sure!
yay hope you like it once you try it!
This is life changgginnnggggg 🤤 Mine took a little over 60 mins to get done in the center. Worth every second!! Juli, do you happen to have the nutrition info on this per chance? Would love to track it. Thanks!!
so glad you loved it!! i don’t personally know the nutrition info, but you could plug the recipe into myfitnesspal to get those details!! that’s what I do when I’m tracking my own food!
Can I ask what cream cheese you used? Kite Hill? I want to make this ASAP for my dairy-free husband! 🙂
yes, i always use kite hill!
Thank you! Adding to my Instacart right now. Fingers crossed I can find pumpkin!
Making this recipe this weekend! I have pic pumpkins just waiting to be used and I’ve been saving them in anticipation of this cake lol can’t wait to try it!
P.S. I’ve never censored my sailors mouth in front of my kids and they aren’t even phased when they hear bad language 😂 I told my son that he has to have a license to say bad words and so far he’s listened. My daughter may be a different story 😬🤷🏽♀️😂
How much almond flour would I use if I sub it for the GF flour? Excited to try this!
i wouldn’t do that, honestly. the texture will be incredibly different and the recipe won’t come out the same
Oh. My. God. This is amazing. (So is the frosted zucchini cake)
yaaassssssss! so glad you liked it!!
I just made it and ITS AMAZINGGGG omg. I mixed almond flour and oat flour since I don’t have gluten free flour on hand and it turned out great. Thanks July for always giving us amazing recipes!
Juli**
amazing!! happy to hear it turned out and you loved it!
This looks to die for. Damn sugar and acne! I pray for both of us in our next life to never have to deal with even one pimple! Lol. Do you think this would come out the same if I used whole wheat pastry or oat flour? Thx!!!
i’m not sure! i’ve never baked with either flour so i can’t even guess if it would
I am not a baker. In fact, I hate baking. However, I had to bake this cake because it was just so beautiful. Not only was it simple (with very few dishes to wash from the process), it was absolute heaven to eat. 12/10 would recommend. I have no idea what Brian was eating when he said 8/10 but it wasn’t this cake WITH frosting.
You are awesome, Juli! I love reading your blog and instagram posts. You and Jackson always give me a smile when I need it!! Keep on being real!
yaassssssssss!! right? wtf, brian!? i still don’t get it! thanks so much for trying the recipe out and for all the love!!
Made this recipe twice this weekend. The only substitute i made was I couldn’t find dairy free Carmel so I used Maple cream. I think it came out great, I mean if i could find it i totally would make it exactly because Julie you are a genius!
Love this and happy to share it with my co-workers.
yummmmm! that sounds delicious!