Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cake

Pumpkin is my jam ever since fall started.  I make so many pumpkin cookies and scones at work lately and they always sell really fast so apparently  I am not the only one.  I have been making cookies, cakes, and pumpkin spice lattes at home, but what I I have really been craving lately that I haven't gotten around to making yet is pumpkin cinnamon rolls.  I have seen a few in my news feed, and wanted to make some last week, but by the time I got home from work it was late and seemed like to lengthy of a process to let them rise and roll them out and whatnot, plus I didn't have any yeast on hand (I thought I still had some), so it seemed like a losing battle to make them, but then I remembered that a while back I made a cinnamon roll cake, that was simple but still had all of the delicious flavor of cinnamon rolls, so I decided to make a pumpkin version, Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cake!

I love changing recipes with the seasons and putting a twist on them! I knew pumpkin spices would be perfect in a cinnamon roll cake (or cinnamon rolls), and I could not wait to whip this up!  For my batter, I based it off of my Cinnamon Roll Cake recipe, but added in plenty of pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices instead of the usual cinnamon.  The batter was super delicious!  I always have to sample the batter, ever since I was a kid, it is tradition!  And one time it even saved my cake, because when I tasted it I realized that I had forgotten to add the sugar.  It would have been one disgusting cake if I didn't taste it and add it in before pouring it into the pan.  Don't worry I am not usually that spacey but we all have those days.   This batter was perfect, just the right amount of spices and it is easy to make.  The batter It happens to be oil free, because I use full fat coconut milk in it in place of the oil.

For the swirl, which is essential to cinnamon rolls of course, I used a mixture of sugar, maple syrup and pumpkin pie spices, and spiraled it in the cake to give it a ribbon of sweet spiced goodness! I know cinnamon rolls don't have a streusel topping, but I gave this one just that because I had put one on my other cinnamon roll cake, and this is sort of a mixture between a coffeecake and cinnamon roll.  Plus I think it is so lovely and so delicious!  I love the contrast of the crunch on the soft cake!  This smelled so amazing when I pulled it out of the oven I could not wait to try it!

But of course I let it cool first so it could come out of the pan nicely.  I gave it a nice decorative drizzle on top, to make it more reminiscent of cinnamon rolls and it was perfect!  This pairs so well with coffee, it is soft, sweet, scented with pumpkin spices, has a nice sugary crunch on top and you may just have to go back for seconds, just sayin'.  If you have some leftover canned pumpkin this is the perfect use for it!  Maybe I will get around to making real cinnamon rolls soon, but this cake is darn delicious and maybe even better than the rolls, so definitely give it a try!

Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cake
Makes one 6 inch cake

Ingredients:

one 6 inch cake pan

Cake:

• 3/4 cup organic whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup maple sugar
• 1/2 cup full fat coconut cream (the thick kind, from the top of the can) at room temperature
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spices
• 1 Tbsp cider vinegar

Swirl:

• 2 Tbsp maple syrup at room temperature
• 2 Tbsp maple sugar
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spices

Topping:

• 1/4 cup organic whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 Tbsp maple sugar
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spices
• 3 Tbsp coconut butter, warmed to liquid

Drizzle:

• 1 Tbsp coconut butter
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp filtered water, or as needed

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees and position rack in center of oven.
2. Oil a 6 inch round baking pan and line it with parchment at the bottom so it will not stick.
3. Whisk flour, baking soda, sea salt, and sugar in a large bowl to blend well.
4. Whisk coconut milk and vanilla extract together in small bowl to blend well, then whisk into the flour mixture until well blended.
5. Whisk the cider vinegar into the batter.
6. Mix together swirl ingredients in a small bowl.
7. Transfer half the cake batter to prepared pan then place the swirl mixture in a ziplock bag with the corner cut off and pipe it into a swirl from the center out.  Pour the rest of the cake batter over it, then do the same with more of the swirl. marble the swirls with a knife.
8. Mix together the streusel ingredients in a bowl with your hands until it starts to clump together, then sprinkle over the cake.
9. Place in the oven, and bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs attached, about 25 minutes.
10. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes, then un-mold, by cutting around the edges if they are stuck at all, then putting  plate over the top, then flipping it onto that plate then placing a plate on the bottom and flipping it upright onto that plate.
11. Whisk together the coconut butter, maple syrup and water until smooth (adding a little more water if it is too thick to drizzle).
12. Drizzle the coconut butter mixture over the cake, and serve!

Cake keeps stored in a container on the counter for up to 1 week, or can be frozen for up to 4 months.

Notes:

If you would rather use coconut sugar or even just granulated sugar for this, either will work in place of the maple sugar.

If you would like to make a 9 inch round cake, double the entire recipe, and bake it in a 9 inch round pan, increasing the baking time to 50 minutes to 1 hour (depending on your oven).

This cake can be made gluten free by swapping out the whole wheat pastry flour for Bob's Red Mill gluten free all purpose baking flour (this is a brand I have used before and have tested it in cakes with great results).