Super Moist Easy Mini Pumpkin Cakes (Vegan!)
These super fun and festive vegan mini pumpkin bundt cakes are shaped like mini pumpkins and filled with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting for the best vegan Halloween dessert! Naturally gluten free, dairy free, and eggless!
The cutest vegan Halloween dessert
I am SO excited for this recipe, because I actually teamed up once again with my sweet friend, Natalie over at Feasting On Fruit. If you don’t know Nat (though I’m sure you do!), she makes the most incredibly vegan and Paleo treats that are many times sweetened with fruit!
We decided to make everyone a special vegan Halloween dessert recipe this year, but with a bit of a twist: she was in charge of making a more Halloween inspired gluten-free vegan version of these cute little mini pumpkin bundt cakes, and I was in charge of making a classic version that could be used for Thanksgiving!
The result? The most adorable little mini pumpkin cakes you’ve ever seen with a slightly adorable orange frosting to make them look like little pumpkins!
The vegan pumpkin cake is super moist and light while being full of flavor, and in between each little cake is a smear of vegan buttercream frosting and a secret surprise: deliciously spiced vegan cream cheese frosting!
These vegan mini pumpkin bundt cakes are the perfect recipe for your Halloween party with the best sweet surprise!
How to make super easy vegan mini pumpkin bundt cakes (overview)
For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.
- Make the batter. Don’t worry, I give you a bit more detail than The Great British Baking Show. Essentially you’ll prep the batter by whisking together the dry ingredients, folding in the wet. Mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated, making sure it’s a consistent batter.
- Divide the batter into the mini bundt cake pans: Or your 4″ cake pans. Then you’ll bake the mini pumpkin bundt cakes!
- Allow the pumpkin bundt cakes to cool. This will prevent the frosting from melting. Once cool, you’ll also level the pumpkin cakes.
- Make the vegan buttercream. I give recommendations for vegan food coloring down below.
- Assemble the pumpkin bundt cakes. You’ll smear the frosting onto the bottom of one pumpkin cake. The key is to make sure that the frosting is covering the hole of the cake. This will prevent the ganache from falling through. Place a second one on top. Then repeat for the remaining pumpkin cakes! Place the pumpkin cakes into the fridge to chill.
- Frost the outside of the cakes.
- Decorate! We’ll go over that more in the next section 🙂
How to decorate mini pumpkin cakes
I personally love decorating with some leftover vegan buttercream frosting! And of course, some cute little candy eyes, a cinnamon stick stem. Or a real pumpkin stem, like I used!
I wouldn’t recommend microwaving the frosting, unless you’re really watching the clock (because you don’t want it to be completely drippy!).
If you don’t want to use vegan buttercream: you can also make a simple vegan glaze, like what I use to decorate my vegan gingerbread cookies.
Pro tips for mini pumpkin bundt cakes
- Silicone bundt cake pans bake differently than metal: silicone is not a great conductor of heat, so it takes a little bit longer to bake the mini pumpkin bundt cakes evenly. I recommend using a metal bundt cake pan if you can. However, I have tested it with a larger mini bundt cake pan, and the recipe does work- just make sure you’re watching your cakes bake! You can also use mini 4″ cake pans.
- For vegan food coloring: I recommend Whole Foods plant based red and yellow, Go Supernatural food coloring, Nomeca liquid food coloring, or a combination of beet powder and turmeric for the orange hue.
- If you don’t need gluten free: You can swap in all purpose flour in equal amounts for both the cassava flour and the sweet potato flour.
- What if I don’t have cinnamon sticks? Not a problem! You can use little peanut butter cups, like Natalie did. Or you can use pretzel sticks, a mini chocolate bar, or hey, maybe even an actual stem!
- Make sure the wet ingredients are room temperature: this is crucial if you don’t want a gummy cake! If some of the wet ingredients are super cold while others are room temperature or even hot, it will create that less than desirable gummy, sort of “raw” texture that no one wants.
- Chill the pumpkin bundt cakes after you’ve assembled the middle part! This will help the frosting set and then you’ll more easily be able to frost the outside of the cakes.
You are just going to love these easy mini vegan pumpkin bundt cakes as much as we do!! If you make either of our recipes, let us know down below in the comments section, as well as giving it a rating so that others can find it.
As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag us there!
Happy mini pumpkin bundt cake baking!
More vegan Halloween desserts:
Vegan Hocus Pocus Spell Book Brownies
Harry Potter Sorting Hat Cupcakes
Vegan Harry Potter Birthday Cake
Festive Vegan Jack Skellington Cake
Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
PrintSuper Easy Mini Pumpkin Bundt Cakes (Vegan!)
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These super fun and festive vegan mini pumpkin bundt cakes are topped with a ghoulish green vegan buttercream and decorated for the best vegan Halloween dessert! Gluten free option as well!
Ingredients
- 150 mL unsweetened dairy free milk, room temperature
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (to be mixed with dairy free milk milk)
- 110 grams sweet potato flour
- 100 grams cassava flour
- 1 tbsp arrowroot starch
- spices
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 100 grams granulated sugar
- 78 grams salted vegan butter (I recommend Flora Plant butter), room temperature
- 87 grams pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Optional (but recommended): 1/4 tsp vanilla powder
- 1 cups vegan butter, softened
- 1 3/4 cups organic powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2–4 tbsp unsweetened dairy free milk
Cream cheese frosting:
-
½ cup vegan cream cheese, room temperature
-
¼ cup vegan butter, room temperature
-
2 cups powdered sugar
-
½ tbsp pumpkin spice
Vegan buttercream:
-
1 batch vegan buttercream
-
Vegan orange food coloring
Instructions
- Please read through all instructions before beginning.
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F. Measure out all ingredients before beginning. The above recipe will make 1 ½ 4” cakes or 2 cakes using 4 mini bundt cakes. You can double the recipe for more servings. If you’re using the 4” cake pans, be sure to grease and line them with parchment paper (you’ll need 3 for the above recipe). If using a mini bundt cake pan, you’ll need to grease 4. Make the vegan buttermilk by combining the coconut milk and apple cider vinegar together. Set aside.
- Make the batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the sweet potato flour, cassava flour, pumpkin spices, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside. Then in a large bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together the vegan butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Then add in the pumpkin puree, and cream together again. Slowly sift in the dry mixture and the vegan buttermilk in two intervals, using a rubber spatula to fold together between each interval.
- Bake the pumpkin cakes: Divide the batter evenly into the cake pans and bake for 27-30 minutes (for the 4” cake pans) or 18-22 minutes (for the mini bundt cake pans), or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow the cakes to cool in their pans for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Frost the cakes: Once the cakes have completely cooled, make the vegan cream cheese frosting first. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together the vegan cream cheese and vegan butter until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Then add in the powdered sugar and pumpkin spice, and mix on medium speed until fluffy. Spoon the frosting into a piping bag, and pipe the frosting onto the bottoms of two of the pumpkin cakes, using the remaining pumpkin cakes as toppers. Place the other bundt cake on top of the frosting, and chill the cakes for 20 minutes.
- While the cakes are chilling: Make your pumpkin shaper. Use a leftover and clean dairy free yogurt container, and cut about a 3” wide strip off of the side. Then on the bottom of the strip, cut a curved “v” into the yogurt container strip. This will help shape your buttercream.
- Right before you’re ready to fully frost the cakes, make the buttercream: Follow the directions for making the vegan buttercream, adding in vegan orange food color until you reach the desired color for your pumpkins.
- Frost the assembled pumpkin cakes: Pipe the orange frosting around one pumpkin cake evenly. Then use your yogurt container pumpkin shaper, and place it at the base of the pumpkin. Pull up to the top of the container, and scrape off the buttercream. Repeat for the remainder of the pumpkin, forming the pumpkin shape. I like to then chill my pumpkins for 20 minutes before smoothing out the pumpkin. You can use the scraper again.
- Top with a pumpkin stem and serve! I carefully cut the stems off of mini pumpkins (be very careful!) and placed them on top!
Notes
** Gluten free version: please see Natalie from Feasting on Fruit’s pumpkin bundt cake recipe!
These are the most adorable ever! Can’t wait to make them with the kids!
Aw you are wonderful, Leah! I hope that you guys all love!