MOIST Vegan Pumpkin ‘Cream Cheese’ Bundt Cake with Maple Pecan Glaze
This SOFT, wonderfully spiced pumpkin cream cheese bundt cake has a ripple of dairy free maple ‘cream cheese’ throughout the most moist and tender pumpkin cake. Made just with one bowl and absolutely no eggs nor dairy (so yeah, it’s vegan!), and topped with a toasted maple pecan glaze! This pumpkin cake is easy yet an absolute showstopper for fall!
Why you need to make this pumpkin bundt cake STAT:
If ever there was a show-stopping fall cake that required as little effort as humanly possible, it would be this ridiculously moist and gorgeously soft pumpkin spice cream cheese bundt cake.
I’m serious, this vegan pumpkin bundt cake does it all.
It’s soft, tender, and beautifully rich with a ripple of maple cream cheese batter throughout and topped with an irresistible toasted pecan maple glaze. Then you add on the fact that the entire recipe is made just with a bowl and a whisk. AND you don’t need any eggs nor dairy (because yes, it’s vegan!), yet you’d never know?!
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my vegan pumpkin cake (which this is based off of that recipe!) and give me a slice of pecan pie or apple pie at any Thanksgiving dinner, but this pumpkin bundt cake absolutely deserves a seat at the table as well.
Overview: making & assembling a pumpkin bundt cake:
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.
Like I mentioned above, this pumpkin bundt cake is incredibly easy. We’re talking just a bowl and a whisk to make the pumpkin cake batter portion.
And also for the cream cheese portion, for that matter.
So to begin: We’ll whisk together all cream cheese batter ingredients. Set that aside.
Then we’ll make the pumpkin batter: Whisk the wet ingredients then whisk in the dry. The batter should be consistent and thick.
Assemble and bake: We’ll layer the pumpkin batter on the bottom, followed by the cream cheese layer, and then the remaining pumpkin cake batter. You can watch how I do that here!
Once baked: Allow the cake to cool for 30-40 minutes before inverting. Pumpkin usually takes a longer time to cool, as it’s a denser ingredient, so we don’t want any broken pumpkin bundt cakes! Then top with the maple pecan glaze and enjoy!
A key tip for ensuring your bundt cake comes out clean:
I recommend flouring the bundt cake pan right before you assemble. This is because after greasing and flouring the pan, the flour will start to pool at the bottom of the pan. This defeats the whole purpose!
Preparing the pan right before assembling will ensure that your pumpkin bundt cake comes out beautifully each time!
Toasted maple pecan glaze:
This is one of my favorite parts about this cake because of the toasted pecans. Oh- my goodness. The nutty pecans mixed with the maple syrup in the glaze becomes just the epitome of autumn in a bite.
Drizzled on top of our finished Bundt cake? A dream come true.
And it’s so easy too- just simply whisk all ingredients together after toasting the nuts (either in the oven or in a dry pan- NO oil!). Then drizzle on top of your inverted pumpkin cream cheese Bundt cake!
Can I omit the cream cheese layer?
Absolutely! That part is super easy- simply omit the cream cheese layer and bake! The cake will bake for about 50-55 minutes instead of 55-60
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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!
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MOIST Vegan Pumpkin ‘Cream Cheese’ Bundt Cake with Maple Pecan Glaze
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 52
- Total Time: 1 hour 12 minutes
- Yield: 16 1x
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This SOFT, wonderfully spiced pumpkin cream cheese bundt cake has a ripple of dairy free maple ‘cream cheese’ throughout the most moist and tender pumpkin cake. Made just with one bowl and absolutely no eggs nor dairy (so yeah, it’s vegan!), and topped with a toasted maple pecan glaze! This pumpkin cake is easy yet an absolute showstopper for fall!
Ingredients
Cream cheese filling:
- 12 ounces vegan cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 3 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot starch
Vegan Pumpkin Bundt Cake:
- 1 1/4 cup (300 mL) vegan buttermilk
- 4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour (or gluten free 1:1 baking flour + 1 tbsp arrowroot or cornstarch)
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan butter, melted
- 1/2 cup (110 g) neutral cooking oil
- 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup (60 g) dairy free yogurt, room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Maple Pecan Glaze:
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 2 cups (280 g) powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1–2 tbsp vegan heavy cream or cashew cream
Instructions
- Prepare the vegan buttermilk first: whisk together the dairy free milk and apple cider vinegar. Set aside for 5-7 minutes to curdle. You’ll start with the dry ingredients while this is setting.
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F . We’ll prepare the bundt cake pan right before assembling.
- Make the cream cheese filling: In a small bowl, whisk together all cream cheese filling ingredients. Set aside.
- Make the batter: In a large bowl, add in the pumpkin puree, sugars, vegan butter, oil, dairy free yogurt, and vanilla extract. Whisk together until combined. Then add in the salt, baking powder, baking soda, and pumpkin spice. Whisk to incorporate again. Then add in the flour, along with the vegan buttermilk, and whisk just until incorporated.
- Prepare the bundt cake pan: Grease a 10-cup bundt cake pan with olive oil. Lightly flour with a tablespoon of flour, then set aside.
- Assemble: Pour half of the pumpkin cake batter into the prepared bundt cake pan. Then spoon the cream cheese filling in an even layer on top of the batter. Finish by topping with the remaining pumpkin cake batter. You can also gently swirl the cream cheese with a butter knife into the layers. Remember, less is more!
- Bake: Place the cake pan into the oven to bake for 55-60 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean.
- While the cake is baking: You can prep the maple glaze. Toast the pecans in a dry pan for 4-5 minutes on medium heat or until the aroma is nutty. Then remove from heat and set aside. To make the glaze, whisk together all glaze ingredients and set aside.
- Cool: Remove the pumpkin bundt cake from the oven and let cool in the pan for AT LEAST 40 minutes before inverting. Then carefully place a plate or cooling rack over the top of the bundt cake and carefully invert the cake onto the plate.
- Decorate the bundt cake: Stir the pecans into the maple glaze, and pour on top.
- Serve and enjoy! Slice the pumpkin bundt cake, serve, and enjoy! Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
Gluten free: I recommend King Arthur measure for measure gluten free flour for gluten-free.
Made this for my family yesterday and we all loved it! The cream cheese layer was a huge hit. I did have to bake it quite a bit longer than stated in the recipe, not sure if that was because my Bundt pan was made of silicon and didn’t heat the same as a regular one?
Me and my kids made this for my husbands birthday (He always likes something with pumpkin-pumpkin pie, pumpkin roll, etc.). This year was by far our FAVORITE! It was sooo delicious and easy to make. Now my son wants this for his birthday as well.
5 stars! This mama will definitely be sneaking bites all night long. Haha!