Vegan Spice Cake (Paleo too!)
Moist and decadent vegan spice cake layered with a vegan cream cheese frosting! This holiday cake is perfect for all ages and naturally gluten free, Paleo, and dairy free!
You know I love my cake. Vanilla cake, chocolate cake, carrot cake…but have you tried a spice cake before?
If not, you’re in for a treat. This vegan sweet potato spice cake is full of warming spices, light yet moist and decadent, and layered with a deliciously tangy vegan cream cheese frosting.
It’s basically the holidays in a bite.
…except that bite will turn into two…then three…then four haha! You won’t be able to stop!
The Best Vegan Spice Cake
Not only is this spice cake completely moist and fluffy, but it’s also very easy to make.
This vegan spice cake comes together so easily, you’ll be wondering why you don’t bake more cakes!
Not only that, but this cake is also not overwhelmingly sweet. Yes, it’s sweet like a cake, so don’t think I’m suggesting you not eat a sweet cake. But it won’t leave your teeth sore (I mean, let’s be real, the holidays, we eat a lot of sugar and it can leave some teeth damage there!), and it’s actually pretty fairly low in sugar for a cake.
What’s more, this cake is naturally vegan and gluten free…and Paleo! YEP! A vegan Paleo cake! But trust me, you won’t be able to tell, thanks to a very special and secret ingredient!
What does Spice Cake taste like?
In my experience, spice cake basically tastes like a mix between gingerbread and a cinnamon cookie…in cake form…but less ginger and less cinnamon so that all of the flavors come out. It’s warm and tastes like fall in a bite really.
But don’t think of a spice cake in terms of heat though, because in that respect, this cake is far from spicy. Meaning, it won’t burn your tongue haha!
But it will hit the senses with all of the beautiful fall and winter spices, baked in a fluffy and moist sweet potato cake and swirled with a vegan cream cheese frosting 🙂
Vegan Spice Cake ingredients
For this holiday cake, you’ll need:
- Cooked sweet potato
- Cassava flour (or your favorite 1-to-1 gluten free flour or all purpose flour)
- Maple syrup
- Spices
- Coconut milk
- Ground flaxseed
So you might have noticed the first ingredient is sweet potato. Don’t freak out! Sweet potato cake is actually one of my all time favorite cakes. I find that when you bake the sweet potato just right, you’ll end up with this amazing extra sweetness without any added sugar.
Don’t worry if you’ve never used cassava flour either. Lisa from Downshiftology actually has a fantastic article on it, and I truly believe it will become a more popular, well-known flour soon because it’s not only gluten free and grain free, but it’s also nut free!
Then for the vegan cream cheese frosting, all you’ll need is:
- Vegan butter (I like Miyoko’s as it’s also Paleo)
- Vegan cream cheese (again, Miyoko’s because it’s Paleo)
- Powdered sugar (for a completely Paleo cake, you can make powdered coconut sugar!)
How to make vegan sweet potato spice cake
Making a sweet potato cake, nonetheless a Paleo…vegan…sweet potato spice cake…may seem intimidating, but I promise that it’s actually one of the easiest cakes to put together.
All you’ll need to do is:
- Whisk the dry ingredients together.
- Then combine all of the wet ingredients: Sweet potato, maple syrup, coconut milk, and flaxseed mixed with water.
- Fold the wet into the dry ingredients then distribute evenly amongst two cake pans.
- Bake and then let cool before frosting!
See? Not that hard right? And you’ll just love the flavors of this vegan spice cake too; it’s something that kids and adults would absolutely flip over.
The Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
Now, when you’re ready to frost, you’ll just need to prepare your cream cheese frosting. You can also do just a straight up vegan buttercream frosting, but I prefer the slight tang to the cream cheese mixed with the warm spices. It’s REALLY good!
To make the frosting, simply:
- Beat together the vegan butter and vegan cream cheese until fluffy using a hand mixer or a stand mixer.
- Add in the powdered sugar (or coconut sugar) in increments while you continue to mix.
- Frost your cake!
I wanted to make it a little more festive, and I made a mini gingerbread house on top with a frosting snowman, but you totally don’t have to do that!
If you do want to make a mini house though, I’ll be sharing a vegan gingerbread house soon so stay tuned!
Tips & Tricks:
- Chill your frosted cake before slicing! This makes it way easier to slice, and the frosting won’t get everywhere.
- The extra sweetness comes from a perfectly baked sweet potato. You want the natural sugars to completely caramelize while baking. Check out my sweet potato guide for tips and tricks on that.
- I wouldn’t recommend swapping out the maple syrup for coconut sugar. This is because the maple syrup is a wet ingredient, while the coconut sugar is a dry ingredient. It will alter the texture of the cake, which is very moist and fluffy!
- BUT you CAN swap out the flour! If you don’t want to use cassava flour, you can absolutely swap out a Paleo baking flour mix (like King Arthur’s or Bob’s Red Mill), 1-to-1 gluten free flour, or all purpose (but please note: all purpose won’t make this vegan spice cake gluten free anymore!).
- Have fun with the decorations! You can make this cake however you want it: leave it plane Jane or spice it up with some vegan gluten free gingerbread cookies, some tree brands, or whatever else you like!
I hope you love this vegan spice cake as much as I do! If you make it for the holidays, let me know down below in the comments section. As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there!
Happy spice cake baking!
Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!
Vegan Spice Cake (Paleo too!)
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 35
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
Description
Moist and decadent vegan spice cake layered with a vegan cream cheese frosting! This holiday cake is perfect for all ages and naturally gluten free, Paleo, and dairy free!
Ingredients
- 2 cups sweet potato, cooked + mashed
- 3 cups cassava flour
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups coconut milk + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 1/3 cup water
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1 cup vegan butter, softened but still cold
- 1 cup vegan cream cheese, softened but still cold
- 3 cups powdered sugar (for Paleo, use 3 cups powdered coconut sugar)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and grease two 8″ cake pans with coconut or olive oil.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cassava flour, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer to combine the mashed sweet potatoes, maple syrup, coconut milk with apple cider vinegar, and ground flaxseed mixture.
- Pour the wet ingredients into dry and mix thoroughly.
- Divide the batter amongst the two cake pans evenly and bake for 32-36 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 min before removing from the pan.
- To make the frosting: use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat together the vegan butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Sift in the powdered sugar in increments until well combined.
- To assemble: level the cakes if needed then spread a thick layer of frosting on top of one cake. Place the second cake crumb side down and continue to frost the rest of the cake.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 387
- Sugar: 38.9 g
- Sodium: 288.5 mg
- Fat: 11.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 72 g
- Protein: 2.2 g
- Cholesterol: 14.6 mg
Keywords: spice cake, vegan spice cake, sweet potato cake, vegan sweet potato cake, paleo spice cake
This cake is so cute and stunning! Love that you added sweet potatoes, so smart. Beautiful photos! 🙂
★★★★★
Aw Elsa thank you thank you!! You’re such a gem!! Sending you a big hug!
Hi! Is this calling for canned coconut milk or just regular boxed milk? Thanks!
Hi Madeline! You can use either! I used canned, but either will work! 🙂
Oh that little snowman is just the cutest 🙂 The flavor on this is awesome! Tastes like carrot cake but even better!
★★★★★
Aw thank you so so much!! Enjoy!
Could the cassava flour be substituted for a different kind?
Yes absolutely! You can use all purpose or a gluten free 1-to-1 baking flour!
Hello!
This cake looks delicious, but I have never used cassava flour before. Is it pretty expensive, or can it be easily substituted with almond flour?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Evelyn! Cassava flour is pretty similar to regular AP flour 🙂 You can find it at the grocery store for about $8-9, which is about the same if not a little cheaper than almond flour, but it definitely is on the pricier side (as are most Paleo flours compared to regular!)! But if you want to swap in almond flour, I would do for every cup of cassava flour, 3/4 cup almond and 1/4 cup coconut!
Thank you so much! I’m excited to try this!
This is not nut free! Coconut is a nut, & coconut milk is nut milk!
Hi Dee! So coconut is not actually a nut- it’s a fruit called a drupe. That’s why those with nut allergies can eat coconut, but you have to have a very specific allergy to coconut in order to be allergic to coconut. You can have a coconut allergy and not be allergic to nuts, and vise versa.