Vegan Pumpkin Crumb Cake

Vegan pumpkin crumb cake - an extra moist, soft, spiced pumpkin cake with a crunchy pecan crumble topping; it is so easy to make and so delicious!

This recipe uses a whole tin of pumpkin puree and is the perfect cake for Autumn!

One annoying thing about a lot of pumpkin cake recipes is that they use just under a full can of puree so you are left with a little bit that you have to find something else to make with; this recipe uses the full can so there is no waste; this also makes for a beautifully moist cake with lots of flavour.

Despite it not being as commonly used here in the UK as it is in the US, I absolutely adore baking with pumpkin. I think that pumpkin spice might just be my favourite cake flavour, especially when it is topped with a crisp, buttery pecan streusel like this vegan pumpkin crumb cake!

The cake is wonderfully soft, which contrasts really nicely with the crunchy crumble, and the flavour is full of warming spices, pumpkin and nutty pecans. It is very difficult to stop at just one slice!

Ingredient Details:

Plain (all-purpose) flour: Just regular plain flour is best here. I do not recommend swapping it for wholemeal as that will make the cake too dense. I haven't tested this cake gluten-free.

Sugar: I like to use a mix of light brown soft and caster sugar. You can use all of one or the other if you want but the texture and colour of the cake may be slightly different.

Granulated sugar will work instead of caster. Do not swap the sugar for sweeteners or liquid sugars.

Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda (baking soda): You need to use both, they are not interchangeable.

Pumpkin spice: In the UK this is readily available online and you can also make your own - see below for instructions. I also add cinnamon to the streusel topping but you can use more pumpkin spice instead.

Tinned pumpkin puree: You need to use pure pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie filling. It is available from many larger supermarkets in the UK, or online. See instructions below for how to make your own.

Oil: Any neutral flavoured oil that is liquid at room temperature will work. I tend to use olive oil (not extra virgin), but sunflower oil is also good.

Milk: Any variety of unsweetened non-dairy milk will work (except tinned coconut milk) but I like soy milk the best for baking as it has the highest protein content.

Vinegar: This reacts with the bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) to help the cake rise and give it a fluffy texture.

Vanilla: Optional but recommended.

Vegan butter: You will need a vegan butter for the crumble topping, block rather than spreadable is best, I like Flora plant butter.

Pecans: Adding some chopped pecans to the streusel gives it extra flavour and texture. Walnuts or hazelnuts would work well instead.

How To Make Vegan Pumpkin Crumb Cake:

(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)

Step 1: Start by preparing the crumble topping - mix the plain flour, light brown soft sugar and pumpkin spice together in a bowl. Add the cold vegan block butter and rub it in until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Stir in the chopped pecans then pop the bowl in the fridge while you prepare the cake batter.

Step 2: Whisk together the flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, light brown soft sugar and caster sugar in a large bowl.

Step 3: Add the pumpkin puree, oil, milk, vinegar and vanilla extract and stir with a balloon whisk until smooth.

Step 4: Transfer the batter to a lined 23 cm/9 in square tin and spread it level.

Step 5: Scatter over the streusel topping and gently pat it down.

Step 6: Bake for 55-60 minutes.

Top Tips:

As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!

If you are using tinned/canned pumpkin puree, make sure that it is 100% pumpkin, NOT pumpkin pie filling.

Make sure that the vegan pumpkin crumb cake has cooled completely before you slice it as otherwise the texture can be a little gummy.

I like to use pecans in the crumble toping but you can use any kind you like. Hazelnuts would be lovely.

The nuts in the crumble topping can be omitted if you prefer.

How To Make Your Own Pumpkin Pie Spice:

Pumpkin pie spice blend isn’t readily available outside of the US. In the UK the closest thing we have is mixed spice (though M&S have started selling pumpkin spice and it is available online), but it is a different blend of spices to pumpkin spice so it’s not the best thing to use if you want a true pumpkin spice flavour.

The good news is that it is really easy to make your own using a few common spices – cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice.

To make it, just mix together 3 Tbsp ground cinnamon, 2 tsp ground ginger, 2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1 tsp ground cloves and 1 tsp ground allspice.

You can easily halve the recipe if you only want to make a small jar of it, but the homemade pumpkin pie spice will keep in an airtight container for ages and is perfect for using in all your autumnal and festive bakes.

How To Make Pumpkin Puree:

I used tinned pumpkin puree to make this vegan pumpkin coffee cake which I get from Sainsbury’s; it can also be found in some Tesco’s, Waitrose and on Ocado and Amazon. In the supermarkets it is often hidden away in a little ‘American section’ in the world foods aisles.

If you can’t find it however it is also really easy to make your own; you just need to halve, de-seed and roast an eating pumpkin (NOT a carving one) or a butternut squash until it is tender then scoop the flesh out of the skin and puree it until smooth.

Roast it at around 200C/400F/gas mark 6. The time it takes will very much depend on how large the pumpkin/squash is so just cook it until the flesh can easily be pierced with a fork.

I don’t recommend boiling the pumpkin to cook it as that will make the puree too wet.

If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess

All images and content on Domestic Gothess are copyright protected. If you want to share this recipe then please do so by using the share buttons provided. Do not screenshot or post the recipe or content in full.