Elevate your holiday table with this impressive yet easy Vegan Pumpkin Mousse Cake. A layer of vanilla sponge cake made with spelt flour, topped with another layer of luscious pumpkin mousse. Allergen Information: Free of dairy, egg, soy, yeast.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 30 minutes
  • Cook time: 40 minutes
  • Total time: 70 minutes
  • Yield: 12
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Wet:

  • 2 Tablespoons flaxmeal
  • 1/3 cup warm water
  • 3/4 cup ground raw sugar (2 Tbsp more for sweeter)
  • 1/3 cup oil (use a combination of oils. I use half organic canola and half coconut)
  • 1/3 cup coconut milk or almond milk
  • 1 Tbsp vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)

Dry:

  • 1.5 cup Spelt flour
  • 2 Tbsps cornstarch
  • 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Pumpkin Mousse:

  • 1/2 cup almond milk
  • 1.5 tsp agar powder
  • 3/4 cup pumpkin puree warm
  • 1/2 cup ground raw sugar
  • 1.5 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or add 1/2 tsp cinnamon & ginger, 1/4 tsp clove & nutmeg)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • a generous pinch of salt
  • 1 Tbsp cornstarch mixed in 2 Tbsp water
  • 2/3 cup coconut cream
  • 1/4 cup ground raw sugar

Frosting:

  • 1/4 cup Pumpkin mousse
  • 1 tsp rum extract
  • 1/2 cup coconut cream or full fall coconut milk

Method

Vanilla Cake:

  1. In a bowl, mix flax meal and water. Let sit for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients under wet and mix well to combine.
  2. In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients well. Add dry to wet and mix just till combined.
  3. Pour this thick batter onto greased 8-inch cake pan. Bake at pre-heated 365 degrees F for 35-40 minutes, until toothpick from the center comes out clean,
  4. Let the cake cool a bit, then remove from pan. Slice the cake into 2 and clean up the edges or the bottom if you like. You can make the cake a day early and leave it at room temperature in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Mousse:

  1. In a pan, heat almond milk at medium heat. Add agar powder to it and whisk well. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Add warmed pumpkin puree, spices, salt, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla extract and whisk well. Cook for 5-6 minutes so the cornstarch gets cooked. Let the pumpkin mixture set in the refrigerator for a few hours. It will be like a well-set gel.
  2. Blend the pumpkin gel with 2/3 cup coconut cream in a blender. Taste and adjust spice and sugar. Add 1/4 cup or more or less sugar if needed and blend. (To get coconut cream, refrigerate full-fat coconut milk cans for a few hours, then remove the accumulated cream from top).

Assembly:

  1. Spread this mousse between the 2 cake layers. Even it out, then wrap the cake in cling wrap and place in the 8-inch cake pan in the refrigerator for a few hours. Remove from refrigerator, unwrap and prep for frosting.
  2. I made the frosting with the remaining mousse, but you can make any fall spiced or plain frosting of choice.
  3. Blend the remaining mousse with about 1/2 cup coconut cream and rum extract until smooth.
  4. Evenly spread the pumpkin pie spiced coconut cream frosting on the cake on the sides and top. Sprinkle a little cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice on top through a sieve.
  5. Slice and serve, or just eat all of it.
  6. Or make the cake and the mousse and serve it up as parfaits.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.