Chocolate Pumpkin Beer Cake {Vegan}
This cake has rapidly become my go-to when it comes to birthdays.
Truthfully, I am kind of snob when it comes to baked goods. Despite the fact that my kid loves Oreos, we very seldom have them in the house. I prefer to send him to school with homemade cookies in his lunch.
Same goes for birthday cakes. Now, I’m not much of a decorator. My cakes are not elegant by any means. Rustic rules the day. But what they lack in finesse, they make up for in flavor.
It was my brother’s birthday a few months back, and I made this cake (for a table full of carnivores). This was the result:
Yup, you don’t have to be vegan to like it. It’s just good cake.
I liked this recipe so much, I put it in my cookbook. This version I’m sharing with you today is a slight adaptation that includes pumpkin, because, well, I had some that needed to be used up, and also, it’s that time of the year. Pumpkin is great to add to vegan recipes because it both binds and helps to make the cake nice and moist.
I’m using a dark beer here. Porters and stouts are perfect for this kind of recipe. They go so well with the chocolate, and they add both a depth of flavor and also a lightness to the cake, from the carbonation of the beer.
So if you’ve never baked with beer, why not?? It rocks.
Chocolate Pumpkin Beer Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 1/2 cups dark beer I'm using Granville Island Brewing's Mocha Porter
- 3/4 cup cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 tbsp aquafaba
- 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
For the ganache
- 1 cup 70% good quality vegan bittersweet dark chocolate
- 2 tbsp unsweetened non-dairy milk approx.
Instructions
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder.
- In a separate bowl, whip together the sugar, coconut oil, vanilla and pumpkin. Add the beer and stir again until everything is homogeneous.
- Using a hand- or stand- mixer, add the aquafaba and the cream of tartar to the bowl. Whip for about 6-10 minutes, or until soft peaks form.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine. Carefully fold the whipped aquafaba into the cake batter. Pour into a prepared bundt pan.
- Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool, then remove from the pan.
- To make the ganache, melt chocolate and milk together over a bain marie, adding more milk if needed to get the right constancy. Pour over the cake and allow to drip down the sides.