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Pumpkin Bundt Cake is all about fall! Spicy, sweet, filled with apples, pecans, and dripping with a Medjool date caramel topping. This recipe is plant-based, and dairy and egg-free. Enjoy this pumpkin bundt cake for breakfast or on a lazy afternoon with a cup of coffee. This seasonal cake is perfect to take and share. Trust me, it’s that good!
Raise your hand if you sometimes like a little something sweet for breakfast! (Raising my hand…) Notice, I said a *little* something sweet. Because this pumpkin bundt cake is not overly sweet, it’s perfect for breakfast, brunch, or to enjoy with your afternoon coffee. Bursting with pumpkin, apple, and caramel goodness; it hits the spot.
For some other great seasonal breakfast or brunch ideas, try my Puff Pastry Apple Cranberry Strudel, Apple Dumplings Made in the Instant Pot, or Pumpkin Spice Crescent Rolls.
And if you are just looking for more vegan pumpkin yummy sweets, try:
- Vegan Pumpkin Pie with Cashew Creme
- Pumpkin Bundt Cake with (Vegan) Cream Cheese Filling
- Pumpkin Muffins with Pecans
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – Just Like Grandma’s
- Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts
Table of contents
- And if you are just looking for more vegan pumpkin yummy sweets, try:
- Pin now to save for later
- Ingredients needed to make apple pumpkin bundt cake:
- How to make the best apple pumkin bundt cake
- The Medjool Date Caramel Sauce
- Serving suggestions
- SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT THE OIL:
- Can’t find pumpkin pie spice?
- The printable recipe card for apple pumpkin bundt cake
Pin now to save for later
Ingredients needed to make apple pumpkin bundt cake:
- coconut sugar
- all-purpose flour
- salt for the cake and for the caramel date sauce
- baking Soda
- baking powder
- pumpkin pie spice
- ground cinnamon
- pumpkin puree NOT premixed pumpkin pie filling
- vanilla extract (used for the cake as well as the date caramel sauce)
- apple cider vinegar
- plant milk – I use vanilla almond milk for extra yumminess (use for cake as well as for caramel sauce)
- pure maple syrup
- vegetable oil
- Medjool dates pitted and soaked in hot water
- You will also need a basic bundt pan
How to make the best apple pumkin bundt cake
Step 1: Prepare the ingredients
Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and flour your bundt pan. It’s best to use a simple bundt pan for this recipe or even a tube pan. The chunky fruit might stick to the sides as it cooks and it’s much easier to release the cake from the pan if there aren’t too many nooks and crannies.
Mix the apple cider vinegar and plant milk together and let the mixture sit while you are preparing the other ingredients. This makes a “sour milk” and will help with depth of flavor and with rising.
Peel and chop the apples. This recipe calls for two apples and I always use two different kinds for flavor variety – usually a Granny Smith and then a sweeter red or yellow apple. Peel and chop the apples into small bite-sized pieces.
Chop the pecans if they are not already chopped. You could also use walnuts in this cake if you prefer – but pecans make me happier than walnuts do!
Step 2: The dry ingredients
Mix together the dry ingredients ensuring no clumps. Once you mix the wet ingredients into the dry, you only want to mix enough to moisten well.
If you don’t have coconut sugar you can swap for white or brown sugar. Brown sugar is more similar in flavor but holds a little extra moisture. This cake is plenty moist without any extra added in. So be aware it might take a little longer to bake. White sugar is an easy swap but lacks the depth of flavor – it’s just sweet.
I do recommend using coconut sugar in this recipe. You can find it on your grocer’s shelf near the sugars – or sometime near the organic or health foods. Or you can buy coconut sugar on Amazon if you are having trouble finding it.
Step 3: The wet ingredients
Mix together the wet ingredients including the soured plant milk and the canned pumpkin. Make sure to buy canned pumpkin puree – not the premixed pumpkin pie filling.
If you want to make your own pumpkin puree, make sure to use the best pumpkin for the job. Don’t use the same type of pumpkin you carve into a jack-o-lantern. Use a sugar pumpkin or something similar instead. This post about making pumpkin puree from Old World Garden Farms gives the best options.
Step 4: Mixing it together
Mix together the dry and the wet ingredients. I like to put the dry ingredients in a large bowl and pour the wet ingredients into the dry.
Fold in the chopped apples and pecans. This is why it’s important to have them chopped and prepared ahead of time. Mix with a large spoon until everything is mixed together and moistened. You don’t want to mix any longer than necessary.
Step 5: Bake and cool
Place your bundt cake into a preheated oven. I like to place it on a cookie sheet on the center rack. This bundt cake is very dense and will take an hour to bake – maybe a little longer. I’ve adjusted the ingredients because a reader was having difficulty and emailed me. (Thank you, Kate!) But have now cooked this recipe 3 times today to make sure!
You will know when it’s done because the top will be browned and when pressed slightly, will rebound.
Take it out of the oven on the cookie sheet. Allow to set on a cooling rack for about ten minutes. Carefully turn it onto the cooling rack. If it doesn’t come out immediately then give it a bang and let gravity take its course. If you have properly greased and floured your pan and checked for any spots you missed, you should not have any trouble.
The Medjool Date Caramel Sauce
While the cake is cooking, you will have time to make the Medjool date caramel sauce. Medjool dates make a thick plant-based caramel sauce. Try my Coconut Date Syrup poured on top of a thick stack of Banana Nut Pancakes.
Not familiar with Medjool dates yet? You are in for a yummy surprise! Read 13 Surprising Facts About Medjool Dates )and How to Cook with Them).
Use 18 pitted Medjool dates. Soak the pitted dates in hot water for about 30 minutes while the cake is cooking. Simply drain and blend in a high-speed blender along with almond milk, vanilla, and a little salt.
Here is a trick I use to get the caramel sauce to look “drizzled” and not glopped on: I put it in a pastry bag and simply squeeze it out where I want it to go.
Serving suggestions
Top with chopped pecans and some golden sugar sprinkles for fun and this cake is ready to go! This pumpkin bundt cake is best warmed up and deliciously served with a cup of coffee or hot tea.
Another icing alternative
You could also pour a rich butter glaze over the top instead of the caramel date sauce. Try my Classic Buttery Donut Glaze, Browned Butter Glaze, Brown Sugar Cinnamon Glaze, or Maple Glaze (coming soon
SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT THE OIL:
Many of my recipes are oil-free, yet this pumpkin bundt cake recipe does contain oil. Honestly, the taste and texture of this cake are better when made with a little oil. When I make this cake to take and share with others, I want it to be the tastiest it can be. Vegan food can already feel like foreign territory to people who don’t eat this way. I want my friends to talk about how awesome my plant-based food is and ask for the recipe.
If you want to make it oil-free, then sub in your favorite fruit puree. I suggest unsweetened apple sauce for this cake. It will be moist and delicious!
Can’t find pumpkin pie spice?
Make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice – it’s so easy!
The printable recipe card for apple pumpkin bundt cake
Did you love this recipe? Want to share the love? It would thrill me to no end if you could leave five ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ stars and even a comment. Did you know that this will help google to find this recipe when others are looking for something similar? Thanks, Cindy
Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Chopped Apples
Equipment
- basic bundt or tube cake can
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 Tablespoon baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Wet Ingredients
- 2/3 cup plant milk I used vanilla almond milk
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 15 ounce can solid pumpkin NOT premixed pumpkin pie filling
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil (see recipe note)
Other Cake Ingredients
- 2 apples, peeled and chopped I use 2 different kinds for variety
- 1/2 cup pecans
Date- Caramel Sauce
- 18 Medjool dates pitted and soaked in hot water
- 1 cup plant milk I used vanilla almond milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
Bundt Cake
- Preheat oven to 350° and grease and flour bundt pan. Set aside.
- Mix the apple cider vinegar with the plant milk. Set aside.
- Peel and chop apples into small pieces. Chop pecans if not already chopped. Set both aside.
- Mix all wet and dry ingredients together in separate bowls. When you mix the wet ingredients, you can add in the soured plant milk.
- Add dry ingredients at once to wet ingredients and mix together by hand till moistened.
- Fold in the chopped apples and pecans.
- Put in 350° oven for about an hour or until sides are pulling away and the cake feels firm-ish on top.
- Take out of oven and allow to cool slightly before turning onto serving plate.
Date-Caramel Sauce
- While the cake is cooking you can prepare the date-caramel sauce. Pit 18 Medjool dates and soak in very hot water for about 30 minutes or until very soft and almost mushy.
- Drain water and put into a high-speed blender along with almond milk, vanilla, and sea salt.
- Blend on high for about 3 minutes until all in smooth and fully incorporated into a “caramel sauce”.
- Put caramel sauce in a pastry bag to artfully drizzle on top of cake. Add pecans to garnish and a chunky sugar if desired. I found a pretty gold sugar by Wilton.
- Best served warm.
I guess I’m really vegan ignorant. Is vegetable oil not plant based. I do use olive oil when cooking for my friends who are vegan. Is that a no no? Oh, and your cake looks luscious, by the way.
Hi – I’m glad you asked the question! Oil is definitely vegan. I consider myself a whole food plant based vegan and this is where it gets a little tricky. The terms “plant-based” and “vegan” have one very huge thing in common: they both exclude animal products. There are differences though. For example, most vegans will not eat honey whereas plant-based eaters might. Vegan is more of a lifestyle which includes the food choices but also includes not wearing or purchasing or participating in events that use animals; while plant-based eaters might use animal products or participate in animal-use events. Plant-based eaters limit, as much as possible, processed foods that a vegan-eater might find acceptable. A great example of this would be potato chips -vs- a baked potato. A potato chip would be okay with a vegan but not a plant-based eater – they would eat a baked potato instead. So oil, which is considered to be totally processed and stripped of it’s useful plant properties would not be as acceptable to a whole-food plant-based eater. Recipes on this blog are both vegan and plant-based. Any time there are exceptions I point it out and allow the user to decide it if fits within their eating philosophy. Hope this answered the question. Again, thanks for asking and I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Looks wonderful dripping with caramel. I think October should be called caramel month. Paired with pumpkin, it’s the best!
Thanks! Caramel is tricky if you are trying to go vegan. You can do a caramel with coconut cream (which I’m working on), but this is a wonderful no fat and natural sweetener (the dates) alternative.
Fabulous way to combine two fall favorites. Sounds amazing.
I hope you enjoy!
This looks like such a delicious mix, especially with that caramel on top! I am a big fan of baking with dates, and apple and pumpkin are always good too.
Thanks! It seemed like the perfect fall trifecta!
Oh yum – I am so interested in trying this, especially the date caramel!
I hope you enjoy it!
I love the medjool dates sauce- looks so good!
It takes longer then 1 hour that’s for sure I have in the oven so far from 140 minutes
Wow that is really shocking! I’ve never had any baked good cook for over two hours at 350°. I hope it turns out for you and I would definitely get an oven thermometer to check your oven just in case. I’m so sorry it’s failed for you:( This is really a delicious cake.
Very yummy pumpkin apple cake with dates caramel sauce. Share your spice recipe please
Hello, if you are unable to find pumpkin pie spice where you live, try this one one from Sugar Spun Run:
Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice
If I was using unsweetened applesauce in place of oil, how much should I use.
Sorry about rating, I hit by mistake in above comment.
Fantastic recipe, perfect for the fall!
I really enjoyed your article. Congrats on the content. 39955883