Vegan Chocolate-Swirled Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Molasses Glaze

Very nice pumpkin fall cake that's vegan!!  Very moist and my daughter actually liked the cake! Discovered this recipe in the Wall Street Journal. It's adapted from Diane Forley of Flourish Baking Company and Meringueshop. I like that you can use ingredients that are usually in your pantry, with the exception of canned pumpkin puree.

I substituted with vegetable oil instead of sunflower oil, soy milk instead of rice milk, and did not make the glaze or sprinkle with pepitas (salted pumpkin seeds). I just sprinkled with powdered sugar. I thought the cake was still good and sweet enough without the glaze. I baked the cake for 75 min.

Baked this also in a 4 mini-bundt cake pan and baked it for 30- 35 min.   

Chocolate-Swirled Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Molasses Glaze (posted in the WSJ, adapted from Diane Forley of Flourish Bakery)

Ingredients:

For the cake:

·        1/2 cup sunflower seed oil, plus more for greasing pan (used ½ cup vegetable oil)

·        2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

·        1 cup plus 2 tablespoons rice milk, oat milk, or preferred plant-based milk (used soy milk; need 1 cup in step 2 and 2 tablespoons in step 4)

·        1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, or distilled white vinegar

·        1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

·        1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

·        1/2 teaspoon salt

·        2 1/4 cups granulated sugar (Need 2 cups in step 3 and ¼ cup in step 4)

·        1/3 cup maple syrup or brown rice syrup (used maple syrup)

·        2 cups (15-oz can) unsweetened pumpkin puree (without spices)

·        2 teaspoons vanilla extract

·        1/2 cup cocoa powder

·        1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·        1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

·        1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

For the glaze: (did not use glaze or pepitas)

·        Salted pepitas, for garnish

·        2 cups powdered sugar

·        1 tablespoon molasses, or maple syrup

·        3 tablespoons rice milk, oat milk or preferred plant-based milk

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 10 to 12 quart Bundt pan or 3 pound (4 by 2 by 9 inch) loaf pan. Dust with flour and tap out excess. Set aside.

2.     In small bowl, combine 1 cup rice milk (I used 1 cup soy milk) with vinegar and let sit at least 10 min. In medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3.     Use an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment to beat together oil, 2cups sugar and maple syrup on medium speed until evenly combined, 1 minute (I mixed this by hand). Gradually add pumpkin puree, vanilla extract and rice milk mixture. Continue to beat until ingredients are well incorporated. Turn off mixture. Add dry ingredients andbeat on low speed until just combined.

4.     Make the chocolate swirl: Transfer 1.5 cups batter to another bowl. Add cocoa powder, remaining ¼ cup sugar and remaining 2 tablespoons rice milk, and whisk until smooth.

5.     Add cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice to batter in mixer and beat on low speed to incorporate.

6.     Pour batters into prepared Bundt pan in alternating layers, 1 cup pumpkin batter followed by ½ cup chocolate batter. Repeat until you use up batters. (I started with pumpkin, and ended up with chocolate; doing this made a nice chocolate swirl) Bake until a skwer inserted in cake comes out clean, about 1 ½ hours (I baked for 75 min). Let cake cool in pan on baking rack for 20 min before removing.

7.     Make the glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, molasses and rice milk to combine. Add more powdered sugar to adjust thickness of glaze as necessary. For a stiffer icing, use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and beat on high speed until lightened in color, 5 minutes.

8.     Place wax paper beneath cooling rack. Turn cake out of Bundt pan into cooling rack. Spoon glaze over surface of cake to coat. While glaze is still wet, sprinkle a few handfuls of pumpkin seeds all over. You may need to gently press them into the cake to help them adhere.