Vegan pumpkin cake and cream cheese frosting

Here at last are the recipes I described in my October 8 posting for the pumpkin cake from Veganomicon and the cream cheese frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Both books are extremely – to borrow a term from the 1980s – user friendly. They’re upbeat and accessible, even if you’re new to vegetarian/vegan ingredients. You’ll never miss the artery-clogging butter, eggs, and milk used in traditional baking. I own every one of Isa Chandra and Terry's cookbooks, so you can plan on seeing more where these came from!

Pumpkin cake

Adapted from Veganomicon

 

1 15 oz. can pureed pumpkin

3/4 c milk (I used almond; Isa recommends soy)

3/4 c canola oil

1 1/2 c granulated sugar

3 T light molasses

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 2/3 c all-purpose flour

1 T baking powder

1 tsp. Salt

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

3/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

3/4 c chopped, toasted pecans (my addition)

1/2 c raisins, softened by soaking briefly in boiling water (my addition)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13” baking pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, soy milk, oil, granulated sugar, molasses, and vanilla. Mix well. Add roughly half the flour, the baking powder, salt, spices, and nuts and use a fork to fold everything together. Add the remaining flour and mix gently until combined. Add raisins. Don’t use a hand blender for this, as pumpkin can get gummy if it’s mixed too aggressively. Blending with a fork helps maintain the texture.

Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and spread it out with a spatula. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a knife inserted through the center comes out clean.

From the book Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero. Reprinted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright 2007. www.dacapopresscookbooks.com.

Vegan cream cheese frosting, 2x

From Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

1/2 c nonhydrogenated margarine, softened

1/2 c vegan cream cheese, softened (dairy cream cheese would probably work fine, too)

4 c confectioners’ sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Cream together margarine and cream cheese until just combined. Use a handheld mixer to whip while adding the confectioners sugar in 1/2 c batches. Mix until smooth and creamy, then mix in the vanilla. Keep tightly covered and refrigerated until ready to use. (This also freezes very well.)

From the book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero. Reprinted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright 2006. www.dacapopresscookbooks.com.

Isa Chandra's Pumpkin Cake

What a happy coincidence that I procured a case of canned pumpkin just days before the annual Sukkot potluck dinner my husband's congregation puts on every year. Briefly, Sukkot is the annual harvest festival celebrated by Jews. A sukkah (hut) is erected and we all get together in it to thank God for the plentiful harvest and to share food with friends. This year's turn-out was good with about 20 of us there. The hut was solidly constructed, which kept us warm, and enough people brought lanterns that we weren't completely in the dark by 7 p.m.

The buffet was ample and satisfying with lots of noodle dishes, including kugel, lasagne, and pasta salad, and there was a lot of good crusty bread. Is it me or do potlucks generally lack in green vegetables? Maybe next time I'll get gutsy and bring a platter of sauteed spinach or steamed broccoli.

But not this time. This weekend, I was itching to get into that pumpkin. I wanted to make a pumpkin cake. Not muffins or bread. Cake. The difference is subtle and some would say there is no difference, but I find that whether it’s made with carrots, pumpkin, bananas or some other fruit or veggie, a cake typically has a softer crumb than its related bread or muffin.

I ended up finding what I was after in Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s book, Veganomicon. I made her Pumpkin Crumb Cake with Pecan Streusel on page 255, with a couple of alterations. First, I omitted the streusel, instead using vegan cream cheese frosting (from one of her other books, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World). I also added 3/4 cup chopped pecans and 1/2 cup softened raisins (softened by soaking them briefly in boiling water before adding to the batter).

I had originally planned to serve the cake

at the dinner, then bring two big pieces to Leona and Larry, new friends who live down the street. This is the gorgeous jewel of a cake I brought to the dinner...

And this is what I brought home…

Sorry, guys; I promise, you’ll have first dibs on the next baked good I create!