Pumpkin Cake...Squash Cake...

 I can never understand why people are so closed minded when it comes to squash...maybe it is the name "squash"?  I mean it doesn't sound all that appealing, and yet it is so delicious!  If they would just take a minute to try a bite of some kabocha squash puree, maybe they would find that they prefer it to pumpkin, as I do.  Pumpkin and squash are interchangable in recipes such as fall cakes as far as I am concerned, and I often have lots of squash left over if I cook a large one the night before for dinner.  So, although I sometimes call things such as baked goods pumpkin, in my house they are always some other sort of squash.  Pumpkin is a type squash afterall...anyways the point I am trying to make is I make a cake, call it pumpkin, but in reality it is actually made with kabocha squash puree which tastes much better to me. 

This was the case this weekend, as I do not have cans of pumpkin in my cupboard, but I did have squash, and I wanted to make a delicious cake!  I came up with a vegan pumpkin spice cake recipe, which was incredibly moist and flavorful.  I wanted this cake to taste like biting into a pumpkin pie, but be light as well.  So I added plenty of spice, chipotle included, to see how it would go with the rest of the spices.  It was a wonderful addition and gave the cake the zip it needed and wasn't getting simply from the addition of ginger. 

For my frosting, I wanted to try using some vegan cream cheese, but I didn't want to load it up with powdered sugar, so I used agave nectar and maple sugar to sweeten it.  It ended up tasting like maple whipped cream, a perfect adornment for the spiced squash cake!  Lastly I decided that the cake needed to have something crunchy on it, so I made some spiced pepitas to decorate it with.  The finished cake was heavenly with the moist spicy cake layers and the creamy sweet frosting!  If you would like a treat, you should definately try this, and you can use pumpkin if you don't have squash! 

Vegan Pumpkin Spice Cake with Vanilla Maple Frosting and Spiced Pepitas

Makes 1 6 inch 4 layer cake

Cake:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup maple sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp cardamom
2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground chipotle powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sea salt

3/4 cup pureed pumpkin or squash

1/4 cup coconut oil
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp maple extract
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp apple cider
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Spiced Pepitas:

1 cup pepitas

1 Tbsp agave nectar
1 Tbsp maple sugar
1 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp cardamom

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground chipotle powder
Frosting:
3 8 oz pkgs vegan cream cheese (such as Tofutti)
1/2 cup agave nectar

1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

2 tsp pure maple extract
1/4 cup maple sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and position rack in center of oven. Line two six-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides with parchment paper. Coat parchment paper and pan sides with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, baking soda, spices, salt, and sugar in a large bowl to blend well. Whisk pumpkin, oil, maple extract, vanilla extract, and cider together in small bowl to blend well, then whisk into the flour mixture until well blended. Whisk in cider vinegar and stir quickly (pale swirls will be in the batter, which is the baking soda reacting with the vinegar, which allows the cake to rise since there are no eggs). Transfer cake batter to prepared pan and bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan on rack, about 1 hour. Cut around sides of pan to loosen. Turn cake out onto platter; peel off parchment paper. Let cool completely, then place in the fridge to chill until very cold to make slicing easier (since cakes with no eggs crumble easier). When chilled, slice cakes horizontally in half so that you have 4 layers.

To make spiced pepitas, heat oven to 375, line a baking sheet with foil, and spray with non-stick spray. Toss seeds with agave nectar, sugar, spices, and sea salt and mix until well combined. Spread out on prepared sheet, and bake for 10-15 minutes until seeds are fragrant and toasted. Remove pan from oven and let cool completley. Set aside until finished frosting the cake.  You will only need some of these for the cake decorations, so you can snack on the rest!

To make frosting, beat cream cheese in a large bowl until very fluffy and smooth, Then beat in remaining ingredients until well blended. To assemble cake, place a layer of cake on a plate, and spoon a heaping 1/2 cup frosting over, almost to the sides, then top with another layer and repeat. Top with another cake layer, another frosting layer, then the top cake layer. Spread the frosting over the top and the sides of the cake, and press spiced pepitas decoratively around the top of the cake, and a couple in the middle on the top. Place around the bottom of the cake as well.  If you have leftover frosting, you can also pipe some of it decoratively on top of the cake.  Chill the cake at least a few hours to set filling before serving.

*if you would like a 4 layer 9 inch cake, double this entire recipe and bake in two 9 inch cake pans.