Pumpkin Tahini Cake

Dairy-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, vegan variation 

The holidays have come and gone. I am sure that I am not alone in my feeling that the holidays may be full of joy, but also full of stress. I know that my holiday season was filled with sweets and just because it is a new year that does not mean that I am getting rid of the sweets all together. I will always need something sweet.  

Now this treat was on the holiday menu for thanksgiving and it was quite the popular item. When I was younger and the holidays came around, there was one dessert that my mom always asked me to make. She will ask me to make it  (or she will make her own too) even though she will only eat one slice and no one else in my family eats it. I am talking about Pumpkin pie. 

Since I am a good daughter, I have always made my mom traditional pumpkin pie, but last year I decided to do a little something different and, don’t @ me, it is SO much better than pumpkin pie. 

Pumpkin Tahini Cake. I promise it’s better than pumpkin pie and is delicious outside of the holiday season. 

Pumpkin and tahini, in my opinion, are a match made in heaven. Pumpkin has an earthy sweetness while tahini has a nutty, savory flavor. When you put the two together, it is a balanced flavor like you would not believe. This cake takes those two flavors and amps up the roasted, sweetness by adding date syrup, coconut sugar and little bit of espresso (or coffee if you prefer).

This cake gets a lot of moisture not only from the pumpkin, tahini and olive oil, but also from the flours. Almond flour is inherently moist because almonds are mostly fat (yummy fat). Almond flour ensures a soft crumb while the oat, white rice and tapioca flours work together to give structure to this gluten-free cake. If you do not want to buy the various flours (or don’t have them), you can use a combination of almond flour and oat flour, almond flour and gluten-free all purpose flour. 

If you want to make this cake vegan, you can substitute 1.5 tablespoons flax meal and 1/4 cup warm water. Do not mix them together ahead of time. 

The cake will be a bit denser, but still delicious! 

Recipe

265g pumpkin puree (around a mounded cup. Almost an entire can)

15g (about 2 tbsp) olive oil 

86g (about 1/3 cup) tahini 

28g (about 2 tbsp) date syrup (you can use molasses or maple syrup) 

110g (3/4 cup) coconut sugar 

2 large eggs 

1/4 cup almond milk 

130g (1 cup) superfine almond flour 

32g (1/4 cup) oat flour 

12g (2 tbsp) tapioca flour 

20g (2 tbsp) white rice flour 

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt 

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1/2 tsp instant espresso powder 

3 tbsp tahini for topping 

Preheat the oven to 350F and liberally grease an 8 inch, round cake pan and line it with parchment paper. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat, almond, tapioca and white rice flours along with baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, espresso and salt. Make sure to get out any lumps in the almond and oat flours. 

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, olive oil, tahini, date syrup and coconut sugar. Whisk together until smooth and combined. Add the two eggs and whisk vigorously for 3 minutes. 

Add half the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, whisking to combine. Add the almond milk and whisk to incorporate. Add the rest of the flour mixture and whisk again to combine everything. It’s a lot of whisking, but it is worth it. 

Scrape the batter into into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly throughout the pan with a spatula. Drizzle the additional 3 tablespoons of tahini across the top of the batter. Use a butter knife to swirl around. Get artistic with it. 

Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, until the middle springs back when touched. Let cool completely before removing from the pan. 

This cake is delicious on its own, but try drizzling more tahini over a slice, maybe some coconut yogurt and a little more date syrup.