Paleo Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake With Maple-Vanilla Frosting
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, so I’m delighted that dinner on November 24 is just 27 meals away! We’re keeping it low key this year: It’s just Dave, Smudge, and I digging into a smallish feast of roast duck (with a stuffing made of pork and apples), my paleo cranberry waldorf salad, green beans with bacon, velvety butternut squash (a new Well Fed recipe!), and this pumpkin gingerbread cake.
I’ll be sharing the rest of my Thanksgiving dinner recipes over the next few days, but like my great-great-grandfather who always ate dessert first “just in case,” I’m starting with something sweet.
I think this cake tastes best when it’s chilled. It takes on the denser texture of a cake bar, and the frosting tastes and feels like bakery icing. However, you might like it at room temperature or even warmed a bit. Experiment! You can’t really go wrong, it is cake, after all.
NOTE to Whole30ers: This is a treat and includes honey, so it’s not Whole30-compliant. But don’t worry! The rest of my Thanksgiving recipes are Whole30 approved.
Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake With Maple-Vanilla Frosting
Ingredients:
Cake:
1 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup Justin’s Maple Almond Butter
(If you don’t want to buy maple almond butter, use plain + 1 tablespoon maple syrup.)
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon lemon zestFrosting:
1/3 cup coconut butter
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extractOptional:
Pecan halves or whole almonds for garnish
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Make the cake. In a medium sized bowl, combine all the cake ingredients and mix thoroughly to combine. Pour into an 8×8 oven-safe baking dish. Bake until completely cooked through, about 30 minutes.
3. Make the frosting. Place the coconut butter and coconut oil in a microwave-safe dish and heat until softened, but not melted. The length of time you need to nuke it will depend on the temperature in your house, so start with 30-second increments and repeat until you get the right consistency. Place the coconut butter and oil in a large mixing bowl, then add the honey, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Beat until fluffy with a standing or hand mixer. If you don’t have a mixer, go at it with a whisk… and good luck to you!
4. Assemble! Allow the cake to cool completely. Completely. For real. When you’re sure it’s cooler than Mr. Mike Ness in Red Square in February, you may cut it into 9 or 16 squares. Dollop a spoonful of frosting onto each square and top with a nut. Do not snarf your cake yet – save it for Thanksgiving dinner!
5. Chill out. When all squares are frosted, cover lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. The frosting will firm up in the fridge and the texture transforms into a confection. Serve the cake squares chilled or at room temperature.
Tags: dino-chow, paleo, thanksgiving
55 Responses to “Paleo Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake With Maple-Vanilla Frosting”
Post a comment
Like what you've read? Got something to say? Lay it on me!
Yes please!!! Any way to sub in reg almond butter for Justin$s? Adding some amount of maple to it? Anything else in justins?
Melissa,
This looks awesome! I may have to try this out for our first Thanksgiving here in Austin!
Quick question: Does it have to be Justin’s Maple Almond Butter or can I use regular Almond Butter from my new favorite grocery store out here, HEB?
Thanks!
You can totally use regular almond butter and you could throw in a little maple syrup to amp up the maple flavor in the cake. Maybe a tablespoon or so.
Thanks! Pretty excited for pumpkin/gingerbread combo, a nice seasonal transition – think i’ll make it for an event this weekend!
I think it’s definitely time to get my new food processor so I can make coconut butter!
Would coconut mana work in place of coconut butter in frosting?
I’ve never used coconut manna, so I really don’t know, but I do know this: It’s almost impossible to mess up frosting!
My advice: give it a try with, say, 2 tablespoons of manna and oil and see how it tastes. Then if you like it, whip up a whole batch. Would love it if you report back on your experience if you try it!
Thanks for the tip! I may just turn the mana into more of a butter by using the suggestions in your recipe for home-made coconut butter – my Vitamix should kick some serious @$$ in this department.
I use coconut manna and coconut butter the same in recipes…works great with both.
Ok, this is going on my list of recipe to try when I’m done with Whole 30. One question, I’ve never seen coconut butter…is that something you make or buy pre-made? Thanks!
Congrats on doing the Whole30!
You can buy coconut butter at Whole Foods and other like-minded stores… or you can make your own.
Here’s my recipe.
http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2011/02/22/homemade-coconut-butter-f-yeah
We must have been cosmic twins today. I was telling my hubby today how much I love your blog…then I pop on and find out it will just be you, Dave and Smudge for T-day. It will just be me, M and the cats as well. And I told M earlier, “maybe I’ll make a duck.” And you’re making duck! Also I experimented today making a dessert – paleo apple pumpkin tart. Turned out great but this recipe looks so delish and I love maple. Anyway thanks for sharing!
YAY! Cosmic cousins!
I just wanted to say that I made this recipe a couple weeks back (when I put out a call for a gingerbread recipe) and it was really good. Like, GOOD. Just sayin’. Thanks for the delicious treat.
Glad you liked it! Was it gingery enough?
Well, no, but that’s only because I *like* ginger. I added 1.5 instead of 1 tsp of ginger, but I’d probably double it next time.
D.
Does this recipe really not have any sort of “flour” (coconut/almond meal or otherwise)? It looks like it will just be gooey! I certainly does not look gooey in the photo! It looks delish! I guess I can just try it myself and see! Thanks
NO flour necessary! The eggs+almond butter make a regular cake batter and when it bakes, it’s very bar-like. No goo!
Hi Mel
I read your blog a lot and am just dying to try some of your “sweets” recipes (especially the sweet and salty fudge bombs! and now this delicious looking reciipe)but I don’t tolerate sugar very well.
Anyway, I have been on the paleo diet for about 8 months (accidentally – I was quite sick for a while – but now I know I just function better without grains and sugar etc.).
I have a question about your cookbook I want to buy it but one thing I notice about a lot of paleo style cookbooks is the inclusion of a lot of almond flour. I cannot eat nuts due to a nut allergy and was wondering if your recipes contain a lot of almond or other nut flours?
Hey, Krista!
I’m glad you asked about the cookbook. It includes more than 115 recipes and only two of them use almond flour – one is a dessert and one is a savory dish that will also work just fine without the almond flour.
Except for one fruit crisp that kind of needs nuts for the topping, I only used nuts as “accessories” in my recipes, so in all of them, you can omit the nuts without harming the taste. It’s important for a lot of people to limit nuts (because of omega-6 fatty acids) or eliminate them because of allergies, so I tried to minimize how much nuts show up and the role they play. I think you’ll be really happy with the cookbook!
Thanks so much! I can’t tell you how disappointing it is to invest in a cookbook that uses a lot of nuts or nut flour.
I will be buying your Well Fed cookbook – glad I found and bookmarked your site when I did. The fudge bombs are what caught my eye LOL.
I have been eating the same basic meals every day with lots of veggies and chicken and steak and eggs. I like that I eat the same healthy foods I don’t get tired of it at all but it will be nice to add some variety and try something different once in a while.
Hooray! I’m glad you found me, too! Sign up for the newsletter ’cause I’ll be sharing cookbook info AND special stuff that’s only for subscribers.
Mel, what would you suggest substituting for almond butter? I don’t care for the taste of it and am trying to find a way around using it in things. This recipe looks delicious but is there a way to use almond flour + a wet ingredient and have a similar result? Thanks!
Hey, Nancy! I’m not sure how to substitute the almond flour for almond butter. There’s not THAT MUCH liquid in the almond butter, so maybe try just the almond flour and see what happens? Sorry I can’t be more help. I don’t do much baking — and the “cake” type things I’ve made use almond butter, rather than flour. You might be able to use a recipe from Elana’s Pantry as a guide?
I grind my own almond butter at local health store… it has more texture than jarred almond butter. Do you think this would work just as well? Or would smoother consistency be better? Thanks for the delicious sounding recipe. Can’t wait to try it!
I would think the homemade would work just fine… give it a try! It might have nice crunchy bites of almond in it… and that can’t be a bad thing
What size can of pumpkin puree?
Hey, Amber. It’s one CUP of pumpkin puree, not one can. Good luck with the recipe. Hope you like it!
LOL…I can’t believe I read it that way! Thanks for pointing that out!
Finished Whole 30 Tuesday. Made Paleo Pumpkin Gingerbread squares yesterday. Yum! It’s hard to believe no flour no refined sugar. Thanks for the great addition to our expanding paleo-friendly recipes. Looking forward to the book!
It’s amazing, isn’t it? I’m pretty sure you could feed this to “regular eaters,” and they would have no idea it’s grain and sugar free.
I absolutely LOVED this cake for Thanksgiving. Sugar makes me sick so I never get to enjoy dessert at family get-togethers. This was perfect! I used the store-ground almond butter and yes, you get the bits of almond and it gives a lot of texture. I added about a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger in addition to the ground because I like the taste and smell of fresh. Other than that, followed the recipe and it was FAB!! I also made the cranberry-waldorf salad – another smash hit! Thanks for the recipes!!
I’m so glad the recipes worked for you. AWESOME! And thanks a ton for coming back to let me know. That is really thoughtful!
This cake was so good…not too sweet. Next year I’m bringing this to Thanksgiving..way too many sweet treats this year. I couldn’t find coconut butter and didn’t want to take the time to make it. I have no problem with dairy so I whipped up some cream with a little honey,maple syrup and vanilla. Dolloped on the bars.sprinkled with cinnamon and chopped almonds. Wonderful!
[...] of the Paleo Parent’s Cinnamon Apple Creamed Cereal and am pondering if I can turn this Paleo Pumpkin Gingerbread cake into a lebkucken-spiced cake somehow. The spices are already fairly similar – the [...]
[...] had to go to the in-laws a few hours later and I brought some Braised Cabbage with Paleo Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake courtesy of Melissa J. Um, I tried the crumbs as I was cutting the squares and they were delicious. [...]
[...] Paleo pumpkin gingerbread cake with maple vanilla frosting Differences in technique How exercise benefits the brain Figuring out whether CrossFit is for you Optimal sleep: tips to get it, why you need it NY Times asks: Should we all go gluten-free? [...]
[...] be as sweet as they used to be for me to enjoy them. This cake is good, too, and has less sugar: Paleo Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake With Maple-Vanilla Frosting | theclothesmakethegirl Reply With Quote + Reply to Thread « Previous Thread | [...]
This looks amazing! Any idea of the carb breakdown?
It is REALLY super tasty — spicy and not too sweet.
I don’t have the carb breakdown. I don’t do analysis of macronutrients for any of my recipes. You can plug it into a site like this, if you’d like to get the nutritional info. http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
I wanted it to be a bit fluffier so I substituted the 1 cup of almond butter with 2 cups of almond flour/meal and 1/4 cup coconut oil and added 1tbs of maple syrup. Also at the end folded in some walnuts. Came out delicious!
Hi-
This looks great but my partner can’t eat eggs and avoids flax. Will Ener-G egg replacement work?
Thanks,
Rhea
Hey, Rhea. I think Ener-G should work just fine. I haven’t used it, but I just read about it. Follow the instructions on the Ener-G package for the amount of water to use, and you should be good to go.
Mel…this looks devine! I just happen to have pumpkin draining on the sink right now. I was going to make gluten free pumpkin bread, looks like I will be making your gingerbread cake as well… thanks..
YAY! Try the gingerbread cake. It tastes even better the second day. Dense, moist, not too sweet. Wish I had some right now, actually.
Hi Melissa,
Because of the nut allergies we can not use the almond butter. Could we sub with the sunbutter? Would you then use the same amount of maple syrup?
Love the blog, and the book is on it’s way!!!!
I’ve never tried the Sunbutter, but I bet it will work just fine. Maybe add a smidgen more maple syrup… but yes, that should work!
If you try it, please let me know how it comes out so I can update the recipe with the variation.
Thanks for ordering Well Fed. Really appreciate it!
Sorry to say, things did not work for us.
I used the sunbutter and about 2 Tbsp of maple syrup. Baked for 30 min @ 350 but the cake came out underdone. Somewhat done around the edges, but totally underdone (mushy) in the middle. I waited until the next morning to cut it, but it was obvious it was not baked through.
For the frosting; I was short on coconut oil, so I subbed the coconut butter for the remainder of the oil. Didn’t work out. The result reminded me of marzipan paste, which I spread over the squares, but definitely wasn’t fluffy. My mistake.
All these subs with the sunflower butter were for my son who is allergic to nuts. It turns out that he is also allergic to the sunflower seeds, according to his latest skin scratch test this past week.
I’m sure the recipe would work fine the way you posted it, but didn’t with all the subs I had to do.
I’m sorry to hear that! If you want to try it again… you might add a little coconut flour to the batter to help stiffen up the sunbutter… and yes, you definitely need the coconut oil in the frosting to get the texture right.
The things that’s tricky about these grain-free, paleo-ized recipes is that they require lots of experimentation because we just don’t have the science on our side like the ‘real’ versions.
Good for you for trying in the name of science. Sorry it didn’t work!
And I’m really sorry to hear about the allergy to sunflower seeds, too. If he can eat coconut, I recommend fresh fruit with coconut milk whipped cream for dessert — it’s delicious and should be allergen free.
Absolutely LOVE this recipe. It’s so easy. I made some before the holidays and it did not last long. Everyone in my family loved it. I didn’t even include the frosting.
I’ve just thawed more backyard pumpkin puree to make another batch, came back to your site to get the recipe, and noticed YOU’RE the author of Well Fed… which I just ordered after Diane at Balanced Bites posted your interview.
Now I’m even MORE excited to get your cookbook!
Glad you liked it, Jessie. It’s crazy good, right?! I especially like it straight out of the fridge. Thanks for ordering Well Fed — that’s awesome. I really appreciate the support!
[...] http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2011/11/15/paleo-pumpkin-gingerbread-cake-with-maple-vanilla-fr… [...]
This recipe looks delicious. As I’m on a low FODMAP diet as well due to numerous GI issues I can’t have any fructose. Will it work to sub maple syrup for the honey?
Btw – I’m ordering your cookbook today. Downloaded the sampler yesterday. Looks divine!
Hey, Mike! Yes, you can swap maple syrup for honey — sweeteners are almost always interchangeable. Hope you enjoy it!
YAY! Thanks for ordering Well Fed. Really appreciate that.
Brilliant. Thanks for replying. Can’t wait to try that recipe and many others when the cookbook arrives. Cheers!
[...] but Lil’ AMRAP down for a nap. Then I enlisted Lil’ Munchkin’ to help me bake a Paleo Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake for my company’s Bake Off that is happening tomorrow. It’s an event that is part of [...]
[...] my work had a bake off today, and I made Melissa J’s Paleo Pumpkin Gingerbread as part of the “Special Diet” category. There was only 1 other entry in the special [...]
I had been craving some sort of gingerbread spice cake for weeks since my Whole30 challenge. Made this last night, and my oh my, is it delicious!
No frosting, and I made them little extra gingery… Was in the mood for gingerbread bars. For PWO, I’m about to try CFit for the first time ever!
[...] from The Clothes Make The Girl) Share → (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if [...]
This sounds beyond amazingly delicious. I am just starting out on a paleo diet and one of my favorite things on the planet is sugary delicious anything. If I COULD eat dessert 24 hours a day, I absolutely WOULD.
I’m loving your blog so far, and I feel absolutely the same way about cooking vs. making dinner. I have no doubt I will be back!
Hey, Janis! Congrats on making the switch to paleo. Glad you found me!
One word of caution: paleo desserts are still dessert, so you need to eat them in moderation, especially if you’re adopting paleo to lose weight. This recipe is definitely delicious and healthier than a traditional dessert, but it’s still quite high in (natural) sugars and fat, so once a in a while is good – every day, not so good.
Feel free to shoot me email if you have questions… good luck to you!
It’s not Thanksgiving, but I don’t care! This is so yummy! A great treat after my whole30!