Gluten Free Pumpkin Olive Oil Cake

I adapted this cake from food writer Yossy Arefi's excellent pumpkin olive oil cake recipe, swapping gluten-free flour (my homemade gluten free flour blend) for all-purpose flour and making a few other small tweaks. It's a super easy bake, made in one bowl, with lots of good olive oil to keep it soft and moist.

I used butter in the maple syrup-infused glaze, but it's easy to use non-dairy butter or olive oil (as per the original recipe) to keep it dairy-free if needed. You can bake the cake in a loaf, square, or round pan like I did, depending on what you're in the mood for. This is definitely a cake rather than a (gluten free pumpkin) bread recipe, so don't skimp on the sweet glaze on top! I like to scatter a few pumpkin seeds over individual slices, too, for a bit of crunch.

Why I Love This Easy Yet Special Cake

Something to note is that the cake itself is not overly sweet, and I love that you can really taste the pumpkin and spices because it's not overwhelmed with sugar. The maple glaze adds just enough extra sweetness to balance the cake and keep it a dessert. More highlights include:

• Soft and sumptuous. Let me tell you, this crumb ...! It's fork-tender and beautifully soft, something I truly love in a cake.
• Made in one bowl. Add this recipe to the one-bowl roster! Just a bit of whisking and stirring in one bowl is all you'll need to make the batter.
• So seasonal. This is a cake for fall - warm, cozy, and maple-y. Put on your biggest sweater and savor a slice.
• Great for Thanksgiving! I love a maple pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving but I always love to serve something else pumpkin-y, either a plate of gluten free pumpkin cupcakes or a batch of gluten free pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. This lovely cake is just perfect on the dessert table, nestled between a gluten free apple pie and a gluten free pumpkin pie.

Ingredients Needed

Here's a look at what you'll need for this cake. Scroll down to my recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full ingredient amounts and instructions.

• Brown sugar - Light or dark brown sugar works well. If you do want the cake to turn out a tad sweeter, up the sugar by ¼-1/2 cup.
• Eggs - I used large eggs here.
• Pumpkin - Use homemade pumpkin puree or plain pumpkin puree in this recipe, NOT pumpkin pie mix, which contains a lot of extras.
• Olive oil - I like extra virgin olive oil. If you don't have olive oil, use a neutral oil such as canola or avocado oil instead.
• Spices - A mix of ground cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger.
• Salt - Fine sea salt or table salt works.
• Gluten free flour - Use my homemade gluten free flour blend or your favorite 1:1 gluten free mix. You could also use oat flour or brown rice flour.
• Rising agents - A mix of (fresh!) baking powder and baking soda.
• Glaze - Butter or olive oil, maple syrup, powdered sugar.

Tips & Recipe Notes

• Sift the powdered sugar - Always make sure to sift powdered sugar before adding it to glazes or frostings so they don't turn out lumpy.
• For the glaze - I love a nice, thick glaze that sets up well. However, if you find that when you whisk the glaze ingredients together that the glaze is too thick to pour, whisk 1 teaspoon of water at a time until a pourable consistency is reached.
• Keep it dairy-free - The original recipe calls for olive oil in the glaze, and I encourage you to do this if you want to keep it dairy-free! I love the hint of buttery richness from the butter, though, and non-dairy butter is also a great choice.
• Add chocolate - Stir in 1 cup of mini or regular chocolate chips to make this more of a gluten free pumpkin chocolate chip cake.
• Pumpkin pie spice - If you like, swap the combined spices for a pumpkin pie spice blend.
• Add pumpkin seeds (pepitas) - I love scattering a few toasted or untoasted pumpkin seeds over the top of the cake for a pretty presentation, or top individual slices with seeds.

Proper Storage

• On the counter - Cover the cake with foil and keep it on the counter for up to 3 days. I prefer the cake at room temperature!
• In the fridge - Tightly cover the cooled cake with foil and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days.
• Freezer - Wrap the cake tightly in plastic, then foil, and freeze it for up to 3 months. I have frozen the cake both glazed and unglazed; just make sure the glaze is set before freezing it. Thaw the cake completely in the fridge before serving.