Gluten Free Pumpkin Olive Oil Cake -

5 from 1 vote

Gluten Free Pumpkin Olive Oil Cake

A thick maple glaze tops a soft gluten free pumpkin olive oil cake that's dairy-free, made in one bowl, and utterly delicious!

Prep Time10

Cook Time35

Total Time45

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings: servings

Calories: 301kcal

Grease an 8 or 9-inch round baking pan and line it with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350℉
In a large bowl, whisk the 1 cup brown sugar and 2 large eggs for about 1 minute. Now whisk in the 1 cup pumpkin puree, ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, c½ teaspoon ground cardamom, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, and ½ teaspoon fine sea salt until very smooth. Then whisk in the 1 ¾ cups gluten free flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and ½ teaspoon baking soda until smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Rest the batter for 15 minutes.
Place in the oven and bake until the top is set and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Set the pan on a rack to cool for 20 minutes, then gently turn out onto the rack to cool completely.
To make the glaze, whisk the 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, and 2 tablespoons maple syrup in a medium bowl. Whisk until smooth, and add a little water if needed to make a thick, pourable glaze.
Pour the glaze over the cooled cake and let the glaze set for about 20 minutes before slicing the cake.

Adapted from Yossy Arefi's excellent Pumpkin Olive Oil Cake.

What Size Pan? Yossy mentions that many kinds of pans work; for example, she baked the cake showcased in her post in a loaf pan, and a 10-cup bundt or an 8x8-inch square pan will also do the trick. Double the recipe and bake it in a sheet pan for a larger cake. I chose to bake my batter in an 8-inch cake round for these photos, and it was perfect.
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.