The way I like to prepare for Halloween does not involve choosing costumes and make up… but rather deciding what to bake!! And this Paleo Halloween Cake was definitely one of the best decisions I have ever made!!
I have always loved anything with pumpkin and one of my favorite cakes growing up was “Torta di Zucca” a pumpkin cake my mom used to make with (obviously) pumpkin and amaretti. This paleo Halloween pumpkin cake is free from gluten, grains and dairy and the frosting is to die for!!
And if you are on the AIP and still haven’t reintroduced eggs, but you still want to enjoy and delicious pumpkin treat, check out my AIP Pumpkin Pie!!
If you make this during a different time of the year, give your chocolate decorations a different shape and you are good to go.
NOTE: rather than using canned pumpkin puree, I cut and baked a Kabocha squash (my favorite type) in the oven for about 30 or 40 minutes. The pulp is a lot more flavorful and firm and will give your paleo Halloween cake the perfect consistency!
Paleo Halloween Pumpkin Cake (Gluten & Dairy Free)
Equipment
- a digital scale (much more precise for baking than measuring cups)
- a 7" (18 cm) pan (check out the NOTES on the bottom of the recipe for the 9" pan measurements)
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 cup + 1 tbsp Baked Kabocha Squash puree or Buttercup Squash
- 1 ½ tbsp full fat Coconut Milk
- 3 Eggs
- ½ cup Tigernut Flour
- ⅓ cup + 1 tsp Cassava Flour
- ¼ tsp Vanilla Extract
- ⅛ tsp Ginger Powder
- ⅛ tsp Cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp Nutmeg
- ½ tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 ½ tsp Baking Powder
For the Frosting:
- ½ cup Baked Kabocha Squash puree or Buttercup Squash
- ¼ cup full fat Coconut Milk
- 1 tsp Honey
- ½ tbsp Coconut Oil
- ¼ tsp Vanilla Extract
- ⅛ tsp Cinnamon
For the Spiderwebs:
- 2 oz 90% Dark Chocolate
Instructions
- Peel, cut and bake a Kabocha or Buttercup squash at 350 F for 30 to 40 minutes (until soft). You can do this ahead of time (I like to do it the day before).
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- In a food processor, blend the kabocha squash flesh with coconut milk until creamy. Add in the eggs and blend again.
- Add in the flour and spices, pulse, and lastly add in the apple cider vinegar and baking powder.
- Pour the batter in a circular cake pan (mine had a 18 cm diameter) and bake for 30 minutes. Turn off the oven, open the oven door only a tiny bit and leave the cake in for 10 more minutes.
- While you allow your paleo Halloween cake to cool completely, prepare the spider webs by placing a piece of parchment over a plate and melting the chocolate.
- Transfer the melted chocolate in a pastry bag (or a ziplock bag with a little cut in a corner) and draw a few chocolate spider webs on the parchment paper. Store in the refrigerator to harden.
- Prepare the frosting by blending fridge cold kabocha squash flesh in a high speed blender or food processor with all the other ingredients until creamy.
- When the cake is cold, cover it with frosting helping yourself with a silicon spatula and place the chocolate spider webs on top.
- Enjoy!
Notes
1 cup + 3 tbsp Kabocha squash puree (about 290 gr/10 oz)
1 1/2 tbsp Coconut Milk
4 Eggs
1/2 cup + 1/2 tbsp Cassava Flour
1/2 cup + 3 tbsp Almond Flour
1 1/2 tbsp Honey or Coconut Sugar
1/4 tsp Ginger Powder + Cinnamon + Nutmeg (or Pumpkin Spice)
1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tsp Baking Powder FOR THE FROSTING:
7.7 oz (220 gr) Kabocha Squash Puree
1/3 cup Coconut Milk
1 1/2 tbsp Honey or Coconut Sugar
1 tbsp Coconut Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp Cinnamon Bake for 35 minutes instead of 30.
Nutrition
You are gonna love this paleo Halloween cake! Make sure to share it with your friends and family on Facebook so they can try it too, and to save it on your favorite Pinterest board, and subscribe to my weekly newsletter so that you never miss a post!!
Lots of love and Happy Halloween!!
Ambra
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5 Comments
ciao ambra, what do you think to sub the eggs for flax eggs for a vegan version?
Ciao Ornella!! I haven’t tried a vegan version of this cake yet, but I would be interested to know how that turns out. Using mashed banana instead of flax egg could also be an idea.
Keep me posted!!
Ambra
how does one go about measuring 2/5 of a cup? Do you have a gram measurement?
sorry…just saw the gram measures now. Still curious though, does anyone have such a thing as 1/5 cup measure?
Hey Sara, you’ll have to approximate a bit with these cup measurements as the recipe was originally weighed in grams and this is what those measurements equal to. Measuring in grams is a lot more accurate (see my explanation here: https://www.littlebitesofbeauty.com/why-i-prefer-to-measure-in-grams/), but I will do my recipes in cups from now on to make it easy for my American readers 😉
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