Vegan Pumpkin Tray Cake

1. In a small bowl, prepare your vegan “egg”—mixing your chia seeds and water until it becomes sticky. This acts as your binder for your cake. Set aside for about 5–10 minutes while you assemble your other ingredients.
2. In a separate big bowl, combine all your wet ingredients, raw cane sugar and vegan egg.
3. Using a sifter, sift all your dry ingredients bit by bit into the wet batter and lightly mix well (try not to overmix to avoid activating the gluten of the flour to achieve more softness).
4. Preheat your oven to 150°C while you arrange you grease your square baking tin with some vegan butter.
5. Transfer your batter onto the tin and flatten.
6. On the half side of your tin, add pumpkin seeds as toppings and the other side with crushed Biscoff as crumble.
7. Bake for 30–40 minutes (depending on your oven) until fully baked.
8. Cool down until you can cut them into squares to enjoy.

Side notes:
– You can also create your own crumble topping (streusel) if you can’t find any Biscoff biscuits within your area. Simply mix ¼ cup flour, ¼ cup raw cane sugar, a pinch of salt and 1 ½ tbsp cold vegan butter to create your own crumble topping.
– Did you know white sugar isn’t vegan? It is processed chemicals with artificial sweeteners and animal bone charred. For your choice of sweetener, it is best to choose anything that is organic, unrefined and natural such as raw cane sugar, coconut sugar, or even beet sugar.
– The importance of sifting flour: I’d recommend sifting your flour before mixing it into your batter. This step helps soften the flour that’s been sitting at the grocery aisle or your cupboard for days (weeks or even months!) and it also benefits you in enjoying an even more softer cake.
– Feel free to change your toppings into anything you desire! Pecans or walnuts are great topping choices too.
– If you do not have pumpkin spice, you can alternatively use 1 tsp cinnamon powder,1 tsp ginger powder with a pinch of nutmeg.
– Your choice of vegan milk varies from endless options from almond milk, rice milk, hemp milk and many more! I recommend those mentioned plant based milk if you prefer a lighter and thinner consistency. But if you are looking for a more creamier texture, try cashew milk or coconut milk or even cream.
– As for neutral oil, again, it is limitless—think canola, corn oil, sunflower, soybean, or even rapeseed oil.
– One bowl trick: I like mixing my wet ingredients first in a big bowl before adding in the dry part instead of separating them in two different bowls. This even saves washing up time!
– Most importantly, give some love in baking! It surprisingly taste even better when you put your heart and joy in it.

Watch me make this cake on video, here!

Also by Bel: The Eggiest Vegan Scrambled Eggs

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Photo: Bel Faustino