Gluten free Pumpkin Date Cake is moist and delicious. Don't settle for dry crumbly baked goods. The flour blend you use will always affect the result but, in this recipe, the pumpkin and dates add moisture that helps hydrate the gluten free flours. That makes this a recipe worth repeating year after year.
I get rave reviews when I take this to a work meeting, and my mom will happily have this cake some anytime of day or night (she loves cake). If I want to serve this cake for dessert I would put it on a pedestal tray, and sprinkle it with calendula petals from my garden. I'd even add a little scoop of homemade pumpkin ice cream if I had some in the freezer.
Ingredients
You only have to make this mistake once, buying pumpkin pie filling instead of pureed pumpkin. Pumpkin pie filling is a recipe that includes spices and perhaps other ingredients that manufacturers use to preserve food and extend the shelf life.
- EGFG gluten free flour blend (sweet rice flour, potato starch, sorghum flour and millet flour) - I call this my everyday blend. I use it in most of my baking; muffins, pancakes, pastry, biscuits and more. Yet it doesn't work in every recipe, specifically not yeast breads. Learning when not to use a blend is part of the joy of baking gluten free.
- Baking powder - Many gluten free recipes use two leavening agents like baking powder and baking soda. In this quick bread recipe baking powder is enough.
- Cinnamon, nutmeg & cloves - These are the classic spices that go with pumpkin.
- Xanthan gum - This is the glue that adds structure to gluten free baking. It seems expensive but is used in tiny amounts. Just buy it!
- Pitted dates & pecans - A block of pitted dates and pecans from the baking aisle is perfect.
- Canned pumpkin puree - It is a single ingredient, not pumpkin pie filling or pumpkin pie mix. Always read the ingredient label.
- Butter & milk - In gluten free baking sometimes the butter is decreased slightly to accommodate for the inability of the flours to absorb liquid. Then a bit of milk or cream is used to add some richness to the finished product.
See recipe card for exact amounts.
Instructions
Cooking Time: Gluten free baked goods typically cook longer than similar recipes made with wheat flour. America's Test Kitchen says cook your baked goods longer that the old toothpick test. Use a kitchen timer, get to know your oven and make notes so you can repeat each recipe successfully.
Cooling Time: Gluten free baked goods can taste gummy if not allowed to cool adequately. You can still enjoy things warm, but cooking for 10 or 15 minutes allows baking to finish cooking and it should not taste gummy. Randomly adjusting the oven temperature is not the best way to perfect a recipe. Taste, learn and keep good notes.
Substitutions
EGFG gluten free flour blend - If for any reason you can't use my everyday blend, work at finding a substitute. It takes trial and error but once you have a reliable blend, that works in most of your baking, it's a game changer. Just don't try and make it work in every recipe.
Canned pumpkin puree - You can definitely substitute with your own cooked and pureed pumpkin. I've never tried this recipe with applesauce in place of the pumpkin but that sounds like an Applesauce Cake to me.
Xanthan gum - The best substitute for xanthan is guar gum. Use it in equal amounts in any recipe calling for xanthan gum.
Storage
Store gluten free baked goods in air tight containers as soon as they have cooled completely. This cake will keep for five days in the fridge or up to two months in the freezer.
Top Tip
Perfect and save recipes. Pay attention to the taste and texture of your baking. Repeat the same recipe making only one small tweak at a time. Keep good notes and work toward perfecting your recipes. Then repeat them year after year.
Gluten Free Pumpkin Date Cake
Ingredients
- 2½ cups EGFG gluten free flour blend* (325 grams)
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 lb pitted dates , chopped
- 1½ cups chopped pecans
- 1 cup butter , melted
- 2 cups packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 2 tablespoon milk
- ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9”x13” baking pan or line with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Mix thoroughly and remove ¼ cup to toss with the dates.
- In a medium bowl toss the dates with the reserved flour mixture. Add pecans and set aside.
- In the large bowl of an electric mixer combine melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin puree, water, milk and vanilla. Beat until combined.
- On low speed, slowly add flour mixture beating until incorporated.
- Add date and pecan mixture beating until combined. Finish stirring by hand if necessary.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Allow to cool before serving.
- Cut in squares and serve as is or with vanilla ice cream for a real treat.
Notes
Nutrition
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Patricia
I had forgotten the stars on my first post
Cinde Little
Thanks for the stars Patricia. I appreciate that and so does Google. 🙂
Patricia
Absolutely delicious.
I don’t have gluten issues, so I used all purpose flour and omitted the
Xanthan gum. I didn’t have whole dates so I used my date paste chopped in pieces and reduced the amount of brown sugar.
Thank you for a great recipe the amount and mix of spices is sooo perfect.
Cinde Little
Thanks Patricia! I'm sure someone else will be happy to see that this recipe works with regular wheat flour. The pumpkin and the dates make this cake moist and the whole combination is magical. Happy baking!