This pumpkin spice cake was born from a recipe I got delivered to my inbox about a month ago. I am a huge fan (some might say, super fan) of Aran Goyoaga and her cookbooks. It’s only a slight exaggeration to say that she completely changed the way I view gluten-free baking.

I first came across Aran’s recipes by landing on her food blog, Cannelle et Vanille, almost two decades ago. Her food photos drew me in, and her recipes kept me coming back for more. At that point in my life, I was a relatively novice baker, and gluten-free baking wasn’t as mainstream as it is now. I was intrigued by her recipes, but I was also a little intimidated, because I hadn’t heard of or seen half the ingredients she was talking about.

However, as the years went on, I started seeing more gluten-free flours on the shelf at the grocery store. I realized that gluten-free baking doesn’t have to be this abstract, intimidating process. It’s really the same as regular baking: It’s all about ingredients and proportion. If you’re nervous about baking something gluten-free, I would recommend starting with one of Aran’s recipes because she has tested them thoroughly. All the ingredients are lined up to create something truly delicious. Honestly, you probably won’t even notice it’s not full of gluten.

Aran’s food blog isn’t active anymore, but she has three wonderful cookbooks, two of which I own, and she has a newsletter that I signed up for a while back. About a month ago, I got a recipe from Aran for a roasted kabocha squash cake. I must have mentally filed it away, because earlier this weekend when I was trying to decide what to bake, it popped into my mind.

I used Aran’s notes and my preferences to craft my own recipe. She mentioned that the original recipe had almond flour and brown rice flour, so I decided to go with that instead of using her recipe to make the cake grain-free, which would require additional types of flour. I also used a pie pumpkin instead of the kabocha squash because I knew I wouldn’t be able to find kabocha squash anywhere. I could have also used butternut, but I saw the little pie pumpkins at the farmers’ market and they were calling my name.

Honestly, I’m a path of least resistance person when it comes to roasted squash puree. You will never find me sitting here saying, only use squash that you roasted in your oven for an hour plus and mashed by hand. I love canned pumpkin as much as the next person, and in future iterations of this recipe, I might use it. Feel free to sub that in if you’re short on time or you don’t want to go through the rigamarole of roasting a whole squash.

This cake smelled like a doughnut when it came out of the oven. I sprinkled a little extra sugar on top, which made me want to eat it even more. However, I’m holding myself back because I want to share it with everyone at work tomorrow. We’ll see how long I can be patient. I’m a very impatient person, so I’ll give it another hour.

Here is a song to get you started on your pumpkin spice cake journey. I think it really speaks to fate and how everything works out for the best.

Pumpkin Spice Cake (adapted from Aran Goyoaga’s Grain-Free Roasted Kabocha Squash Cake)

Ingredients
1 medium pie pumpkin
150 g sugar, plus more for sprinkling
80 g maple syrup
3 large eggs
110 g extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
105 g superfine brown rice flour
100 g almond flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees C. Slice the pie pumpkin in half and place it cut side down on a baking sheet. Roast it for about an hour or until the flesh is easily pierced by a fork. Remove it from the oven and cool it slightly before scooping out the seeds.

While you’re waiting for the pumpkin to roast, grease an 8.5×4 inch loaf pan with olive oil and line with parchment paper along the long side so it hangs over (to make it easier to remove the cake later).

Once the pumpkin has cooled and you’ve scooped out the seeds, scoop the flesh into a large bowl and mash it. Take about 225 grams of that pumpkin and place it in another large bowl (you can save the rest in an airtight container in the freezer for future use). Add the sugar, maple syrup, eggs, and olive oil to the mashed pumpkin and whisk it until it’s combined.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the brown rice flour, almond flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground cardamom, and salt. Add the wet ingredients and mix until combined.

Use a spatula to place the mixture in your prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar all across the top. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until the middle top of the cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Sprinkle a little more sugar on top when it comes out of the oven.

Allow the cake to cool completely before removing it form the pan. Enjoy!