Date-Sweetened Vegan Bundt Cake with Lemon-Maple Frosting by Dreena Burton. Delicious oil-free bundt cake perfect for Mother’s Day or any special occasion!
In all my years of vegan cooking, this is the first vegan bundt cake I’ve made.
Isn’t that crazy?
Not for any particular reason, apart from not having a bundt pan. 🤔
I’ve always loved the look of bundt cakes. They almost instantly elevate an ordinary cake to: special occasion.
So, it was time to develop my first vegan bundt cake.
This one is especially special because it’s sweetened with dates! Yep.
It also includes a small amount of pure maple syrup. However, if you want to use only dates to sweeten, you can either substitute with date syrup in this vegan bundt cake – or omit and replace with extra non-dairy milk.
The dates add natural sweetness to this recipe, and also give some textural density. Bundt cakes are traditionally a little more dense, so the dates work really well here.
The hint of lemon in the cake is accented by the lemon-maple frosting, which, in my opinion is not optional for this vegan bundt cake.
Of course the cake can be made without the frosting. But why, when you have this?!…
If you don’t want to use coconut butter in the frosting, opt for cashew butter. A raw cashew butter will work best for flavor and color. If unavailable, use standard roasted cashew butter.
One other important ingredient note: the lemon zest!
Don’t omit it if at all possible. It truly deepens the lemon flavor in a way that lemon juice will not. So, pick up some fresh lemons (optimally organic since you’ll be zesting) for best final flavor.
This vegan bundt cake will be a beautiful dessert for any special occasion. Mother’s Day comes to mind, obviously. But, this cake will fare well in the fall and winter just as much as spring and summer.
This is a bit of a departure from my usual chocolate lovin’ recipes, right?! I do love my chocolate.
But, this time of year I enjoy switching it up with fruitier desserts – as with this recipe. Also this incredibly tender and delicious Carrot Cake (with that secret ingredient)! Oh, and this Strawberry Pie.
See? I’m not only about chocolate! 😬
I’ll leave the rest up to you from here. Give this vegan bundt cake a try and let me know how you like it!
Please add a comment, I love to hear from you. x Dreena
Date-Sweetened Vegan Bundt Cake with Lemon-Maple Frosting
Ingredients
Cake Batter
- 2 cups lightly packed pitted dates about 10 ounces
- 1 3/4 cups water
- 1/2 cup coconut cream from can of coconut milk or canned coconut cream – but not sweetened creamed coconut (can substitute more non-dairy milk if you cannot use coconut milk)
- 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup oat flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 – 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 scant teaspoon salt
Lemon-Maple Glaze
- 2 tbsp softened coconut butter or cashew butter (see note)
- 2 – 2 1/2 tbsp maple syrup can substitute date syrup or coconut nectar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- pinch salt
- 1/4 tsp roughly extra lemon zest (optional, to sprinkle on finished zest)
Instructions
- Add dates with water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer on medium-low heat for 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat. Add coconut cream, milk, vanilla and maple syrup and use an immersion blender to puree (alternatively, wait for mixture to cool and transfer to a blender to puree). Let cool for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a bundt pan with a very light wipe or spray of oil (note: if you have a very good non-stick bundt pan you may not need this), followed by a dusting of flour. Tap the pan to distribute the flour. In a mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients, stirring well. Add date mixture to dry ingredients. Stir through until just fully combined. Transfer mixture to prepared bundt pan. Use a spatula to scrape out all the mixture. Tip pan back and forth a little to even out batter. Place in oven and bake for 38-40 minutes. Check for doneness using a toothpick (inserting toothpick in cake to see if it comes out clean), or by lightly touching cake to see if it springs back. If it needs more time, leave in oven for another couple of minutes. Once ready, remove and transfer cake (still in bundt pan) to a cooling rack for 15 minutes. After this time, invert to remove cake and allow to continue to cool on the cooling rack until fully cooled.
- While cake is cooling, prepare glaze. In a small bowl, stir together coconut butter or cashew butter, maple syrup, lemon juice, and salt. Stir until smooth. If it’s difficult to mix, warm a little in a bowl in a hot water bath or in a warm oven/toaster oven. When ready, spoon over cooled cake and use a spatula to swirl more evenly. Sprinkle on optional lemon zest. Let glaze cool on cake. Cut in slices and serve.
Notes
my thanks to Angela MacNeil for food photography
Annie says
Hi, I just love your recipes! And love the taste of the bundt cake.. Similar to another comment my cake was dense and almost gooey and sunk after coming out of the oven. I am in Germany and used wholegrain spelt flour (1:1) for the whole wheat flour. Other than that everything was the same. Do you have any suggestions as to how to fix this ie weigh the flour, use more….? Any ideas would be great as we just love, love the taste!!
Dreena Burton says
Hi Annie, thanks for the lovely feedback. Yes, when substituting spelt for wheat you *do* need to use more. Usually I use 1 cup + 3-4 tb of spelt for a cup of wheat. So without that extra volume it would be a touch gummy I expect. Hope that helps.
Nicole says
Can this be made with all Spelt flour (omitting the oat flour)? Will it change the consistency?
Dreena says
Hi Nicole, yes, it can. I enjoy the combination of oat with other flours. If using spelt, you might need a touch extra than the wheat – but then I tend to use a little less than oat. So I think it should be an even swap! Let me know how it works.
M says
I’ve made this cake three times this week, my family can’t stop eating it! The frosting is perfect—using nut butter is genius, it gave it a deep, rich, creamy flavor. I used a gluten-free flour blend instead of the whole wheat pastry flour and raw cashew butter instead of the coconut butter.
Erin says
Can this be baked as a normal, non-bundt cake? Would love to use for a multi-tiered cake!
Dreena says
Hi Erin, I haven’t tried it, but think it would work well. I’d try baking maybe 25-30 minutes using 2 round cake pans. Check doneness around 25 minutes and go from there!
Polly says
Made this tonight.
The taste was stellar. But the finished cake was very gooey. I put it back in the oven. It didn’t help.
Dreena says
Hi Polly, thanks for asking. Sounds like it might have been underbaked. Once you’ve cooled it, you cannot place it back in the oven to set.
Also, did you change any ingredients – at all?
Karen says
Perfectly moist and sweet and healthy. Keeping this recipe
Dreena says
wonderful, glad you enjoyed it, Karen!
Laura says
I made this today and it is so good. Thank you for the recipe, Dreena. I love that it is sweetened with dates and is oil free. So delicious too.
Sandi says
I love that you use natural sugars for this bundt cake. It looks delicious.
Alisa Fleming says
Well you did a seriously impressive job with your first bundt cake Dreena!! It looks spot on. I love the idea of a lemon-maple frosting too. Those are two flavors I rarely pair together – or ever purposefully think about pairing together.
Kristen Wood says
I love the ingredients in this, and it looks positively mouthwatering!!!
Dreena says
thanks Kristen!
Erin Dee says
This looks so delicious! Such a great dessert for spring and summer!
Dreena says
Thank you Erin
Alison says
Making this now. The batter tasted amazing!!
Dreena says
Oh yay! Hope you loved the finished product just as much. TY Alison
Shelly says
Gluten free version?!?!
Dreena says
Hi Shelly, I didn’t test a gluten-free version for this recipe, only one using oat flour, and it required some adjustments.
Michelle says
Wow! This looks amazing! I tried to pin it however it says no image to pin. Maybe it’s just on my end?
Dreena says
Oh strange. I have 2 images in the post that are good for pinterest. Here’s my actual pin for the recipe so you can repin. https://pin.it/vcyzauzp4zqyrj Thanks Michelle.
Rebecca Cody says
You can make your own coconut butter by putting unsweetened shredded coconut in a food processor. It takes about 10 minutes. It is probably quicker in a powerful blender, but harder to get it out. There are directions online.
Dreena says
Hi Rebecca, you sure can! I have directions in my PPF cookbook as well. I sometimes find the storebought is slightly smoother, but certainly homemade a better savings. Thanks for your note.