Butternut Squash Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze
A perfectly tender crumb and delicate crust that's packed with comforting flavours.
Spiced and sweet, this vegan Butternut Squash Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze celebrates the season with this delicious treat. We made this bundt cake using cake flour, which contains less protein than all-purpose flour, to obtain the perfect soft and tender texture. The butternut squash adds a delicious sweet flavour and creates a moist texture similar to adding sour cream to a pound cake.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
It’s completely eggless, dairy-free, and vegan!
The perfect balance of sweet and spice.
Can be enjoyed for breakfast or dessert!
Velvety smooth and flavour maple glaze.
Top tips for making a Butternut Squash Bundt Cake:
Don’t substitute the cake flour. Cake flour is what gives this bundt cake it’s tender and soft texture.
Make butternut squash puree from scratch. Store-bought works, but we found that using homemade butternut squash puree yielded a better flavour profile and texture. You can make your own homemade squash puree by steaming or roasting your squash until fork tender. Then transfer to a high-speed blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Use fresh spices. Yes, spices expire and it does affect your recipe if you use them. For the best winter flavour ensure the spices you’re using are fresh and fragrant.
Don’t overmix the batter. We used cake flour to get a soft texture, don’t ruin it by overmixing. Overmixing the batter causes gluten to develop and your cake can turn tough.
Really spray your bundt pan to avoid sticking. Bundt pans can be tricky to work with because all the nooks and crannies are perfect places for cake to stick to. We use a non-stick cooking spray to really coat our baking tins to keep the cake from breaking or sticking to the pan.
Keep the glaze to the side. If you’re serving right away and think you’ll serve up the whole thing in one sitting go ahead and pour over the glaze. However if you want to keep this for a few days, glaze each spice as you eat it. Glazing the whole loaf and storing it later can create a soggy cake after a day or two.
How to make a butternut squash bundt cake with maple glaze:
Prep Time: 20 Min | Bake Time: 60 Min | Total Time: 1 Hr 20 Min
Makes: 1 bundt cake (approx. 12 servings)
Ingredients
Bundt Cake
2 flax eggs, 2 tbsp ground flaxseed + 6 tbsp warm water
360 g cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp all spice
340 g room temperature vegan butter, 3 sticks
300 g granulated sugar
1 cup butternut squash puree
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp maple extract
3/4 cup soy milk
Maple Glaze
1 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup
½ tsp maple extract
Instructions
Before you start: Make your flax eggs and set aside to thicken.
Preheat oven to 350F.
To a bowl combine cake flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and all spice. Mix and set aside.
To a stand mixer add vegan butter and granulated sugar, beat on medium until light and fluffy – about 5-7 minutes.
Turn the mixer to low and slowly drizzle in the flax eggs and beat for another 1-2 minutes. Keeping the mixer on low beat in butternut squash puree one spoonful at a time. Turn off the stand mixer.
Add non-dairy milk to a bowl and combine with vanilla extract and maple extract. Set aside.
To the stand mixer alternate adding in dry ingredients and the milk mixture a third at a time, mixing in between each add-in.
Brush a bundt pan with neutral flavoured oil to keep the cake from sticking. Scoop the batter into the greased bundt pan and level off the top with a spatula.
Bake in preheated oven to 60-65 minutes or until fully cooked all the way through. Remove from the oven and turn out the bundt cake onto a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cake cools make the glaze by combining icing sugar, maple syrup, and maple extract until smooth.
Once the cake has cooled, pour over the glaze on the bundt cake and serve.
Ingredient Notes
Cake Flour – This is a must for this recipe. If you substitute in all-purpose or pastry flour your cake won’t have the right texture after baking.
Flax Eggs – To bind everything all together flax eggs are key. You can also try other vegan egg substitutes but we have not tested any others and cannot guarantee texture or taste won’t be affected.
Spices – Season to taste, but remember to taste as you go to ensure it’s not too much or too little.
Butternut Squash Puree – We used a homemade butternut squash puree that we roasted until soft then pureed to make a smooth and creamy puree. You can opt to use a store-bought variety but we cannot guarantee results.
Soy Milk – Any non-dairy milk should work, but keep in mind other like coconut or almond can affect the flavour.