PUMPKIN MUGCAKE + VEGAN CARAMEL SAUCE
Happy Halloween! I have been talking about doing a pumpkin spiced mugcake with caramel sauce for ages but it's taken me until Halloween to get motivated! I nailed the caramel sauce ages ago but the cake was a bit more fiddly. After trialling a few different versions and various cooking lengths this is the final recipe. It is uber decadent, silky and moist; perfect for the sweet tooth in your household. It is also great for using up the scraps leftover from a roast or steamed vegetables in your house.
A traditional pumpkin pie or pumpkin cakes relies heavily on cloves or all spice. I am not a fan of either unless used very sparingly so there's no cloves or all spice in mine - if you love either or both, chuck it in ow! My spice combo could toootally be switched up for all spice, 5 spice or cloves if you prefer that vibe. I also thought chai could work really nicely but by the time I ate about 4 cups of this I was feeling pretty queasy and decided to call it quits. FYI I think this would make a great alternative to a breakfast muffin as is basically just vegetables, dried fruit and nuts!
The cooking times differ for the vegan and GF / DF vegetarian varieties. For some reason when I was using an egg replacer (this recipe use Orgran as I wanted to see if it was any good but I've also tried it with aquafaba) the mug cake required longer to cook and longer to cool afterwards. If you wanted to serve this immediately I would recommend making the caramel sauce first so then you only have to wait for the cake to cool. This is a clean mix, so you can turn the cake out to cool faster but... dishes.
PUMPKIN SPICED MUG CAKE with VEGAN CARAMEL SAUCE
Gluten Free Dairy Free Version:
1 egg
1/2 cup of pumpkin (steamed or roast)
2 tbsp of almond flour (coconut flour also good, I assume cornflour would do the trick too)
2 tbsp of rice milk (oat milk works, so does almond but its not very sustainable so I don't recommend)
1 tbsp of dairy-free dark choc drops (Sun Valley is my go-to but any will do!)
1 tsp of vanilla essence (I used Queen Organic but anything works!)
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of cardamon powder
1/4 tsp of ginger - all spices can be adjusted to allergies and personal preference!
Pinch of Himalayan salt
Grease mug with coconut oil or olive oil spread. Reserve the chocolate chips and put everything else in the blender for until smooth and lightly aerated. Stir in choc chips. Tip into mug. Microwave for 2min30 and leave to cool 1 minute.
Vegan Version
2 tsp (scant) of Orgran Egg Replacer
4 tbsp of water
2 tbsp of dairy-free milk or nut mylk
2 tbsp almond flour
1/2 cup of pumpkin
1 tsp of vanilla essence
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamon powder
1/4 tsp of ginger
Pinch of Himalayan salt
1 tbsp of dairy-free dark choc drops (optional)
Grease mug with coconut oil or olive oil spread. Reserve the chocolate chips and put everything else in the blender until smooth and lightly aerated. Stir in choc chips. Tip into mug. Microwave for 4 min and leave to cool 3 minutes
Vegan Caramel Sauce
1/2 cup of dates
1/2 cup of boiling water
1 tsp (generous) of vanilla essence
2 tbsp of almond butter (I've used Chantal Organics, Poppy & Olive but my fave for this sauce is Pics)
1/2 tsp (or more) of Himalayan Salt (if you don't have Himalayan, 1/4 tsp of table or sea salt)
Leave the dates to soften in the boiling water in the base of the blender. Add the vanilla essence and almond butter, salt. Blend for 1minute until a thick gooey consistency of an even caramel colour.
