This Healthy Pumpkin Cake with Dark Chocolate Drizzle is a delicious seasonal dessert. Full of pumpkin goodness, it is made with oil, has a light and fluffy texture and comes with a decadent chocolate drizzle with a hint of coconut.
HEALTHY PUMPKIN CAKE RECIPE
Desserts are not usually associated with healthy ingredients but this pumpkin cake with dark chocolate drizzle is an exception. There is more pumpkin in this recipe than flour and certainly more than fat and sugar put together. This means that the cake is high in fibre and vitamins A and C, as well as potassium (all thanks to the pumpkin).
Pumpkin is also very low in calories, which makes it an ideal dessert ingredient.
I made 3 different versions of this pumpkin sponge cake and this one is definitely my favourite one. Despite adding a good portion of raw pumpkin to it, the cake is light and fluffy and you can’t really taste the pumpkin.
The predominant flavour combination is lemon and ginger, but it’s not overpowering or too sharp (practice makes perfect I guess).
The wonderful yellow colour of this cake comes partly from the pumpkin and partly from adding a bit of turmeric to it (another healthy ingredient), which you can’t taste at all.
MORE PUMPKIN DESSERTS
I love using seasonal produce in cooking as well as baking. So naturally when the leaves start falling off the trees I cook with pumpkin. Check out this Dairy Free Pumpkin Brownies Recipe. It uses roasted pumpkin and chocolate chunks that melt in your mouth if you eat it warm! This Easy Pumpkin Cake Recipe with Ricotta is super easy to put together and makes a perfect healthy Halloween dessert.
For the drizzle I wanted something that would complement the flavour of the cake as well as look great. So I chose this decadent dark chocolate drizzle recipe. You’ll be able to drizzle it liberally over the whole cake and possibly still have some leftover to add to individual portions. It is made from scratch but is very easy so just follow the instructions below and you’ll be fine.
If you made this healthy pumpkin cake recipe I’d love to know how it turned out for you so please leave a quick comment below. Your feedback is important to me! Thanks:)
More cake recipes using oil
I love using oil in baking. Oil based cakes and desserts tend to be lighter and fluffier than ones made with butter. Check out this Healthy Chocolate Buttermilk Banana Cake recipe, for example. You might also like this Dairy Free Chocolate Cherry Coconut Cake. Another butter free cake I’ve made is this Rooibos (Red Bush) Cranberry Tea Cake.
Check out also this collection of 27 everyday healthy cacao recipes.
Healthy Pumpkin Cake with Dark Chocolate Drizzle
Ingredients
- 300 g pumpkin peeled, finely grated
- 260 g flour
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil I used rapeseed
- 160 g sugar
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 cup sultanas
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- Butter for greasing and flour for dusting the pan
For the chocolate drizzle:
- 3 tablespoons each cocoa powder honey and coconut oil
- 3-4 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F/ 180 C/ gas mark 4. Grease a 23 cm square baking tin with a little butter. Sprinkle it with some flour (about 1/2 tablespoon) ensuring it spreads evenly all around the tin. Turn upside down to remove any excess flour. Set aside.
- In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder and soda, ginger, turmeric and lemon zest. Stir well. Set aside.
- In a large dish beat the sugar and oil for a couple of minutes, then add the eggs and lemon extract and continue beating for another 2 minutes or so, gradually adding the lemon juice.
- Combine the grated pumpkin with the sultanas and add to the egg mixture. Stir thoroughly.
- Fold in the flour mixture and stir until the dry ingredients are no longer visible. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin and bake for 50 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.
- While the cake is cooling make the chocolate drizzle. Place a bowl over a pot of hot (but not boiling, only simmering) water (1/4 of a pot) and add the cocoa, coconut oil and honey. Stir continually for a minute or so, then add 1-2 tablespoons of the milk. Stir until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Add a bit more milk if the mixture is too thick. Drizzle the warm mixture liberally over the cake and serve.
Pin this Healthy Pumpkin Cake with Dark Chocolate Drizzle to make later!
MORE HEALTHY DESSERT RECIPES
Here you will find other easy, healthy and delicious healthy dessert recipe ideas all in one place!
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RECIPE LINK PARTIES
I am bringing this Healthy Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Drizzle recipe to #CookBlogShare. This week’s host is Eb@Easy Peasy Foodie.
Hi, I am Monika, welcome to Everyday Healthy Recipes! This blog is all about creatively simple recipes with a healthy twist, old classics with a modern take, and an occasional Polish dish thrown into the mix - all easy to make, healthy and delicious, perfect for everyday cooking. 
YUM!! Loving how this cake is healthy…and that chocolate drizzle – I keep wanting to lick it off the screen 😀 Eb x
Thanks Eb!
If you’re telling me that this is healthy, I’m making it right away: I need to get some of this decadent-looking deliciousness into my face PRONTO. What amazing flavors this cake has going on! The ginger and turmeric are so unexpected—BRILLIANT!
Yes, it’s pretty healthy (for a dessert recipe). Thanks!
If you’re telling me that this is HEALTHY, then I’m going to make it right away: I need to get some of this decadent deliciousness in my face PRONTO. What amazing flavors this has going on! The ginger and turmeric are so unexpected—BRILLIANT!
The pumpkin cake sounds delicious and I love the addition of the chocolate drizzle.
Thank you! The chocolate drizzle really makes this cake I think. Thanks for stopping by:)
This cake looks delicious and perfect for this time of year! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Thank you! I find cooking in autumn is so rewarding with all the wonderful vegetables that grow at this time of year, and pumpkin is such an iconic autumn vegetable, it’s great for Halloween but not only:)
Ooh yum! I love baking with pumpkin and love the addition of tumeric especially in this season of sniffles! x
I use turmeric whenever I can, it’s such a great natural colouring and so healthy too! Thanks for stopping by:)
This cake sounds gorgeous! I’m really enjoying baking with pumpkin at the moment too and I’ve heard a lot about the health benefits of turmeric lately so I think it’s a great idea to add some to this cake as well.
Thank you! I actually prefer using pumpkin in baking rather than cooking, I find it so bland it’s easier to make it taste good with sweet rather than savoury dishes. Thanks for stopping by:)
This cake looks so yummy! I love pumpkin and chocolate together!
Thank you! They do work well together, don’t they:)
This look great Monika, I love the contast in colours between the soft pumpkin yellow sponge to the dark chocolate drizzle.
Angela x
Thanks Angela! Contrasting colours look so good in food don’t they? Thanks for stopping by:)
Oooh looks lovely!
Thanks:)