I have been craving a pumpkin dessert recipe and when I saw one for “Pumpkin Dream Cake”  on Pinterest, I decided that was it! Unfortunately, this recipe used ingredients we don’t eat like Cool Whip, pumpkin pudding mix and flour. So I decided to make my own “Paleo + dairy” version using real cream, canned pumpkin and a coconut flour/pecan crust.

I will be the first to admit this isn’t a *true* paleo recipe as is uses some minimal sugar and dairy, but it’s still pretty healthy if you ask me.

This cake is ridiculously yummy. Fluffy, soft, with a delicious taste of fall pumpkin flavor.

The Crust:
The original crust was made with flour and pecans to taste like a pecan sandie, so I was excited to find a very similar grain-free pecan crust recipe on Paleospirit.com.  I didn’t make any changes to this recipe and thought the crust came out great. Very sturdy, moist and a slight pecan flavor.

Ingredients for a 9×13 pan:

• 1 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 3/4 cup toasted pecan halves
• 4 large eggs
• 8 tablespoons chilled pastured butter or coconut oil (I used butter)
• 2 tablespoons coconut sugar (I just used powdered sugar)
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

 Directions:

• Combine the coconut flour, 1/2 cup pecan halves, fat (either pastured butter or virgin coconut oil), coconut sugar and salt in food processor and pulse until combined and pecans are finely chopped
• Add the eggs and pulse until a dough is formed. If your dough isn’t “wet” enough, try adding another egg
• Spread the dough evenly into the bottom and sides of a greased 9×13 inch pan and top with some powdered sugar (optional)
• Bake at 350 for approximately 20 minutes or until crust is set
• Cool completely (I put mine in the fridge while I made the other ingredients)

Cake Layers

Ingredients:

• 3.5 cups heavy whipping cream
• 16 oz. cream cheese (at room temperature)
• Two cans pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling. You want the unsweetened stuff)
• 2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (or some cinnamon, nutmeg and clove
• 1/2 – 1/5 cups powdered sugar (depending on how sweet you like it. I used minimal sugar and thought it was delicious)

Directions:

• Beat heavy whipping cream with 1/4 cup powdered sugar (or however much you want for taste) until smooth and creamy
• Place whipped cream in a separate bowl
• Beat cream cheese and 1.5 cups whipped cream until smooth. Add some powdered sugar if it’s not sweet enough for your taste.
• Spread cream cheese mixture on top of the crust. Make sure the crust is totally cool or the heat will melt the whipped cream.
• Next, mix the two cans of pumpkin puree, 1/2 cup whipped cream and spices until smooth. Spread over cream cheese layer. (here’s what the canned pumpkin we use looks like from Trader Joe’s)

•  For the final layer, just top the cake with the rest of the whipped cream until smooth and top with a sprinkling of nutmeg for looks.

We really enjoyed this dessert and will be making it again soon. It went too quickly! (probably because Luke took an entire row to work for his lunch lol).

If you aren’t gluten-free or Paleo and don’t mind using some ingredients like Cool Whip, check out the original recipe on sweettreatsmore.com. 

Happy fall!