Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Cake

Make sure your pan is ready before preparing the ingredients. You will need to line a 9 inch round metal pan with parchment on the bottom. I cut a round circle of paper for the bottom. Or line 12 muffin cups with foil liners. I use Staybrite by Reynolds because the cupcakes never stick! Lightly spray only along the inside sides of the cake pan and place the parchment paper circle down on the bottom. Add some cocoa powder to the inside sides and swirl the pan around over the sink, with the cocoa powder covering the spray well on the sides as your rotate the pan. Turn the pan over and tap hard the excess powder out. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.Make sure to weigh all your ingredients for accurate results. I can't stress the importance of this enough. Fluff your almond flour with a whisk first to break up any lumps, as it tends to lump in storage. To measure, scoop your cups into the dry ingredients, pat down well to make sure there are no gaps and then level off, or simply use the scale for accuracy, making sure your bowl is on the scale and zeroed out before adding the ingredients. Add the almond flour, potato starch, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and espresso (if using) to a large bowl and whisk everything together really well until there are no lumps remaining. Really make sure it is smooth.In a separate medium bowl, add the syrup, pumpkin (make sure to level off), aquafaba and peppermint extract. Lightly beat the liquids with a handheld mixer just until smooth and slightly frothy. Pour over the dry ingredients and beat again until completely smooth, about 30 seconds.Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake on the middle rack for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center (may have a few DRY crumbs, but shouldn't have wet batter), I removed mine at exactly 25 mins, but yours may take longer. Make sure it is cooked through. Let cool in the pan 30 minutes before removing from the pan. Then place your serving platter on top and flip it over, so the flat side is facing up. Cool completely before adding glaze or eating, as it will still be cooking through as it cools. To make these as cupcakes, they will make 12 tall cupcakes or 14 regular size. They should cook about the same time, just check for a clean toothpick or a few dry crumbs, not wet batter.For the chocolate peppermint glaze, simply whisk the ingredients until smooth and drizzle over the top. It will take a few minutes because of all the cocoa powder. Garnish with crushed peppermints for presentation, if desired. Keep cake stored in a sealed container to retain it's moisture, at room temperature. Cake is always best and the freshest the day made.