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Love ginger? Then you will love this vegan gingerbread cake! It has an amazing, moist texture and is topped with this sweet-and-spicy ginger glaze that gives it an incredible, festive flavor. It’s a must-make during the holidays! 1 bowl; options for gluten-free, nut-free. This post was originally published nov 18, 2014. The recipe has been simplified and updated.
Table of Contents
This is a super moist and super spiced vegan gingerbread cake with triple ginger: fresh, dried, and candied.
It is made in just one bowl using everyday ingredients. You can add other ingredients into the batter, like chopped pecans or walnuts, candied ginger, or raisins. You can also add in some fresh grated ginger for even more gingery flavor in the cake!
I make this amazing ginger glaze topping for the cake with fresh ginger, brown sugar, and candied ginger, and it takes the spice of the cake to an amazing level! The cake is super moist, super spice, and perfect with a cup of masala chai or coffee or gingerbread latte!
This ginger molasses cake has both candied ginger and fresh ginger as well as that amazing ginger topping in addition to fall spices and a deep flavor of molasses. All the flavors get stronger as the cake sits. You can omit a form of ginger or reduce some to taste preference.
Add other nuts or seeds of choice, chocolate chips, or dried fruit, if you like. The more the merrier when it comes to this vegan gingerbread cake!
Why You’ll Love Vegan Gingerbread Cake
- incredible, moist texture with molasses
- amazing spiced flavor with holiday spices, and ground ginger
- sticky-sweet ginger glaze ups the ante giving this cake an explosion of gingery flavor!
- 1-bowl batter
- Soyfree recipe. gluten-free, and nut-free options
More Vegan Christmas Desserts
- Chocolate Gingerbread Fudge
- Spiced Fruit Cake
- Vegan Baklava Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Bark
- Eggnog Pound Cake
Vegan Gingerbread Cake
Equipment
- 9×5" loaf pan
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
Spices
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground clove
- 1/8 teaspoon allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Wet Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 3/4 cup non-dairy milk, warmed
- 3 tablespoons molasses
- 2 tablespoons non-dairy yogurt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional Additions to the Cake
- 2 tablespoons or more of either or combination of chopped candied ginger, , chopped walnuts/pecans, raisins or chocolate chips
For the Ginger Glaze
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 ” piece fresh ginger, sliced into thin slices
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped candied ginger
- 2 tablespoons chopped pecans
Instructions
Make the gingerbread cake.
- Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C) and line a 9×5” loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, brown sugar, and all of the spices, and press and mix really well.
- Warm up the non-dairy milk, if you haven’t already. Then, make a hole in the middle of the dry ingredients, and add the milk. Then add in the oil and the molasses and mix in. Mix in the hole first, so that the molasses mixes into the warm milk a little bit, and then start to mix it into the flour a little bit. Then, add in vanilla extract and non-dairy yogurt, and continue to mix until you get a smooth batter.
- If the batter is too thick (this depends on how you measured the flour, the consistency of the molasses, and etc.) you can add in another tablespoon of milk to help it become a smooth batter. You don't want it to be too thin, but you also don't want it to be too lumpy and stiff.
- Once you have the batter, add in your additions of choice, and fold them into the batter.
- Then, transfer the batter to the lined loaf pan. Even it out with a spatula, and then bake it for 35 minutes.
- At this point, check with toothpick to see whether the cake is already done. If not, reduce the heat to 350° F (177° C), cover the the pan with parchment paper, and continue to bake for around 10 to 15 more minutes or until the toothpick from the center comes out completely clean.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully remove it using the parchment paper, and let it continue to cool, covered lightly with a towel, for another 10 to 15 minutes.
Make the ginger glaze while the cake cools.
- In a skillet, add the brown sugar, water, ginger slices, and lemon juice, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Mix really well until the sugar mixes in, simmer for another minute, and then switch off the heat. Fish out the fresh ginger slices
- Fold in the candied ginger and pecans.
- Let this cool for 5 minutes or so, so that the glaze thickens slightly. Then, drizzle this all over the cake. Spread the candied ginger and pecans all over and then drizzle on the rest of the sauce, if there is any left, all over the cake.
- Let the gingerbread cake sit for 10 to 15 minutes for the glaze to soak in a little bit, then slice, serve, and enjoy. You can also serve this with some coconut cream or ice cream.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- all-purpose flour – see recipe notes to make it Glutenfree
- baking powder, baking soda, and salt – To condition the batter.
- brown sugar – For sweetness and flavor in the batter and to sweeten the ginger glaze.
- spices – This cake is packed with festive flavors from ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg.
- oil – For moisture.
- warm non-dairy milk – For moisture.
- molasses – For moisture, sweetness, and flavor.
- non-dairy yogurt – For moisture and tang.
- vanilla – For flavor.
- optional additions – You can add lots of fun mix-ins to the cake batter, if you like, such as candied ginger, chopped nuts or seeds, chocolate chips, and dried fruit.
- fresh ginger – To add heat to the ginger glaze.
- lemon juice – To bring out the flavors in the ginger glaze.
- candied ginger and pecans – Add this to the glaze after cooking it for texture and even more amazing flavor!
Tips
- The thickness of the batter will depend on a lot of factors, like how accurately you measured the flour, the consistency of your molasses, etc. If it’s too thick/lumpy, add a tablespoon of non-dairy milk to help it become a smooth batter. You don’t want it to be too thin, but you also don’t want it to be too lumpy and stiff.
- If you don’t want to make the glaze on the stovetop, you can make a simple glaze with just sugar and non-dairy milk. Or you can make a cream cheese frosting with some non-dairy cream cheese, maple syrup, a pinch of ground spices like ginger, cinnamon, and cloves, and then spread that all over the cake as well.
- To store, slice and keep the cake in a closed container in the fridge for up to five days, or freeze it in a freezer-safe container for up to two months.
How to Make Vegan Gingerbread Cake
Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C) and line a 9×5” loaf pan with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, brown sugar, and all of the spices, and press and mix really well.
Warm up the non-dairy milk, if you haven’t already. Then, make a hole in the middle of the dry ingredients, and add the milk. Then add in the oil and the molasses and mix in. Mix in the hole first, so that the molasses mixes into the warm milk a little bit, and then start to mix it into the flour a little bit. Then, add in vanilla extract and non-dairy yogurt, and continue to mix until you get a smooth batter.
If the batter is too thick (this depends on how you measured the flour, the consistency of the molasses, and etc.) you can add in another tablespoon of milk to help it become a smooth batter. You don’t want it to be too thin, but you also don’t want it to be too lumpy and stiff.
Once you have the batter, add in your additions of choice, and fold them into the batter.
Then, transfer the batter to the lined loaf pan. Even it out with a spatula, and then bake it for 35 minutes.
At this point, check with toothpick to see whether the cake is already done. If not, reduce the heat to 350° F (177° C), cover the the pan with parchment paper, and continue to bake for around 10 to 15 more minutes or until the toothpick from the center comes out completely clean.
Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully remove it using the parchment paper, and let it continue to cool, covered lightly with a towel, for another 10 to 15 minutes.
Make the ginger glaze while the cake cools.
In a skillet, add the brown sugar, water, ginger slices, and lemon juice, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Mix really well until the sugar mixes in, simmer for another minute, and then switch off the heat. Remove the fresh ginger slices.
Fold in the candied ginger and pecans.
Let this cool for 5 minutes or so, so that the glaze thickens slightly. Then, drizzle this all over the cake. Spread the candied ginger and pecans all over and then drizzle on the rest of the sauce, if there is any left, all over the cake.
Let the gingerbread cake sit for 10 to 15 minutes for the glaze to soak in a little bit, then slice, serve, and enjoy. You can also serve this with some coconut cream or ice cream.
Frequently Asked Questions
To make this gluten-free, make a mix of 1 cup almond flour, 1/2 cup oat flour, and 1/2 cup potato starch and use 1 3/4 cup of that mixture in the cake. Also, instead of the 3/4 cup of milk, use 1/3 cup of non-dairy milk and 1/3 cup of club soda.
Once you mix the batter, you want to bake the gluten-free cake immediately, because otherwise it will lose the airiness that it would have gotten from the club soda. If you don’t want to use club soda, you can add 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid in with the dry ingredients.
You do want to add some kind of leavening into the batter before baking for the best results. This is very important for gluten-free baking, otherwise it kind of becomes too flat or too dry.
This recipe is soy-free as long as you use a soy-free non-dairy milk and yogurt.
To make it nut-free, use seeds instead of the walnuts/pecans or just omit, and make sure your non-dairy milk and yogurt are nut-free.
I’m on a roll in the kitchen today Richa. Made this cake for my son for his snack for the week. It’s yummy. The only thing was that the top cracked a little as I was slicing through it but other than that, it’s a great recipe.
Awesome! Let the cake sit covered in a towel for cooling and then slice. and slice it from the bottom. That might help with the cracking. depends on the oven and heating. the top can get slightly harder. Cooling it in a towel helps add moisture soften the top a bit.
Yummy, Richa! I love gingerbread but never think of it when I’m in the mood to bake. Perfect holiday treat!
i know right. my fb feed reminds me these days of the impending holidays 🙂 and then i try to squeeze in a few holiday recipes 🙂
Oh my goodness, look at that perfect crumb! Ha, I feel like Mary Berry on the Great British Bake Off, I could rave about this gorgeous cake for ages 🙂
I’m thinking of making this for my mum at Christmas, she’ll love this. She can’t eat too much sugar due to a condition, though, do you have any tips for reducing the amount of sugar in this? Maybe pureed fruit? She’s ok with natural sugars, it’s granular sugars that she can’t handle well.
Thanks Clem!
You can use very ripe bananas , eg https://fettabbau-trim.today/2014/04/banana-walnut-breakfast-loaf-gluten.html%3C/a%3E%3Cbr /> taste the batter and add maple or stevia if needed. you will need less liquid like a 1/4 cup non dairy milk.
This is delightful. I used coconut sugar and didn’t have candied ginger but still lovely. I didn’t plan on making this but found that I had almost all ingredients anyway and was raining outside so I made it.
Oh I didn’t have molesses either but went to local convenience store and bought ‘black treacle’ instead. Funny what you find in local convenience store on a Sunday evening…
I rather like the idea of bananas and ginger. If I do as you suggest above and use say 2 ripe bananas and 1/4 cup milk (as per ‘wet’ in your gluten free banana bread recipe), then do I still need flax/chia? Or maybe less flax/chia? I gather that bananas are good at binding in themselves.
I’m acquiring quite a taste for black bananas and now pick them up regular when heavily discounted at the end of the day at the local supermarket. What is the best way to freeze them? With skin on or off?
Xxx
I’m prepa
PS
I was referring to using black bananas instead of sugar as per your suggestion to out great vegan cookie fairy…..she’s wonderful isn’t she?
Yes you can use bananas. You might want to taste the batter to see if it needs some sugar. If the bananas are not sweet enough then the loaf might end up a bit bland. You can omit the flax with the banana
Many thanks.
I will try this sometime when I have bananas that need using. I did love the original version and it’s good to have tried the recipe first before fiddling with it.
Xx
Thanks for another lovely recipe richa.. 🙂 tried it n it came out so tastyyy.. Perfect for the winters 🙂 But i added whole wheat flour n oats in place of spelt .. N my cake was a little bit crumbly on d top.. So shud i add a little more oil or coconut milk??
its probably because of the whole oats. you can do a few things, coarsely blend the oats before adding, add a bit more coconut milk if the batter is very stiff or doughy, mix the batter a half a minute onger so the wheat gets mixed in well and forms a bit more gluten which will help make the loaf less crumbly.
Also for better slices, refrigerate the loaf in an airtight container for an hour, then slice. You can serve the slices at room temperature or warm them up in the microwave or oven.
Love gingerbread loaves.. perfect for this time of year!
So much ginger! Looks awesome, I bet it would make a great finish to christmas dinner with a little lemon cashew icing 😉
oooh definitely with the lemon cashew icing.
Gosh that looks delish – I will have to have a go at baking this. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
Awesome!
Pass me a slice someone!
Sounds and looks great, as usual 🙂 Being so close to Thanksgiving (meaning with a belly still recovering from a feast) it’s hard to think about what I’m going to make on Christmas! My grandmother makes the best mac n cheese, which of course is not vegan. But it was the dish I looked forward to the most on Christmas. I made a mac n cheese earlier this year that was AMAZING, so I think I’ll add that to my Christmas traditions 🙂
I know right. my stomach feels constantly full, so i just want a dinner of a slice of gingerbread 😉
mac and cheese fits in everywhere so beautifully!
Your recipes are really nice and always with the twist. That is why it stands out from the other posts. Good job Richa