This vegan ginger cake is incredibly fluffy and packed with gingerbread flavor! The cake comes together in one bowl and is perfect for Christmas. I topped it with vanilla buttercream and coconut for a festive touch!
Ingredients to make vegan ginger cake
You'll need a few basic ingredients including:
Ingredient notes
Brown or coconut sugar for the lovely caramel undertones.
Dark molasses (known as treacle in Australia and the UK). As this cake has no egg, I added a little more molasses to help bind the ingredients :). You can use any other liquid sweetener instead of molasses but your ginger cake will have a lighter flavor.
Spices. I added two whole tablespoons of ground cinnamon and ginger which gives the cake a lot of flavor without being overpowering.
A complete list of ingredients, quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Steps for making the easy vegan ginger cake
Some ginger cake recipes ask for boiling water as this helps soften the molasses and improves the flavor. Instead of doing that, we just need to warm up our molasses! This can be done on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Once you've warmed up your molasses, combine all your wet ingredients (including the sugar) in a large mixing bowl. It's easier to mix the wet ingredients first because the molasses can be quite sticky.
Add all your dry ingredients and mix until combined. Just make sure there are no lumps of flour! The final batter should look runny, but feel thick when stirring and a little sticky.
At this stage, simply pour the batter into your cake pan and bake for around 20 minutes.
Decorating the vegan ginger cake
To decorate this cake, it's easiest to:
- Spread the buttercream on top
- Slice the cake
- Top with coconut
Alternatively, you can decorate the cake with buttercream and coconut THEN slice it. However, when you slice into a cake with coconut, each strand digs into the soft cake. So I'd recommend sprinkling the coconut after slicing!
Customizing the cake
To make cakes gluten-free, normally I'd recommend using a high quality 1:1 gluten-free flour. Or substitute the plain flour with 50% almond flour (blanched almond meal) and 50% gluten-free all-purpose flour by weight. I haven't tried it with this recipe but I think it will work!
This cake is lightly spiced but for an extra ginger kick, I'd recommend adding an extra tablespoon of ground ginger. If you have access to ginger juice, use it instead of some of the dairy-free milk in the recipe!
More vegan Christmas desserts
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Vegan Ginger Cake
Ingredients
Wet ingredients
- ½ cup (120g) dark molasses, or dark treacle in the UK/Australia (not blackstrap molasses)
- 1 cup (250g) dairy-free milk
- ½ cup (120g) brown sugar, or coconut sugar
- ½ cup (120g) light-tasting vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon white or apple cider vinegar, optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
Dry ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (310g) all-purpose plain flour, (note 1 for gluten free)
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
To decorate (optional)
- 1 ½ cups (150g) powdered sugar / icing sugar, or to taste
- ⅓ cup (75g) vegan butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons corn starch / corn flour, if needed
- 1 cup shredded coconut
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (340°F). Line or grease a 20 cm (8-inch) square baking tin.
- Warm up the molasses on the stove top for a few minutes or in the microwave for 30 seconds or until it's very runny.
- Add all the wet ingredients (and the sugar) to a large mixing bowl and mix until combined. Add all the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix until smooth.
- Pour the batter into your cake tin. Bake for 20 minutes or until you can insert a skewer in the middle and it comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the tin.
To make the buttercream frosting and decorate:
- Add the sugar, butter and vanilla to a large mixing bowl. Using an electric whisk to beat until light and fluffy. If your frosting is still very soft, add more sugar or corn starch and mix until combined.
- When the cake has fully cooled, spread the frosting on the cake. Slice the cake then generously top the frosting with coconut, pressing some of it in so it sticks. Serve and enjoy!
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
- For a gluten free ginger cake, I'd recommend using 1 ½ cups (150g) almond flour and 1 ½ cups (160g) gluten free all-purpose flour. Or use a high quality 1:1 gluten free flour such as Bob Red Mills.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in 2016 and updated in 2021.
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Yum!
I love ginger and this was just perfect. I did frost it, but it would be just as good without. Thank you for another delicious recipe!
Aw that's so nice to hear Miriam! Glad that you enjoyed this cake as a ginger-lover! Thank you so much for your lovely comment xx
Love this cake! I've made it twice now, and not even during Christmas time. When I've made it, I like to toast the coconut for the topping for a warm and toasty coconut flavor. I also chop up some candied ginger to sprinkle on top with the coconut for another sweet ginger punch. Thanks for the recipe!
So happy you enjoyed this recipe Laura! Ooh I love the sound of toasted coconut and candied ginger. Thanks so much for your feedback!
so moist and fluffy! my kitchen smells like Christmas! i love it so much
So glad you enjoyed this Rachel!