This vegan gingerbread cake is the best ever. It’s soft, moist, richly flavored and perfectly spiced. The perfect recipe for the holidays!
This vegan gingerbread cake is just too good! It’s got tons of gingerbread flavor that comes about from molasses and a perfect mix of spices and it’s simply perfect for the holiday season.
It’s super verstatile as well, you can make it as a layer cake or as a sheet cake, frost it or just serve it topped with a sprinkle of powdered sugar or some vegan whipped cream.
We went with a subtly flavored orange frosting for the layer cake and the orange complements the gingerbread flavor beautifully.
Of course if you love gingerbread then you’ll also love our vegan gingerbread cookies and vegan gingerbread loaf.
How To Make Vegan Gingerbread Cake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add brown sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger and allspice and mix together.
- Prepare a flax egg by adding 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed meal to a bowl and then adding 3 Tbsp hot water. Let it sit for a minute to become gloopy.
- Add the flax egg, soy milk, unsulphured molasses, vanilla extract, oil and apple cider vinegar to the mixing bowl and whisk briefly with a hand whisk to combine. Don’t overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly between two 7-inch cake pans (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with circles of parchment paper on the bottom).
- Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool for a few minutes and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Ingredient Notes
Molasses. Your molasses should be unsulphured. Grandma’s is a great brand if you can get it, otherwise just make sure that it says ‘unsulphured’ on the label.
Flax Egg. This recipe uses a flax egg which is just a simple mix of ground flaxseed meal and hot water. If you don’t have ground flaxseed on hand, then you can use 3 Tbsp of applesauce instead.
Soy Milk: We used soy milk but any non-dairy milk is likely to work fine.
Apple Cider Vinegar: This reacts with the baking soda and causes the cake to rise beautifully. You can also use white distilled vinegar.
Recipe Tips
Don’t overmix. Mix the batter until it’s just mixed and no more. Over-mixing can cause your cake to not rise as well and can also cause the texture to become dense.
Bake immediately. Don’t let your batter sit, once it’s mixed, transfer to your cake pans and bake right away. Letting it sit can also cause your cake to not rise properly.
Cupcakes: This recipe will adapt beautifully to making 12 perfect vegan gingerbread cupcakes. Just reduce the baking time to around 22 minutes.
Make It Gluten-Free: To make this recipe gluten-free you can try replacing the regular flour with a gluten-free all purpose blend in the same quantity as the regular flour. One of our favorite blends is the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Blend.
Adapt for different cake pans: This recipe will also make a two layer 8-inch cake, the layers will just be slightly thinner than what you see here. It will also make a 3-layer 6-inch round cake and a single layer 9-inch round cake. If you need a two layer 9-inch cake then it would be best to double the recipe. For a sheet cake, see instructions below.
Make A Sheet Cake
You can make this cake as a sheet cake, which is a more traditional way to serve gingerbread.
Then you can either serve it with a sprinkling of powdered sugar on top, or with vegan whipped cream. You can serve it when it’s still warm too! Alternatively it’s also delicious to just cut a slice and warm it up in the microwave briefly before topping it with vegan cream. Yum! I can imagine that a scoop of vegan ice cream would be delicious here too.
For 9×13: Spray it with non-stick spray. Pour in the batter and spread it out evenly. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
For 9×9: Spray it with non-stick spray. Pour in the batter and spread it out evenly. Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
The pictures above and below show the gingerbread cake as baked in a 9×9 square baking dish for 20 minutes.
Storing and Freezing
Keep the cake stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days. Or you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Let it come to room temperature before serving.
It can also be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then bring it to room temperature on the counter.
More Delicious Vegan Cakes
- The Most Amazing Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Lemon Cake
- Vegan Orange Cake
- Vegan Pumpkin Cake
- Vegan Coffee Cake
- Vegan Carrot Cake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Gingerbread Cake
Ingredients
Gingerbread Cake:
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour (250g)
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar (200g)
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- ½ tsp Nutmeg
- 1 ½ tsp Ground Ginger
- ½ tsp Allspice
- 1 Flax Egg 1 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed Meal + 3 Tbsp Hot Water
- ¾ cup Soy Milk (180ml) or other non-dairy milk
- ¼ cup Unsulphured Molasses (60ml)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ⅓ cup Canola Oil (80ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Orange Frosting:
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 4 ½ cups Powdered Sugar (540g)
- 3-4 Tbsp Fresh Orange Juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and spray two 7-inch round cake pans (see notes for different sizes*) with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.
- Sift the all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add the brown sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger and allspice and mix together.
- Prepare a flax egg by adding 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed meal to a bowl and then adding 3 Tbsp hot water. Let it sit for a minute to become gloopy.
- Add the flax egg, soy milk, unsulphured molasses, vanilla extract, oil and apple cider vinegar to the mixing bowl and whisk briefly with a hand whisk to combine. Don’t overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly between your two prepared 7-inch cake pans.
- Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool for a few minutes and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare your frosting by adding the vegan butter, powdered sugar and 3 Tbsp orange juice to the bowl of an electric mixer. Starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until thick and smooth. If it's too thick add in the remaining 1 Tbsp orange juice, but add it in slowly as you may or may not need all of it.
- Place the frosted cake in the fridge for an hour so that the frosting can set before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Measure your flour correctly using the spoon and level method (spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup). Alternatively weigh it on a food scale for the most accurate results.
- Molasses. Your molasses should be unsulphured. Grandma’s is a great brand if you can get it, otherwise just make sure that it says ‘unsulphured’ on the label.
- Flax Egg. This recipe uses a flax egg but if you don’t have ground flaxseed on hand, then you can use 3 Tbsp of applesauce instead.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: This reacts with the baking soda and causes the cake to rise beautifully. You can also use white distilled vinegar.
- Don’t overmix your batter. Mix the batter until it’s just mixed and no more. Over-mixing can cause your cake to not rise as well and can also cause the texture to become dense.
- Bake immediately. Don’t let your batter sit, once it’s mixed, transfer to your cake pans and bake right away. Letting it sit can also cause your cake to not rise properly.
- Cupcakes: This recipe will adapt beautifully to making 12 perfect vegan gingerbread cupcakes. Just reduce the baking time to around 22 minutes.
- Make It Gluten-Free: To make this recipe gluten-free you can try replacing the regular flour with a gluten-free all purpose blend in the same quantity as the regular flour. One of our favorite blends is the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Blend.
- Adapt for different cake pans: This recipe can also be made in two 8-inch cake pans, the layers will just be slightly thinner. You can then bake for 20-25 minutes. It will also make a 3-layer 6-inch round cake, bake for 20 minutes. It will also make a single layer 9-inch round cake, bake for 30 minutes. If you need a two layer 9-inch cake then it would be best to double the recipe.
- Sheet Cake: 9×9: Spray it with non-stick spray. Pour in the batter and spread it out evenly. Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 9×13: Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Storing: Keep the cake stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. Or you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Let it come to room temperature before serving.
- Freezing: It can also be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then bring it to room temperature on the counter.
- This recipe was first published in December 2017. It has been updated with new photos and text but the recipe itself is unchanged except for one thing: The original recipe used olive oil but we preferred canola oil or vegetable oil for more consistent results.
- Nutritional information includes frosting.
if making this in a 9×13 cake pan will the recipe have to be doubled? I am eager to make this any help is appreciated.
Hi Irene. We haven’t tested this recipe in a sheet pan before. However I think you wouldn’t need to double the recipe. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Is there something I can substitute for the orange juice? Making this for a party and the host is allergic
You can substitute with any non-dairy milk and add a teaspoon of vanilla essence for a bit of vanilla flavor. 🙂
I made this for Thanksgving in 2022 and it was outstanding. I used King Arthur Gluten-free 1:1 flour. It was gorgeous and no one would have guessed it was vegan and gluten free. I’m back to try a new recipe for this year from this website.
That’s so great Holly! Thanks so much for sharing and for your wonderful review!
Hello! Thanks for this website, it’s a great source of inspiration!
Would it be possible to make this cake without the molasses to make it sugar-free? (I usually substitute the sugar for xylithol).
Hi Marina. We only tested the recipe with molasses, but I think you should be able to leave it out. The taste of the cake won’t be the same “gingerbread” taste though.
Turned out great using glutafin all purpose flour (UK) in two 8 inch sandwich tins.
Thanks for sharing and for your great review Carolyn!
I’ve made this recipe loads of times. I’ve made into a layer cake, a traybake a loaf and it’s delicious!!
Amazing! So happy to hear you enjoy the recipe Michelle! Thank you so much for your great review!
This was a huge hit with my family, most of whom aren’t vegan. I’m fact, my mother said this was the best gingerbread cake she’d ever had. High praise indeed.
Wonderful! Thanks so much Kelly!
This recipe is so delicious! It has just the right amount of sweetness and gingerbread flavor. I paired my cake with a vegan cream cheese frosting and it was just so perfect. Now I have to make it every year for the holidays!
So happy you enjoyed it Kensley!
Making this this week! Have you tried it as a bundt cake or do you think it’s too tender to survive the flipping out of the pan? Thanks!
I haven’t tried it as a bundt cake but I think it would work great!
Delicious!
Thanks Tom!
Also, is the 9×13 bake time 15 minutes total? Or 15 minutes extra time?
15 mins total.
Hi! If I use the 9×13 pan shape, will it come out as a thinner cake?
Yes it will.