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.
I made this yesterday, and my whole family loved it. I used all white whole wheat flour and was worried that it wouldn’t rise, but it did. I also combined all the wet ingredients separately first and grated in a knob of fresh ginger before mixing with the dry. I used oat milk.
I was skeptical that my 8×8 pan would finish in 20 minutes since you have 30 minutes for two 7” round pans and muffins for 22, and indeed mine took closer to 35 minutes to fully bake.
I will be making this again! Next time I will try adding some ground black pepper and maybe try coconut sugar in place of brown sugar.
So glad it was a success! Thanks for sharing!
Can I swap vegan butter for the canola oil?
You probably can, but oil is better.
Just super yummy!
Thanks Anna!
Hi, I have made a couple of your cake recipes and both times I have used plain flour(I’m in UK) and they just did not rise. I remade them with self raising flour though and they are perfect. I cut the non rising ginger cake into shapes once cool, then I baked them again on a baking sheet for 10 minutes and so we now have a box of ginger biscottis! All, vegan, all gluten free. (I use Doves Farm gluten free self raising flour, and the cakes are beautiful: light, moist and taste amazing xx
Hi Victoria, so glad you were able to make a good use of it anyway! And glad the Dove’s farm gf flour works well!
Hi,
How to modify the recipe to fit for a 12 cup bundt cake pan ( 10 inch)?
Hi Ramya, I actually don’t know! I would likely try the recipe as is and see how it goes, but it would require a longer baking time. If you’re better at maths than I am, then this article on adapting recipes for different size cake pans might be helpful.
Planning to make this for my daughter’s bday. Do you think I can use a frosting bag to pipe on the frosting? Or is it too thick for that? Thanks 🙂
That should work fine! All the best, hope it works out great! 🙂
Hi, would this recipe work as cupcakes?
Hi Kate, sure it would work great! It would make around 12-16 cupcakes depending on how high you fill the liners and you would need to bake for around 22 minutes. 🙂
How would you make this a GF traditional gingerbread cake? Thank you!
I would probably try just replacing the wheat flour with a gluten free all purpose baking blend and then see if the recipe needed any adjusting after that. If it’s a little dry then increase the oil a bit. 🙂
I have tried this a few times and it is delicious – but I don’t seem to get a good rise. Do you know if the all purpose flour is self raising flour or plain flour? (from the UK so the ingredients are slightly different). I just wonder if I am going wrong by not having any baking powder in. Thanks!
Hi Marie, all purpose flour is just plain flour in the UK. You could try a little baking powder to see if you get more of the desired rise out of it (1 tsp baking powder in addition to the other ingredients). I usually find the baking soda/vinegar combination enough to get a good rise, but maybe a little baking powder in addition would help (it won’t hurt). All the best! 🙂
Hi
I cannot wait to make this recipe! is the brown sugar light brown sugar or dark brown sugar?
thank you
Light brown sugar. 🙂
I LOVE this.
The only change I made was just to throw it all into a loaf pan, which took a hour….. And also used mixed spice instead of cinnamon because I was out.
So happy to hear you loved it Hazel! Also that it worked well in a loaf pan. Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Really delicious cake just made it! Thanks so much for sharing. Love it??.
Wonderful! Thank Soph! 🙂
Absolutely delicious! So happy with this cake. Moist, full of flavor and really easy to make. My whole family raved over it! It rose perfectly and was really easy to make. I think it tasted more like all the spices combined than just ginger, but this made it even better for me as I loved the combined flavor of the spices together. Definitely a keeper! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
That’s fantastic news Lucy! Thanks so much for posting! 🙂
Loving your Lovingitvegan website! Your recipes are really reliable and delicious 🙂
I made this gingerbread cake TWO times for my family and the other cake for my relatives. They love the cake very much. One modification I made to the cake was to up the ginger spice to 2 teaspoons 😀
Soooo happy to hear Grace! Thanks for posting! 🙂 xx
Yummers!