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Vegan Gingerbread Cake

Published: November 20, 2019 | Last updated: November 20, 2019 37 Comments

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This Vegan Gingerbread Cake is perfect for breakfast with a mug of coffee or an afternoon snack with a cup of tea. It's deliciously spicy and soft and light. Easy one-bowl dessert that can be made even during the busiest holiday season | Imagelicious.com #gingerbread #vegancake
This Vegan Gingerbread Cake is perfect for breakfast with a mug of coffee or an afternoon snack with a cup of tea. It's deliciously spicy and soft and light. Easy one-bowl dessert that can be made even during the busiest holiday season | Imagelicious.com #gingerbread #vegancake
This Vegan Gingerbread Cake is perfect for breakfast with a mug of coffee or an afternoon snack with a cup of tea. It's deliciously spicy and soft and light. Easy one-bowl dessert that can be made even during the busiest holiday season | Imagelicious.com #gingerbread #vegancake
This Vegan Gingerbread Cake is perfect for breakfast with a mug of coffee or an afternoon snack with a cup of tea. It's deliciously spicy and soft and light. Easy one-bowl dessert that can be made even during the busiest holiday season | Imagelicious.com #gingerbread #vegancake
This Vegan Gingerbread Cake is perfect for breakfast with a mug of coffee or an afternoon snack with a cup of tea. It's deliciously spicy and soft and light. Easy one-bowl dessert that can be made even during the busiest holiday season | Imagelicious.com #gingerbread #vegancake
This Vegan Gingerbread Cake is perfect for breakfast with a mug of coffee or an afternoon snack with a cup of tea. It's deliciously spicy and soft and light. Easy one-bowl dessert that can be made even during the busiest holiday season | Imagelicious.com #gingerbread #vegancake
This Vegan Gingerbread Cake is perfect for breakfast with a mug of coffee or an afternoon snack with a cup of tea. It's deliciously spicy and soft and light. Easy one-bowl dessert that can be made even during the busiest holiday season | Imagelicious.com #gingerbread #vegancake

This Vegan Gingerbread Cake is perfect to have for breakfast with a mug of coffee or an afternoon snack with a cup of tea. It’s deliciously spicy and soft and light. Easy one-bowl dessert that can be made even during the busiest holiday season.

Vegan Gingerbread Cake in a pan right out of the oven with some icing sugar just falling over it

This post contains amazon affiliate links which means if you make a purchase after clicking one of those links, I will receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

This post first appeared on the blog on November 26, 2016 and is now updated with more information.

The aroma of this Vegan Ginger Cake permeated the air in my kitchen for a few days. Every time I’d go downstairs to get a cup of coffee or tea I could smell the wonderful spicy ginger and warming cinnamon.

I made this cake many times over the past few years and it is now part of my holiday baking tradition.

My husband isn’t into sweets too much and he’s not a huge fan of gingerbread spices either. So, I usually end up eating most of those cakes on my own. I feel a little bit guilty, but not really as the cake is delicious and makes me feel very happy and festive.

Whether you call this Gingerbread Loaf, Gingerbread Bread (is it even a thing?),  Gingerbread Snack Cake, or simply Gingerbread Cake, it doesn’t matter. It will be delicious anyway!

Top down view of Vegan Gingerbread Cake in a pan, covered in icing sugar. More christmas decorations are around the pan

More gingerbread recipes:

  • Gingerbread truffles (vegan)
  • Instant Pot Gingerbread Cheesecake (not vegan)

Gingerbread flavour wasn’t popular in Russia during holiday season when I was little. We had our own version of Gingerbread but it was more peppery than gingery. It was also eaten all throughout the year, not just during winter.

December for me smelled like mandarin oranges. Back when I was little, when Russia was still Soviet Union and store shelves were bare, those small orange jewels were a wonderful holiday treat – rare and precious. We even hung clementines on the Christmas tree as decorations.

Cinnamon was primerily a fall spice and ginger was foreign and unfamiliar.

Now that I’ve lived in Canada for over two decades, gingerbread means holidays. I started listening to Christmas music last week and we are about to put up our Christmas tree and this Vegan Gingerbread Cake will be the perfect accompaniment to the songs and twinkle lights.

Vegan Gingerbread Cake in a pan with a slice cut out and half eaten, icing sugar is falling over it like snow

Ingredients to make Vegan Gingerbread Cake

The only unconventional ingredient in this Vegan Gingerbread Cake Recipe is applesauce. I use it in place of extra oil. If you don’t want to use applesauce, you could use extra oil.

  • Flour
  • Brown sugar
  • Salt
  • Baking powder
  • Gingerbread spices (I make my own with ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves)
  • Canola oil (or any other flavourless oil like vegetable oil or grapeseed oil)
  • Fancy molasses
  • Applesauce
  • Water 

How to make Vegan Gingerbread Cake

This Vegan Gingerbread Cake  is super easy to make – just mix everything in a bowl and pour into an oiled and floured cake pan. It totally goes onto my Mom-recipe list.

  1. Combine all the dry ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl.
  2. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until the flour disappears. Do not overmix!!!
  3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake!

So easy!

I use unsweetened apple sauce instead of eggs and some oil; it also adds some sweetness. Brown sugar and molasses add a distinct punch of flavour and colour. Ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves mingle together in the batter and make the kitchen smell like home and childhood and magic.

Vegan Gingerbread Cake is deliciously spicy, soft and light. It’s perfect for an afternoon snack or morning cup of coffee!

More vegan cake recipes:

  • Vegan Banana Cake
  • Vegan Pumpkin Cake
  • Vegan Chocolate-Prune Cake

I started making vegan cakes a few years ago and I haven’t looked back. I really don’t miss butter or eggs or milk in them – if made properly they are moist and soft and absolutely delicious!

Top down view of Vegan Gingerbread Cake with a slice cut out and half eaten

Don’t forget to watch the video to see how easy it is to make this one-bowl vegan gingerbre

Gingerbread cake in a pan with a slice cut out and lying on top of it.
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5 from 7 votes

Vegan Gingerbread Cake

This Vegan Gingerbread Cake is perfect for breakfast with a mug of coffee or an afternoon snack with a cup of tea. It's deliciously spicy and soft and light. Easy one-bowl dessert that can be made even during the busiest holiday season | Imagelicious
Makes 1 8-inch cake
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword cake, gingerbread, vegan
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Calories 269kcal
Author Julia

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon ginger *
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon *
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg *
  • 1/4 teaspoon cloves *
  • 1/4 cup Canola oil (you can use any flavourless oil you'd like)
  • 1/2 cup fancy molasses
  • 1/2 cup apple sauce (unsweetened)
  • 1/2 cup water
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350F.
  • In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients and mix well making sure that there are no lumps.
  • Add all the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until the flour disappears.Do not overmix or the cake will turn out gummy.
  • Grease and flour an 8-inch cake pan.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for about 50-55 minutes or until cake is baked through and there are no crumbs sticking to a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake for testing doneness.
    Note: my oven usually takes longer for everything, so start checking after 40 minutes or so.
  • Dust with icing sugar and eat either warm or cool. It stays soft and moist for a couple of days if it lasts this long.

Video

Notes

* You can use your favourite gingerbread spices instead of what I listed. You'll need 1 tablespoon of the spices or a bit more if you'd like a more pronounced gingerbread flavour.
Equipment
cake pan

Nutrition

Calories: 269kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 87mg | Potassium: 439mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 93mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Leave me a comment with a star rating!
Mention or tag @Imagelicious
Nutrition Facts
Vegan Gingerbread Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 269 Calories from Fat 63
% Daily Value*
Fat 7g11%
Saturated Fat 1g5%
Sodium 87mg4%
Potassium 439mg13%
Carbohydrates 50g17%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 31g34%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 93mg9%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

 

This Vegan Gingerbread Cake is perfect for breakfast with a mug of coffee or an afternoon snack with a cup of tea. It's deliciously spicy and soft and light. Easy one-bowl dessert that can be made even during the busiest holiday season | Imagelicious
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Filed Under: Christmas, Dessert, Gingerbread, Mom recipe, Recipe, Vegan, Video Tagged With: Cake, Spices

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Comments

  1. Yang says

    February 25, 2019 at 8:29 pm

    5 stars
    I love that gingerbread cake! It looks so beautiful and delicious. I have never had a gingerbread cake before, but I will be baking this one next week. It’s going to be my first time. I will follow your recipe carefully, and I hope mine would turn out as good as yours. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
  2. Santini says

    February 17, 2019 at 6:34 pm

    5 stars
    So love this! Can’t wait! I’m a vegan and this is perfect for me! Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  3. Lauren says

    December 9, 2018 at 3:01 am

    Hi!
    I live in Australia so measurements don’t tend to be accurate when I use cups here. Do you happen to have the grams/mls (or ounces etc) measurements for this recipe? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Julia says

      December 10, 2018 at 3:54 pm

      I just added a button/link to the recipe that should let you convert cups to grams. It’s an automated conversion so I do not know if it works well or not.

      Reply
  4. Mindy says

    October 31, 2018 at 11:11 am

    5 stars
    Made this last night and this recipe is definitely a keeper! I made 2, one vegan for my adult son who was craving the vegan gingerbread from whole foods, and another gluten free (used Pillsbury all-purpose gluten free mix in equal amounts flour is called for). He tried both and said they were both equally good, my husband and daughter ate the gluten free one and enjoyed too! This has a nice full-bodied burst of flavor with a perfect blend of spices, sweetness and moistness. We topped with a dusting of powdered sugar and was plenty good enough that way , but cream cheese frosting would have been divine on this too. This is super quick to whip up and usually would have these ingredients on hand, except the molasses (I am out now after making 2) but will keep on hand to whip this up for a cozy fall/winter treat, I do love molasses! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Julia says

      October 31, 2018 at 11:26 am

      Thank you so much for your detailed review! I am so glad you loved the cake and I’m really glad it worked with gluten-free flour also. It would definitely be great with cream cheese icing! Yum! I also use molasses for gingerbread only but it keeps for a long time usually. Happy halloween!

      Reply
  5. Joyce says

    November 26, 2017 at 8:39 pm

    5 stars
    Very tasty recipe. I included some wheat bran, oat bran, whole gold flax seed, lemon zest, zested fresh ginger and substituted apple cider for the water.

    Reply
    • Julia says

      November 27, 2017 at 11:03 am

      I love your changes! Did you reduce sugar a little bit since apple cider is a bit sweet?

      Reply
  6. isabel says

    December 22, 2016 at 6:13 pm

    5 stars

    thank you for this delicious recipe. For once, I had all the ingredients on hand. Very easy to make and excellent flavour.

    Reply
    • Imagelicious says

      December 22, 2016 at 6:37 pm

      I’m really glad you liked it! Thank you for your feedback!

      Reply
  7. Kat Mortensen says

    December 21, 2016 at 7:13 pm

    Can I substitute almond milk for the water?

    Reply
    • Imagelicious says

      December 21, 2016 at 7:26 pm

      I haven’t tried myself, but I don’t see why not.

      Reply
  8. Heidi says

    December 21, 2016 at 5:30 pm

    I’m not a very experienced baker and I’ve never used any type of Molasses. I will look for the cooking kind!
    Which cake is more moist, this one or the pumpkin spice cake? Also, you said to use gingerbread spices. Is that a bottled kind that I can find among the rest of the spices at the store?

    Reply
    • Imagelicious says

      December 21, 2016 at 5:36 pm

      They are about the same in terms of moistness. You can follow the pumpkin spice recipe but use the actual spices from the gingerbread recipe or use bottled/premixed gingerbread spices, you can usually find them at bulk foods or baking aisles

      Reply
  9. Heidi says

    December 21, 2016 at 1:28 pm

    Would Blackstrap molasses work?

    Reply
    • Imagelicious says

      December 21, 2016 at 1:45 pm

      I’ve never cooked or baked with blackstrap molasses. According to this article (http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-deal-with-blackstrap-70853) it is quite bitter. If you are ok with buying it, then maybe use a tablespoon of blackstrap molasses and add a bit of brown sugar to compensate for the bitterness? I’m guessing here as I haven’t actually used that kind of molasses. Do they have Cooking molasses? That one is interchangeable with fancy molasses I think. It’s usually in the baking aisle, near sugar

      Reply
    • Kathy Welch says

      March 25, 2018 at 10:01 am

      Blackstrap molasses is the only kind I’ve ever used, and I’ve made lots of gingerbread, but this will be my first vegan version. Thanks for the recipe!

      Reply
  10. Heidi says

    December 19, 2016 at 1:48 am

    Is there anything else I can use in place of fancy molasses? ( having trouble finding some!)

    Reply
    • Imagelicious says

      December 19, 2016 at 2:19 am

      Do you have access to any other kinds of molasses? Molasses is what is usually used in Gingerbread- it adds a characteristic flavour. If you can’t find any kind of molasses, then use this recipe, it has more sugar and more water instead of molasses, just use gingerbread spices instead of pumpkin spices: http://www.imagelicious.peppercorncreative.com/blog/pumpkin-spice-vegan-cake

      Reply
  11. Heidi says

    December 15, 2016 at 10:24 pm

    Do you drain the apple sauce at all? Usually in vegan baking you do, but I am not sure with this recipe since it doesn’t mention it.

    Reply
    • Imagelicious says

      December 15, 2016 at 11:04 pm

      Hello Heidi – I don’t drain the apple sauce. I use this brand, I get it at Costco: http://applesnax.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Applesnax-22oz.jpg

      Reply
  12. VeenaAzmanov says

    November 30, 2016 at 9:59 pm

    That looks so gorgeous Julia I can almost smell the ginger bread spices.

    Reply
    • Imagelicious says

      December 11, 2016 at 3:18 pm

      Thanks so much 🙂 My kitchen smelled like Christmas for days!

      Reply
  13. Arlene Mobley says

    November 29, 2016 at 11:42 pm

    Gingerbread is one of my favorite holiday flavors. Your cake looks so moist and delicious!

    Reply
    • Imagelicious says

      December 11, 2016 at 3:19 pm

      Thank you! It is surprisingly moist for a cake that uses very little oil and no butter or eggs

      Reply
  14. Sarah @ TheFitCookie says

    November 29, 2016 at 8:11 pm

    I remember my mom making gingerbread when we were kids – it was more like a cake than a bread. We would top hot gingerbread with honey butter. So good!! This just reminded me that I miss it and need to make some this month 🙂

    Reply
    • Imagelicious says

      December 11, 2016 at 3:19 pm

      I hope you try this recipe – it’s definitely one of my favourites right now!

      Reply
  15. Melissa says

    November 29, 2016 at 11:45 am

    I love gingerbread flavors! This cake looks amazing! I am definitely putting it on my holiday baking list!

    Reply
    • Imagelicious says

      December 11, 2016 at 3:20 pm

      I hope you try this! So easy and so delicious (and if not healthy, then at least not too bad for the holidays, which means you get to eat more of the bad stuff 🙂 )

      Reply
  16. Janet @ the taste space says

    November 28, 2016 at 10:49 pm

    I like how you literally filed it under "Mom recipe". Perfect for the holidays, now I want to make it too!! 🙂

    Reply
    • Imagelicious says

      December 11, 2016 at 3:20 pm

      Hey Janet – yep, it’s a totally mom recipe 🙂 I made it a few times and it takes only a few minutes to mix together! I hope you try it since it’s vegan

      Reply
      • Shefali says

        November 18, 2018 at 9:10 am

        5 stars
        Hi!
        Just found your recipe on pinterest. Loved it for its simplicity 🙂
        What would you suggest I could use instead of Molasses? I don’t eat eggs.

      • Julia says

        November 18, 2018 at 10:10 am

        Unfortunately Molasses is what gives Gingerbread its characteristic flavour. I would suggest trying to find molasses. It keeps for a very long time in the pantry. If you don’t want to look for it, try using Golden Syrup, although it’s a bit sweeter than molasses so you might need to reduce sugar.

  17. Алена says

    November 28, 2016 at 2:38 pm

    5 stars

    Спасибо, Юля! Еще и его попробую, у меня все имбирные кексы от тебя – фавориты зимней выпечки)

    Reply
    • Imagelicious says

      December 11, 2016 at 3:21 pm

      Спасибо Алена 🙂 Надеюсь, что понравится! Это на данный момент мой любимый кекс… легкий, не сильно вредный 🙂

      Reply
  18. Gloria Duggan says

    November 28, 2016 at 5:33 pm

    Yup…this is my kind of breakfast. I could eat this anytime of the day. Gingerbread is tops on my holiday list.

    Reply
    • Imagelicious says

      December 11, 2016 at 3:21 pm

      Now that my christmas tree is up I should make this cake again!

      Reply

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About Imagelicious

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Hi, I'm Julia and I love cooking simple, easy, and healthy meals. My favourite meal of the day is breakfast so you'll see many pancakes. Cooking and baking shouldn't be complicated, let me show you how.

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