Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Cake - Rhian's Recipes (2024)

4.41 from 5 votes

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: gluten-free gingerbread cake, vegan christmas cake, vegan gingerbread cake

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Author: Rhian Williams

For the cake:

• ▢ 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
• ▢ 185 ml (¾ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
• ▢ 12 tablespoons date syrup (or sub maple syrup or any other sweetener)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ Pinch salt
• ▢ 3 tablespoons fresh grated ginger *
• ▢ 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) **
• ▢ 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
• ▢ 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons mixed spice (or a mixture of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon)

For the cream cheese frosting:

• ▢ 400 g (14 oz) tin of full-fat coconut milk ***
• ▢ 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ▢ 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

To decorate (optional):

• ▢ Gingerbread cookies
• ▢ Icing sugar (omit if refined sugar free)

For the cake:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)

• Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if not using any other oil)

• Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl along with the vinegar, date syrup, vanilla, salt, ginger and ground almonds

• Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice

• Divide mixture between two greased baking tins lined with baking paper (I used two 7inch/18cm baking tins)

• Bake in oven for around 15 minutes until risen slightly and an inserted skewer comes out clean

• Once out the oven, transfer cakes from baking tins onto a wired rack to leave them to cool completely before applying the frosting

For the frosting:

• You’ll need to keep your tin of coconut milk in the fridge overnight for the rich creamy bit to separate from the watery bit at the bottom. Make sure it is full fat coconut milk, otherwise this separation won’t happen and you won’t be able to make this cream!

• Open the tin upside down – the coconut cream will be at the bottom and you can just pour off the watery liquid (save this for adding to soups or smoothies)

• Place the thick, creamy part into a bowl

• Add the lemon juice, maple syrup and vanilla extract

• Use an electric whisk (or a manual one and a lot of elbow grease) to whip up the coconut cream until light and fluffy

To frost and decorate the cake:

• Place one half of the cake onto a plate or cake stand, and spread half of the frosting onto it

  See Also

  25 Vegan Sandwich Recipes

• Place the other half of the cake on top of that and use rest of the frosting to spread on top

• You can also decorate with gingerbread cookies and icing sugar if you wish

• Best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days

*Freshly grated ginger can be quite strong, so if making this for children or for people who don't like ginger, you might want to use a little less. If you can't use freshly grated ginger, you can substitute around 1 tablespoon ground ginger instead - the flavour is better with freshly grated ginger though!

**You can alternatively usealmond flour

**You can alternatively use 200g (7oz) coconut yogurt

Nutrition Facts

Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Cake

Amount Per Serving

Calories 429Calories from Fat 252

% Daily Value*

Fat 28g43%

Saturated Fat 17g85%

Sodium 76mg3%

Potassium 214mg6%

Carbohydrates 42g14%

Fiber 4g16%

Sugar 22g24%

Protein 7g14%

Vitamin C 2mg2%

Calcium 138mg14%

Iron 3mg17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.