Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Loaf Cake

This Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Loaf Cake is warmly spiced, fragrant, and covered in a rich, tangy "cream cheese" frosting. It's moist, fluffy and perfectly sweet. It's easily customisable, comes together in one bowl and is refined sugar free too. The perfect festive sweet treat for Christmas!

Why does this cake contain yogurt?

I was a bit worried that this gingerbread cake might come out too dry, but I managed to combat this issue by using plant-based yogurt in place of plant-based milk. The yogurt keeps the cake super moist whilst creating a beautifully dense crumb.

How to make the cake

Scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.

• Mix together the ingredients for the cake in a glass mixing bowl.

Tip: Use the finest side of a box grater to grate the ginger.

• Transfer the cake batter into a one-pound loaf tin.

Tip: Make sure to line the loaf tin with greased baking paper - this will make removing the cake from the tin so much easier!

• Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.

Tip: Transfer to a cooling rack to cool down before applying the frosting.

How to make the frosting

• Place the ingredients for the frosting in a food processor or blender.

• Whizz until completely smooth, adding some plant-based milk or water to thin out if necessary.

• Use a knife (or palette knife for frosting) to spread the frosting over the top of the loaf.

How to decorate

I like to decorate this with chopped dried cranberries, which add festive colour as well as a nice tart-sweet flavour, but you can use anything you want!

How long does this Gingerbread Loaf Cake keep for?

This Gingerbread Loaf Cake does taste best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.

Substitutions you can make

• You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
• You can use any type of plant-based yogurt: almond, soy, cashew or coconut yogurt all work well.
• If you can't find plant-based yogurt, you can replace it with any type of plant-based milk, or use an equivalent amount of blended up silken tofu.
• You can replace the date syrup with maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
• You can replace the ground almonds (almond meal) with ground walnuts.
• For a nut-free version: replace the ground walnuts with ground sunflower seeds.
• You can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free.

Tips for baking with ginger

• 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 than the amount listed in the recipe.
• If you can't use freshly grated ginger, you can substitute around 1 tablespoon ground ginger - the flavour is better with freshly grated ginger though!

More vegan Christmas recipes

• Strawberry Trifle
• Gingerbread Cake
• Wellington
• Yule Log
• Christmas Pudding
• Sugar Cookies
• Gingerbread Cookies
• Christmas Burger
• Peppermint Brownies
• Orange Bread
• Gingerbread Cookie Bars

If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.

Watch how to make this recipe

Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Loaf Cake

This Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Loaf Cake is perfectly spiced, fragrant, and covered in a rich "cream cheese" frosting. It's the perfect festive sweet treat for Christmas!

4.18 from 17 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: gluten-free gingerbread cake, vegan gingerbread cake

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 slices

Calories: 294kcal

Author: Rhian Williams

Ingredients

For the cake:

• ▢ 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
• ▢ 200 ml (⅘ cup) unsweetened plant-based yogurt (I used coconut yogurt but you can use 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 frosting:

• ▢ 100 g (⅔ cup) raw cashew nuts soaked in cold water overnight or in hot water for 15 minutes
• ▢ 6 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
• ▢ 3 tablespoons lemon juice

To decorate (optional):

• ▢ Dried cranberries , roughly chopped

Instructions

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 yogurt 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.
• Transfer the mixture into a loaf tin lined with greased baking paper - I used a one-pound loaf tin.
• Bake in oven for around 40 minutes until risen slightly and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
• Once out the oven, transfer the cake from the baking tin onto a wired rack to leave it to cool completely before applying the frosting.

For the frosting:

• Drain the soaked cashews and add to a food processor or blender with the maple syrup and lemon juice.
• Whizz until completely smooth, adding some plant-based milk or water to thin out if necessary.

To frost and decorate the cake:

• Use a knife (or palette knife) to spread frosting over the top of the loaf.
• Decorate with chopped dried cranberries, if desired.
• Tastes best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.

Video

Notes

*
*You can use any type of plant-based yogurt: almond, soy, cashew or coconut yogurt all work well. If you can't find plant-based yogurt, you can replace it with any type of plant-based milk, or use an equivalent amount of blended up silken tofu.

**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 use almond flour.

Nutrition Facts

Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Loaf Cake

Amount Per Serving

Calories 294 Calories from Fat 144

% Daily Value*

Fat 16g25%

Saturated Fat 5g25%

Sodium 30mg1%

Potassium 143mg4%

Carbohydrates 36g12%

Fiber 3g12%

Sugar 20g22%

Protein 6g12%

Vitamin C 4mg5%

Calcium 101mg10%

Iron 2mg11%

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

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