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!

Why you’ll love this Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Loaf Cake:

• it’s undetectably vegan and gluten-free
• it’s spiced and fragrant 
• it’s moist and fluffy
• it’s sweet and sticky
• it’s covered in a rich, tangy frosting
• it’s easy to make
• it’s made in one bowl
• it’s refined sugar free
• it’s easily customisable
• it’s perfect for Christmas!

How to make this Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Loaf Cake

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

• Mix together the ingredients for the cake in a glass mixing bowl, using a measuring jug to measure out the plant-based milk.

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 45 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 this Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Loaf Cake

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 Gluten-Free Vegan 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 to this recipe:

• you can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil
• you can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc
• 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.

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!

4.34 from 9 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: gluten-free gingerbread cake, vegan gingerbread cake

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings: 12 slices

Calories: 286kcal

Author: Rhian Williams

Ingredients

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 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 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
• Transfer the mixture into a loaf tin lined with greased baking paper – I used a one-pound loaf tin
• Bake in oven for around 45 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

Notes

*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 286 Calories from Fat 135

% Daily Value*

Fat 15g23%

Saturated Fat 5g25%

Sodium 48mg2%

Potassium 143mg4%

Carbohydrates 34g11%

Fiber 3g12%

Sugar 19g21%

Protein 5g10%

Vitamin C 2mg2%

Calcium 97mg10%

Iron 2mg11%

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

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