Vegan Gingerbread Cake is a soft and fluffy holiday dessert made with molasses, ginger and cloves topped with vegan whipped cream and Gingersnap Cookie Sprinkles!

This INCREDIBLE cake is about to become your new favorite holiday dessert!

What is Gingerbread Cake?

It’s basically everything you love about classic gingerbread cookies, but in cake form! The texture is fluffy, moist and super tender and the festive combo of cinnamon, ginger and cloves make this completely vegan cake taste like it was made in Santa’s very own bakeshop🎄

How to Make the Perfect Vegan Gingerbread Cake

I start by preheating my oven to 350 degrees and lining a 9×13 baking pan with parchment.

Next I prepare a flax egg by mixing ground flax seeds with orange juice and leaving it to thicken for 5-10 minutes.

In the meantime, I mix the dry ingredients which are simply flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Then I whisk to combine.

Next comes the wet ingredients. I start by beating the sugar and melted coconut oil until fluffy. This takes about one minute.

Then I add the pumpkin, molasses, flax egg and vanilla extract and I mix again until very light and fluffy. THIS is the time to mix well, because we want this mixture to be light and fluffy so we have a tender, fluffy cake in the end.

Once you start adding the flour though, it’s time to cool it with the mixing. At this stage, just mix to combine and be careful not to over-mix or the cake can be tough.

To prevent this, I only add half of the flour to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Then I mix until no more flour is visible and then I add half of the hot water. I mix until the water is absorbed and then add in the remaining flour and finish with the remaining water. This half-and-half technique creates a really nice texture in the finished cake!

Transfer to the prepared 9×13 baking pan and smooth the top. This batter is supposed to be thick so don’t be alarmed.

Bake for 30 minutes and allow the cake to cool in the pan on a wire cooling rack before slicing.

How to Serve Vegan Gingerbread Cake

I LOVE serving this warm and spicy cake with a dollop of vegan whipped cream, some crumbled gingersnap cookies, and maybe a few vegan friendly sprinkles like these if I’m feeling fancy!

It’s also great with ice cream on top and the cream cheese glaze I used in this Danishes recipe is another great option.

How to make a vegan cake that’s not dry…

Let’s just say there’s a big learning curve for me when I first went vegan…and baking was definitely the hardest. There were lots of failed attempts at cookies that more closely resembled hockey pucks and cakes that never seemed done in the middle.

After a bit of trial error, I got the hang of vegan baking and now my recipes are enjoyed by both my vegan and non-vegan friends which really feels like a win after maaaaany failed attempts.

The thing is, vegan baking isn’t hard. It’s just about understanding what certain ingredients do. For example, this cake uses two vegan egg substitutes. One is a flax egg, which is usually ground flax seeds mixed with water but here I opted for orange juice to compliment the spices in the cake. Flax eggs are a great alternative to chicken’s eggs because they have a similar fat-protein-water ratio so they function similarly as a binder in baked goods.

And the other egg substitute is canned pumpkin puree. Which may seem strange in a vegan gingerbread cake recipe like this one but it’s actually kind of game changer!

What does the pumpkin puree do in this recipe?

Don’t worry, it doesn’t taste like pumpkin or pumpkin bread. This is definitely a Gingerbread Cake all the way. But here the starch in the pumpkin acts a binder, which eliminates the need to use a chicken’s egg and it also holds on to moisture nicely, which means we can use a little less oil in the recipe and still end up with a tender, decadent cake.

RECIPE FAQs

Can I use Blackstrap Molasses for Gingerbread?

Nope! Opt for unsulphured molasses like this one from Wholesome.

Can I use gluten-free flour instead of all purpose?

This cake recipe was tested using all purpose flour so that’s what I recommend if possible, but to make it gluten-free I would sub a 1:1 flour like Bob’s Red Mill for best results. Avoid using almond or coconut flour.

Why refined vs virgin coconut oil?

Virgin coconut oil is unfiltered so it has a more pronounced coconut flavor. Refined is a neural tasting oil, meaning it won’t add a coconut flavor to the recipe allowing all of those holiday gingerbread flavors to shine!

If you like this recipe please leave a comment and rate this post below! And if you’re on Instagram, tag me in a pic so I can see your recreation! @nikkivegan  

For more free vegan recipes, don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel here.