Old-Fashioned Vegan Ginger Cake Recipe
This old-fashioned spiced vegan ginger cake is moist and sticky and will last for ages in the cake tin. Enjoy with a cup of tea and transport yourself back to memories of your childhood baking with grandma.
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So, firstly, gingerbread is not really bread, in much the same way that banana bread isn’t bread, or that ginger nuts don’t contain nuts.
In fact, the word gingerbread is a derivative of the old French word, gingebras, which referred to preserved (stem) ginger.
My vegan version comes via a couple of sources, Delia Smith’s indispensable Book of Cakes, and Margaret Costa’s equally essential Four Seasons Cookery Books.
What I also love about these old-fashioned recipes is that they were made with the busy housewife in mind. They are quick to prepare, usually dumping wet ingredients into dry, mixing well, and then baking.
Whilst I am not a lazy cook, I am a busy one, and love a recipe that can be prepared in less than 10 minutes.
Because this old-fashioned vegan gingerbread isn’t overly sweet, I like to add a simple lemon sugar icing as lemon and ginger have a natural affinity.
Total Time: 55 minutes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 9
Rating:
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 9
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
(Servings: 9)
- For the vegan ginger cake:
- 18.888888888889 18.888888888889 g plain flour
- 0.22222222222222 0.22222222222222 tsp baking powder
- 0.22222222222222 0.22222222222222 tsp ground ginger
- 0.055555555555556 0.055555555555556 tsp mixed spice
- Pinch of salt
- 6.6666666666667 6.6666666666667 g vegan butter, softened
- 6.6666666666667 6.6666666666667 g brown sugar
- 0.22222222222222 0.22222222222222 Tbsp molasses
- 0.22222222222222 0.22222222222222 Orgran Vegan Eggs (2 tbsp powder whisked up with 4 tbsp cold water)
- 18.888888888889 18.888888888889 ml soy milk
- 0.11111111111111 0.11111111111111 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- For the icing:
- 12.222222222222 12.222222222222 g vegan icing sugar
- 0.11111111111111 0.11111111111111 lemon, juiced (zested first if you want to decorate the cake)
Method
To make the vegan ginger cake:
- Preheat oven to 160c
- Sift together the flour, ginger powder, mixed spice, salt, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl
- In a heatproof mixing jug, warm the molasses, butter, and sugar together. I put mine in the microwave for about 30 seconds
- Pour the warmed molasses/butter/sugar mixture into the flour and mix well
- Beat in the vegan egg mixture.
- Gently warm the milk and bicarbonate of soda and beat this into the cake batter
- Pour into your prepared cake tin and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the cake is springy to the touch.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then remove from tin to a cooling rack.
To make the icing:
- Sift the icing sugar into a smallish bowl, then whisk the lemon juice into it until it reaches a thick but spreadable consistency
- Pour over your cooled cake and gently spread with a spatula.
- Sprinkle with lemon zest and candied ginger
If you love the rich flavours of ginger, you will love this stunning vegan gingerbread trifle.
