Gingerbread Cake Recipe | Eggless Gingerbread Loaf
With Christmas right around the corner, it’s the perfect time to make this Eggless, Vegan Gingerbread Cake! This deliciously moist and relatively healthy spice cake is a traditional Western treat that is served around the winter holidays, and now you can make it at home, too.
About Gingerbread Cake
Gingerbread Cake is a moist, soft, deeply spiced cake with a strong aroma and taste of ginger that is traditionally made for Christmas. My version happens to be eggless, easy to make vegan, and is quite healthy from the addition of whole wheat flour.
I have wanted to make an eggless version of gingerbread cake for quite some time now. While I had to develop my own recipe, the cake was a hit at home. Not to toot my own horn, but this cake is damn good. You won’t even know that eggs have not been used.
Want more Christmas baking inspiration? You can also check out my Christmas Fruit Cake and Gingerbread Cookies.
Aside from being delightfully spiced and delectably moist and tender, this egg-free gingerbread loaf recipe is:
- Made With Just 10 Ingredients – Chances are you already have most of what you need on hand.
- Quick & Easy – It takes just 10 minutes of prep time and another 40 minutes of baking time to make this gingerbread loaf cake.
- Cozy & Nutritious – I’d consider this gingerbread cake to be rather healthy, as the recipe has been made with whole wheat flour (atta), which is rich in fiber and essential nutrients. Using unrefined jaggery as the sweetening element also adds a lovely dose of minerals to the mix.
Ingredients & Substitutions
As promised, you only need a few simple ingredients to make this yummy gingerbread loaf. Here’s your shopping list:
- Organic Whole Wheat Flour – If you have been following the blog for awhile, you know that I prefer to make my bakes as healthy as possible. Incorporating whole grain flour adds fiber and nutrients without any extra fuss! You are welcome to use all-purpose flour instead.
- Ginger – Feel free to use either ginger paste or grated ginger. In a pinch, you can also use ginger powder, but reduce the amount to just a teaspoon.
- Candied Ginger – For pops of chewy, spicy-sweet texture throughout. You can also use golden raisins (a.k.a. sultanas) or regular raisins for texture, or omit them altogether.
- Cinnamon Powder & Nutmeg – You can’t have a spice cake without spices! If possible, grate your own nutmeg for a more potent flavor.
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder – These two leaveners act differently, so make sure to use them both.
- Plant based Yogurt – For moisture and richness. I have used cashew yogurt. You’re welcome to use your preferred plain, unsweetened plant-based yogurt if you like. You could also opt to make the cake with dairy yogurt (curd).
- Oil – Any neutral flavored oil (e.g. sunflower, grapeseed, peanut, or avocado oil) will do the trick. Avoid using olive oil, as it’ll give your bake a strange savory taste.
- Jaggery – Traditionally, gingerbread should be made with molasses. However, since molasses is not easily available here in India, jaggery is a good and healthy substitute.
- Water – If possible, try and use filtered water for the best results.
How is Gingerbread Cake made
This simple eggless ginger cake comes together with just 10 minutes of active prep. Here’s how:
Make Cake Batter
1. First mix the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and grated nutmeg very well in a bowl. You can also sieve the ingredients if you like. Add the ginger paste and candied ginger and mix again.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the ¼ cup cashew yogurt with ¼ cup water to a smooth and even mixture. Then add the oil to it and mix thoroughly. Keep aside.
3. Heat the ½ cup water till it is just hot (no need to boil) in a microwave or on the stovetop. Add jaggery to the hot water and stir well to dissolve it completely. If jaggery has impurities, strain it.
4. Pour the yogurt and oil mixture to the flour mixture. Next add the jaggery syrup. Fold the ingredients gently and make a smooth and fine batter. Do not over do the folding.
Bake Gingerbread Loaf
5. Pour into a greased baking round pan or loaf pan and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C/356 degrees F for 35 to 40 mins. It took me 41 minutes to bake the cake.
6. Place the cake pan on a wired tray to cool. Once it cools enough to handle, remove the cake from the pan. Before you move to the next step ensure the cake is completely cooled.
7. Dust some icing sugar (a.k.a. confectioner’s sugar or powdered sugar) on the cake if you like. You can even use a lacy doily to make a pretty snowflake pattern on it!
8. Slice the eggless gingerbread and serve plain or with some whipped cream or Vanilla Ice Cream. It also goes well with Tea or Coffee!
Expert Tips
- To measure dry ingredients for baking, it is advised that you use a kitchen scale. This level of precision will ensure that your bakes turn out beautifully every time! If you don’t have a scale on hand, be sure to use the spoon and sweep method for the best results.
- Invest in an oven thermometer. They’re only a few dollars, and they’re far more accurate than the dials on the oven!
- You could easily add sweetener of your choice in the cake. Brown sugar, molasses, white granulated sugar, raw sugar, demerara sugar, coconut sugar, palm sugar are some options. Add less or more of these sweeteners according to your preferences.
- Preheat the oven before you start making the batter, otherwise you’ll lose some of the rising power of the baking powder since it becomes activated as soon as it touches liquid.
- If the top of the cake is browning too quickly, cover it loosely with aluminum foil or butter paper to protect it while you continue to bake it through.
FAQs
How long will the gingerbread cake last without refrigeration?
It should last in a covered container on the countertop for about 1 to 2 days.
How long will this cake take to bake in a cooker if I don’t have an oven?
About 30 to 35 minutes.
Can I use butter instead of oil?
Yes! Replace the oil with the same amount of butter for a richer, slightly denser cake.
Step by Step Photo Guide Above
Ingredients
Main ingredients
- 1.5 cups whole wheat flour (whole meal flour)
- 2 teaspoon ginger paste or grated ginger, check point no 1 in the notes below
- 2 tablespoon candied ginger or golden raisins – optional
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg ground nutmeg or nutmeg powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ cup yogurt vegan or dairy
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup oil
For the jaggery syrup
- ¾ cup jaggery powder or grated/finely chopped jaggery
- ½ cup water
Instructions
Making cake batter
- Mix the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg powder well in a bowl. You can also sift the above ingredients.
- Add the ginger paste and candied ginger and mix again.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the yogurt with ¼ cup water till smooth. Then add the oil to it and mix thoroughly. Keep aside.
- Remember to preheat the oven for 15 minutes at 180 degrees C/356 degrees F.
- Heat ½ cup water till its just hot (no need to boil) in a microwave or on stove top.
- Add jaggery to the hot water and stir until the jaggery is dissolved. If there are impurities in the jaggery syrup, strain it using a fine mesh strainer.
- Pour the yogurt and oil mixture to the flour mixture.
- Then add the jaggery syrup.
- Fold the ingredients well and make a smooth batter.
Baking gingerbread cake
- Pour into a greased baking round pan or loaf pan and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C/356 degrees F for 35 to 40 mins. It took me 41 minutes to bake the cake.
- If the top gets browned quickly while baking, cover with parchment paper or aluminium foil and then continue to baking.
- Check the baked cake with a bamboo skewer and it should come out clean.
- Place the cake pan or a wired tray to cool completely.
- Once cooled, remove the cake from the pan and place on a board or plate.
- Dust some icing sugar or confectioner's sugar on the cake if you prefer.
- Slice the eggless gingerbread and serve as is or with some whipped cream.
Notes
- To make 2 teaspoons of ginger paste, crush 2 inches peeled ginger in a mortar-pestle to a fine consistency.
- Feel free to add brown sugar or molasses instead of jaggery. You could add about ¾ cup of brown sugar or ½ cup of molasses or ½ cup jaggery syrup. Note you can always add any of these sweeteners less or more depending on your preferences.
- Since I have used organic powdered jaggery, there are no impurities. If there are impurities in the jaggery syrup, then filter the syrup and use it.
- Make this cake easily with all-purpose flour or an equal mix of both all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour. Note that with all-purpose flour you will need to add less liquids. So add about ⅓ cup of water when dissolving the jaggery.
- Oven temperatures vary. Keep a check when the cake is baking and it can take less or more time in your oven to bake.
- Note that the approximate nutrition info is for one slice of the cake.
Nutrition
This Gingerbread Cake recipe from the blog archives, first published in December 2013 has been republished and updated on December 2022.
This is the loveliest cake recipe I’ve ever come across! I’ve baked a lot of cakes from your site and others, but this one literally takes the cake.
I baked this twice in 2 weeks with some old Goan madachem jaggery we had at home, and it tasted absolutely amazing both times!
Had to tweak the recipe a slight bit w.r.t jaggery since it was already in syrup form, and added maida instead of wheat, but everything else is the same.
I’ve been having a lot of trouble with this particular jaggery, because it has a flavour of its own and tends to overpower everything else in any cake, but with this candied ginger and the works, it tasted absolutely magnificent!
Thanks a lot ma’am! If possible do try it out with this jaggery someday.
Thanks a lot Sindhuja. Glad to read. I have made cakes with palm jaggery earlier, but not this one. Will try one day. Thanks again.
Wow this looks so easy and yummy, and healthy because of ginger! Going to make it for sure!
Tired ur cake it was amazing and v easy to make thank you! Just have one question how long will the cake stay without refrigeration?
pleased to know this jayashree 🙂 if your country is chilled at this time they should last for a day or 2 without refrigeration but I bet they would get over soon 😉
OK thank u and yes it got over as soon as it came out from oven 🙂
welcome jayashree.
Hello mam
I have never tasted a gingerbread cake /cookie . neither do I get it here . can you tell me how it tastes?
Can I bake cake /cookies in a gas tandoor oven ?
the gingerbread cake has a lovely aroma of ginger and is a soft textured cake. the cookie is soft textured. they are not like the indian version of ginger biscuits. there is another baked goodie called as ginger snaps which are crisp and thin. yes you can bake in a gas tandoor oven. time will vary.
I dont’t have an oven and will be trying it out in the cooker, what should be the duration ?
should take 30 to 35 minutes.
wow healthy and so easy to make with available ingredients. i am definitely going to try it out 🙂
thanks.
hare krishna, dassana,
just thought you should see this blogspot; cookingwithamandaz.blogspot.com/…/eggless-gingerbread-cake, as it is exactly the same as yours, even your pictures are used!!!!!
thanks for letting me know. i will check and report to google. thanks again.
hare krishna
Hi amit
Wanted to confirm if oil can b substituted with butter n d amount to be used and also would it b necessary to add yogurt ?
Thanx a ton for the lovely recipes.
welcome j. replace oil with same quantity. yogurt is essential.
hi dassana,
in the recipe of ginger bread cake you have mentioned 1/2 cup oil
what if i add butter? will the taste change?
shweta, yes you can use butter. taste will change but it will be good.
Dassana my family is very fussy abt taste. I baked this cake exactly according to the proportion given…. Result….. SUPERB….. AMAZING….. Thank you very much. Just one question, is it true cake baked in microwave convection is less moist than OTG???
thanks niki for sharing positive feedback on cake. i don’t think so, because i have baked in both.
The cake was good. But it did not taste or smell much like ginger. I did not add the crystallized ginger. Did that make the difference? But I’ve tried your banana cake and bread and apple cake. They’ve all come out awesome. Good recipes. Keep up the good work.
thanks preethu. possibly because of the crystallized ginger. the quality of ginger is also important. because some ginger have very strong aroma and some don’t.
Hi Dasanna, I would like to try this wonderful cake. Could you kindly let me know which oil you used? I basically use coconut oil for cooking.
Thank you.
Anitha
welcome anitha. for this recipe i used sun flower oil. you can use coconut oil also for bakes. but the cake will have the aroma of coconut oil.
Can you provide the measurement in grams to make your recipe more precise? You said that your 1 cup measurement is about 250 ml? So that means 1.5 cups should be 375 ml. I measured out 375 ml of flour but it is waaaay more than 1.5 cups so I’m worried about the proportions. 1.5 cups should be about 187 grams but 375 ml is looking more like 3 cups. And I am getting really confused about how much flour to actually use. My 1.5 cups is measuring 192 ml or 193 grams.
1 cup is 250 ml. but when you measure flour its in grams and not ml. depending on the density of the solid ingredient, 1 cup will be different for different ingredients. 1 cup of whole wheat flour is 120 grams (here the 1 cup is as 250 ml cup). so 1.5 cups of whole wheat flour is 180 grams. ml is the metric used for measuring liquids and not solids.
can this be made in microwave oven without convection?
parvathi. no it can not be made in microwave.
please post pictures step wise of the recipe
parvathi, i will try to add once i make the cake again.
Hello,
Hope you are well. Can I add orange zest and a cup of orange juice to this recipe as I want to make an orange and ginger cake for my grandma’s 80th birthday?
Thank you.
Best wishes,
S
orange zest is fine. but with orange juice it will be experimentation. not sure how the cake will turn out.
Hi amit in ginger bread cake if i take 1 cup whole wheat flour then hw much oil should i take n meadurment of baking soda n baking powder also pls let me know
ruchi, the proportion of all ingredients will change and i am not sure whether the recipe will work or not. i suggest stick to the recipe with 1.5 cup whole wheat flour.
Thanks amit ur eggless cakes recipe r too good i ll try it n let u know how it comes
welcome ruchi. glad to know that you liked the recipes.
Hi,
Can I substitute nutmeg powder with cinnamon powder? Not able to find nutmeg powder where I am staying these days. Also, I made the orange eggless cake following your recipe and topped it with a cinnamon glaze. It was extremely tasty!
nimisha, yes you can replace with cinnamon powder. thanks for sharing positive feedback on orange cake.
Hi,
I’ve just tried to make this cake today. I was very excited to be making it. However, it didn’t turn out to be as good as yours (but I don’t know why). I followed your recipe exactly using a microwave oven by preheating it at 180°C for 20 mins. Then, I started baking it for 40 mins. But, the cake burnt within 10 mins of baking. Why do you think this happened? I am afraid to try out another recipe before knowing the problem with this cake. Thanks!
okay. seems like the microwave oven has a high temperature range. it should ideally not take such a quick time even in the microwave at convection mode. i have baked in the microwave at convection mode and never has any cake of this serving size got baked so quickly. there is no problem with the recipe. its the microwave oven. you can still try and bake any other recipe in your oven.
Hi,
I am planning to try the cake..but I have a question can we substitute the yoghurt with milk? And if kept at room temperature will the cake get spoilt soon since the yoghurt s used..
Thanks
Divya
divya, you can not use yogurt but you can use buttermilk. for one day you can keep out, no issue. but for more than one day, better to keep the cake in fridge.
Hello,
My query is a common one for any of the cakes….
1. Do we need to tap the cake tin once the batter is poured in?
2. While placing the cake tin in the microwave oven, can we cover the top with parchment paper to ensure the top of the cake is even?
Thanks
Lakshmi
1. tapping the cake tin ensures that the air bubbles are released so that there is even baking.
2. covering the top with parchment paper will not help. there are techniques to get a flat top instead of the dome shaped top. here is one here – http://acozykitchen.com/how-to-bake-flat-cake-layers/
Hey I don’t have yoghurt….can I use butter instead?
yogurt is required for this recipe, since its eggless.
Hi sir,
Thanks for such a wonderful recipe. The cake turned out really well.Everyone liked it too.i would give 5 star rating for this recipe.
thanks gayathri for the positive feedback.
Thank you so much for posting! My little girl has four new allergies to join two previously diagnosed. We just lost eggs…and I was looking for a sweet to make and i found this site. Just a note: I was able to amend this to be gluten free as well…..I substituted your flour suggestion for the the ratio 1/3 ground almond, 1/3 sweet rice flour and 1/3 brown rice flour. This was lovely! Thank you again!
thanks for the feedback katie. good to know that the gluten free options worked. am glad.
Hey dassana, hi I have been receiving your recipes on my mail since a couple of months I simply love them BUT haven’t been able to try out any recipes as yet as I work from home .i run a tailoring unit your baking section is WOW I like all of them I seek your help in replacing sugar in cookies etc as I don’t want to use supplements too Thank you so so much I love your blog my son made sure I learnt to Browse the internet and type so pardon any mistakes. I am diabetic that’s why I need sugar less recipes. Slowly one by one I shall try all your recipes. Thanks once again Look forward to your reply.
hi madhu, you can replace sugar with fruit purees which have a low sugar content. in fact you can also make savory cookies with herbs or cheese. they also taste good.
Hello, Thanks for such lovely recipes , I have tried Basic Valina, Chocolate, both with Maida as well as Whole Wheat Flour, out come was very tasty and lovely, today i am gone try Ginger one, My Query is – Can i use regular sugar instead of jaggry ? if yes then what should be proportion ? plz reply… HAPPY DIWALI to U & Ur Family
thanks punam. you can use sugar. add the same amount of sugar as jaggery. happy diwali to you too.
Hi Dassana. The recipe looks simple. Great going with your work and efforts !
I’ve a doubt in step 4 of this recipe. Is it 1/2 or 1/4 cup of water? Because in the ingredients section for the jaggery syrup, its mentioned as 1/2 cup water. Please clarify. Thanks.
its 1/2 a cup water for the jaggery syrup. i will change in the post. thanks for letting me know anusha.
Hi,
I tried the ginger bread and while it didn’t look as good as here (not as brown), I liked it a lot. It was my first baking attempt and I was quite pleased at the outcome. I should confess that I did not use the baking soda as I didn’t have it at that time. Anyway, just wanted to say thanks!
Anitha
thanks anitha.
Cake can be baked in pressure cooker bcoz I have tried it…..
i am not sure as i have not tried.
Hi Dassana,
Thanks a ton for your prompt reply and advice. Did what you said and I managed to get a decent brown crust on my tutti fruit cake all thanks to you ! 🙂 One more question, do you generally keep both the top and bottom elements on during the baking process or only during preheating???
Btw..just an afterthought…how do you have the patience and manage to reply to every single comment here as well as on fb??? I’m simply amazed ! 🙂
i keep both the elements on when pre heating. in fact i have baked on occasions keeping only the top element on and then keeping only the bottom element. what i found out was that the cake or bread was not getting baked properly or browned from the top. so tried doing this way and it really made a lot of difference.
thanks radhika. i get a lot of comments and most of them are queries. so if i don’t reply i get a huge backlog of comments waiting to be responded. so i have to reply. i still have to reply a lot of comments from yesterday and today.
Hi Dassana,
Planning on making this cake tomorrow. As already asked by someone, I’m just curious as to how you get a lovely brown crust in all your cakes. I have a Sunflame OTG. I preheat my oven for about 10 minutes and keep my cake in the bottom rack. Would be great if you could guide me towards achieving the perfect brown crust like yours ! 🙂
hi radhika.i follow these methods in the OTG and thats why i guess the crust comes out well
– preheat for atleast 15-20 minutes before at the temperature mentioned in the recipe.
– keep both the top and bottom heating elements on.
– for baking cakes, muffins, breads and cookies, always keep the baking pan/tray in the center. as a result there is even heat distribution.
Hi Dassana,
I made this gingerbread cake and it turned out yummy! hubby loved it.. 🙂
thanks for the great recipe..
I want to ask, can I omit ginger and add cocoa powder and make a whole wheat chocolate cake by following the same recipe?
Regards,
Aish
thanks aish. i have never tried it but the recipe is fool proof and i think you can make chocolate cake by adding just 1-2 tbsp of cocoa powder.
looks so soft and yummy
Hi Dassana:
Curious to know how your cakes get such a nice brown crust on top. I follow all your instructions and though the cakes turn out nice, the top never gets a nice brown hue.
let me know how long you preheat the oven. which heating element you keep on if using an OTG and in which rack you place the cake pan.
Looks and sounds AMAZING. I really want to make it. I’m currently in the US, so if I want to use molasses instead of jaggery, how much should I use?
thanks. i actually do not know what is the concentration of sweetness in molasses as i have never used molasses. the cake should not come out very sweet.if its too sweet, reduce to 2/3 or 3/4 cup. and if its as sweet as a jaggery than you can use 1 cup.
Looks so soft and moist… Nice one
hi
can we done this in a pressure cooker ? if so how much time we need to bake??thanks
i think, the cake cannot be baked in the pressure cooker.
Thankyou for this wonderful recipe! The cake turned out exactly the way you described it. Soft, moist and delicious! Worth trying!
thank you saloni and nice to know.