Healthy Vegan Ginger Cake

This healthy Vegan Ginger Cake is gluten free and filled with aromatic spices. Soft and moist, with a cashew lemon icing. Mineral-rich blackstrap molasses, whole dates and a little organic rice malt syrup make up the natural sweeteners. I served this with fresh blackberries, pomegranate and mint leaves – the perfect complement to ginger (and a few bright sweet-pea petals from the garden!).

The sweet luxury of having time for kitchen meditation – lost in the alchemy of bringing flavours togethers, filling the house with rich and warming scents, fluttering through the garden searching for fuchsia coloured treasures to decorate with… this is the bliss I’ve been wrapped in post graduation.

Today’s recipe is an adaptation of my popular Chocolate Cake with Ganache, so shares all the same virtues: made with whole food ingredients, entirely plant-based, gluten free, refined sugar free, free from traditional vegan baking ingredients such as egg replacers and highly processed vegetable ‘butters’, simple, perfect, soft and delicious.

Devoured by the family before I could only really have a small slither myself, I had to make it again – which actually wasn’t such a bad thing.

[bctt tweet="Healthy Vegan Ginger Cake with aromatic spices + lemon icing {GF}. Find it here!"]

The addition of sticky blackstrap molasses made for a slightly moister cake than the chocolate original, and the raw cashew icing tastes just like a traditional cream cheese icing – without the dairy or icing sugar.

The only thing to note about the icing however, is that it is best spread over the cake right before serving as it can tend to discolour slightly.

Nutritional Highlights

Buckwheat flour is used in place of wheat flour, and is naturally gluten free. As a functional food, it has attracted attention for its healing effect on some chronic diseases.

It contains two special flavonoids called rutin and quercetin, which have been shown in studies to be anti-inflammatory and supportive of cardiovascular health.

Buckwheat is a relatively high-protein ‘flour’, it contains all essential amino acids and is also a good source of magnesium – a mineral often depleted during stress.

I’ve written in detail on the nutrition and health benefits of buckwheat here.

Almond meal is used to complement buckwheat, it is also high in protein, heart healthy monounsaturated fats, and the amino acid arginine. It helps keep the cake soft and fluffy.

Organic, unsulphured blackstrap molasses is a natural sweetener which in my opinion is a health tonic in it’s own right. Yes – it is a form of sugar – but it is actually a potent source of minerals.

A 15ml serving (one tablespoon) contains 3mg of iron (the RDI for adult women is 8mg/day), 115mg of calcium (the RDI for adult women is 1000mg/day), and 32mg of magnesium (the RDI for adult women is 320mg/day) [1].

Whole Medjool dates lend a caramel taste, bringing fibre and minerals along with their natural sugars. Rice malt syrup further adds a mild sweetness, without any fructose (a simple sugar not well metabolised by the liver).

Ginger powder, best fresh (stale powder loses its gorgeous smell) is a known carminative – helping settle upset stomachs. It also promotes circulation and is warming to cooler constitutions.

Cinnamon, another carminative due to the essential oil content, has been shown in studies to reduce blood glucose levels.

Psyllium husks, pure dietary fibre from the plantago ovata plant, swell to form a gel when combined with liquid, making a vegan-friendly natural egg replacer.

Coconut oil lends antiviral and antibacterial actions via its lauric acid content, and lastly, the organic soy lecithin used in the icing is necessary to help emulsify, thicken and set the mixture – though is also a great source of choline – a B-group vitamin required for the synthesis of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.

I know you will adore this cake – it’s absolutely heavenly – and festive of course.

Decorate with any fruits and flowers you like, though the following have flavour affinities with ginger:

• Blackberries
• Raspberries
• Pear
• Bananas
• Peaches
• Pineapple
• Passionfruit
• Nectarines
• Lemon

More healthy and delicious baked treats

• Feijoa Crumble
• Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins with Teff
• Gluten Free Vegan Banana Bread
• Healthy Zucchini Bread

If you make and enjoy this recipe, please leave a rating below. And better yet – leave me a comment to tell me how you got on, or just say hi – I LOVE hearing from you. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest to see more of my everyday recipes and wellness tips.

📖Recipe

Healthy Vegan Ginger Cake

Naturopath Lauren Glucina

This healthy Vegan Ginger Cake is gluten free and filled with aromatic spices. Soft and moist, with a cashew lemon icing. Fills a 7½ inch cake tin.

4.86 from 7 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings 10

Calories 427 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

VEGAN GINGER CAKE:

• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 cup almond meal
• 2 tablespoons psyllium husks
• 1½ cups coconut milk full fat
• 1½ teaspoons gluten free baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
• 1/3 cup coconut oil melted
• 1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
• ½ cup 100g Medjool dates, softened in boiling water for five minutes
• ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons rice malt syrup
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons ginger powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
• ½ teaspoon clove powder

LEMON ICING:

• ½ cup cashews soaked in water for a couple of hours
• ¼ cup coconut oil melted
• ¼ cup nut milk
• 2 tablespoons 100% pure maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Pinch of coarse sea salt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Zest of 1-2 lemons
• 4 drops doTERRA lemon essential oil optional but yum
• 1 rounded tablespoon organic soy lecithin

Instructions

 

VEGAN GINGER CAKE:

• Pre-heat oven at 180˙C (360˙F) and lightly coat a 7½ inch spring-form cake tin with oil and a dusting of cacao powder.
• Blend the buckwheat flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and all spices in a food processor to combine.
• In a blender, whiz the psyllium husks with the coconut milk for 10 seconds, then pour into the food processor.
• Add the rest of the liquid ingredients (molasses, rice malt syrup, vanilla, coconut oil) and the drained and pitted dates. Blend till the mixture is a smooth batter.
• Pour contents into cake tin and bake (force fan) for 40 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then take cake out and let cool completely on a wire rack.
  

LEMON ICING:

• Drain the cashews and blend with the coconut oil, nut milk, vanilla, maple syrup, salt, lemon juice and lemon essential oil if using.
• Add the soy lecithin and blend once more – the mixture will thicken.
• Transfer icing to a bowl and fold through the lemon zest.
• Set in the freezer for an hour then spread liberally over cake just before serving.
• Decorate with fresh petals, mint, pomegranate, blackberries.
• Store cake in an airtight container.
• You can keep left over icing in the fridge.

Notes

• Use fresh spices for the most flavoursome result.
• Let the cake cool entirely before icing.
• Ice the cake just before serving so it doesn't discolour.
• Store in an airtight container.
• Nutrition panel is an estimate only.

Nutrition

Calories: 427kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 6gFat: 30gSodium: 217mgFiber: 5gSugar: 15gVitamin C: 1.7mgCalcium: 170mgIron: 5.2mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

SOURCING ESSENTIAL OILS

The essential oil I used in this recipe is doTERRA, because quite simply, they are the absolute best quality. If you’d like to get started with your own account, you can either book a complementary consult with me to learn more first, or join with doTERRA right away.

If you know you’d love to get on them right away, 
I’ll guide you through how to purchase them here.

If you’d like to chat further, 
you can book a free consult with me here.

And if you’re local to me in Auckland and would like to come along to a class, 
have a look at my timetable here.

Thanks for reading, see you again next week!

Lauren.

REFERENCES:

1. Wholesome! (2016). Organic molasses.