This gingerbread cake is wheat-free, vegan, and simply delicious! The heat of the ginger balances off the sweeter elements so it doesn’t feel heavy. This was only recently perfected with some experimentation.
I must give special thanks to my friend Randy for helping me ‘test’ the final gingerbread cake, wheat-free creation. He readily agreed, well actually begged to be part of the ‘testing process,’ and even bravely suggested we try seconds and thirds ‘just to be sure.’ He then creatively suggested that it would be ‘wise’ to repeat the whole process the next day. 🙂
Being a big fan of ginger, I put lots in this cake but you can see from the ingredient list that you can put in less.
Gingerbread Cake Wheat-free Ingredients
Brown Rice Flour
The other thing I like about this cake is that it is wheat-free. Brown rice flour is actually good for us as it has the nutrients that you will find in brown rice.
Bob’s Red Mill Organic Brown Rice Flour is:
- An absolute staple in gluten-free baking, brown rice flour is incredibly versatile
- The 100-Percent stone ground on a very fine setting
- Not gritty to prevent a common complaint about many brown rice flours
Brown Rice Flour has become a staple in my wheat-free baking adding fiber and nutrition. It assists in weight loss, helps reduce cholesterol and balances energy. It is low cost and adds a somewhat dry gritty crumbly texture.
Potato Flour
It is also a great thickener in gravies, sauces, and even in custards and puddings, which typically use cornflour
Potato Flour is high in fiber and protein and is a fine creamy white-yellow powder. It is made from dehydrated whole potatoes and is a healthy substitute for xanthan gum or guar gum. Cautions: Don’t confuse with potato starch. Use much less.
Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is actually 
very good for us. In tropical climates like Polynesia, Sri Lanka and the Yucatan where they have a diet high in coconut oil, the people are healthier, have less heart disease, cancer, and colon problems than unsaturated fat eaters. It is now accepted that there is good cholesterol and there are good saturated fats. Learn the 12 benefits of Coconut Oil, this newly declared an Amazing SuperFood.
This is the coconut oil I recommend purchasing online.
Kirkland Signature Cold Pressed Unrefined Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, 84 Ounce
It is organic, virgin, cold-pressed, unrefined and chemical-free, and a good price for a large container.
Blackstrap Molasses
Thick, dark, syrupy, sweet blackstrap molasses is more than something to make candy or cookies with; it has many benefits, from helping prevent cancer to getting rid of grey hair. It is a superfood full of health benefits. Learn the 7 Blackstrap Molasses Health Benefits.
Flaxseeds
One of the binding ingredients is flax seeds which are a great substitute for eggs in baking. 9 Egg Substitutes for Tasty Vegan Baking Without Eggs.
The flaxseed has only been recognized for all the wonderful health benefits in the last few decades even though it has been cultivated for its health benefits for 5000 years! Learn all about Flaxseed and It’s Many Health Benefits and Uses.
Ginger
Ginger is a wonderful superfood full of health benefits. Spicy aromatic ginger adds a unique flavour to meals and beverages. The many wonderful health benefits of ginger also cause the cells of my body to glow with gratitude. Chinese medicine and Indian Ayurvedic medicine have used ginger to help cure and prevent health problems for thousands of years. In the west, we are just learning how valuable it is.
Cinnamon
When we think of cinnamon we usually imagine delicious pastries or a hot drink but cinnamon is also full of health benefits. These benefits are backed by valid scientific research. It is helpful from lowering “bad” HDL cholesterol levels to lowering blood sugar levels. This is for sure a valuable superfood to be included in our diet. At the bottom of this recipe, there are many recipes links for you. All of them are favourites of mine created in my kitchen.
Salt
For this recipe and all my recipes, I use Himalayan salt which is actually good for you!
Are you ready to make your own Gingerbread Cake? Here is the recipe.
Gingerbread Cake
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup vegetable or coconut oil
- 1/2 cup rice syrup
- 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 - 1/3 cup fresh ginger grated note this is lots of ginger, you can just put 1 or 2 Tbsp
- 1 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup potato flour
- 1/2 cup flax meal
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp light liquid stevia
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
Instructions
- Combine vegetable oil, rice syrup, molasses, flax meal and ginger in a bowl.
- Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a separate bowl.
- Stir half of the flour mixture into the wet mixture.
- Mix well.
- Add water.
- When mixed well, stir in the remaining dry ingredients.
- Pour mixture into an oiled, floured 8-inch square pan.
- Bake at 400º F. for 35 to 45 minutes.
- Serve with my Sugar-free Apple sauce.
I use the flax meal as an egg replacement as this is for an egg-free vegan recipe, learn more about Eggs Substitutes.
More Wheat-free Vegan Cake Recipes
Pear Upside Down Cake -This pear upside-down cake is so yummy and it is gluten-free, dairy & egg-free too. It is made with very healthy ingredients. Pears grow in Edmonton! They are small but they are tasty and juicy. A friend lets me pick bags full of pears from his big tree. Thus, I get to make this very yummy gluten-free cake made with healthy ingredients.
Sweet Plum Cake – I love this healthy sweet plum cake that is gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free cake. For me, it is also important that there are no unhealthy sugars and any healthy sugars be in small quantities. Being vegan is important to me.
Apple Cake is Gluten-Free & Vegan & Healthy – This apple cake is wheat-free, vegan and without all that white sugar is my kind of cake. It is egg-free too which is important as eggs are not good for me. Also, it is delicious.
If you are a fan of molasses as am check out these.
Vegan and Gluten-Free Treats with Molasses in Them
Delicious Turkish Tahini and Molasses Dessert – This tahini and molasses dessert is from Turkey which they call ‘Tahin Pekmez’. It is so easy and fast to make as it requires no cooking or no baking. All you do is mix it up and that only takes a few minutes and voila it is done! It can be eaten with a spoon, but it is a very very sweet dessert. Traditionally it is eaten with fresh crunchy bread dipped in or mixed in it.
Gingerbread Cake – Gluten free – This cake is simply delicious! The heat of the ginger balances off the sweeter elements so it doesn’t feel heavy. This was only recently perfected with some experimentation.
Indian Pudding Is Traditional, Vegan and So Yummy – This traditional Indian pudding is an old favourite of mine that I make vegan. Indian pudding is not the most beautiful of desserts but it is for sure tasty. Some people like to call it Native Indian but it seems like Indian pudding is the name for it still all over the internet.
Healthy Baking Class Online – Gluten-Free, Vegan, Soy & Sugar-Free
- Learn to Bake Healthy Sweets
- Gluten-Free Healthy Baking that is Soy-free, Dairy-free, Sugar-Free, & Wheat-free
- Sinfully Delicious and Healthy Too!
- Wouldn’t it be great to eat cookies and tarts like you did as a child, innocently enjoying the sweetness and textures without worrying about the downside?
Get the skills and knowledge to create healthy baking with the Healthy Baking Course. Go here Healthy Baking Course to check it out.
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Cannot wait to try it. Thank you for the recipe.
Thank you for this great recipe. I made it for a meeting and everyone raved about it. It is a treasure. I just substituted almond flour for the potato starch because of glycemic index for my personal needs and it still worked very well.
Thanks for your great articles; I find them really helpful.
I’ve tried Stevia, and have done my best at trying to like it, or at least to live with it, but I just can’t. What do you think about using Splenda instead?
Thanks again for your help,
Nomar
I love your ideas and eat just the same way you do! I have a question for you, how is using molasses or dried fruit “sugar free”? I find those both to be very high in sugar. And are they any better than Xylitol (which is what I use to bake). I also LOVE stevia for drinks (I make a wonderful virgin mojito with lime juice, fresh mint and stevia!). I’ve stayed away from ginger recipes because of the sugar.
thanks so much for making this available.
Susan
Molasses is just less refined sugar; so how is this recipe sugar free?
NOT sugar free per se…… rice syrup, molasses? Diabetics usually can’t have this stuff…… so not really ‘sugar free’. BTW, substitute that large volume of oil for an equal amount of applesauce and you are on your way to a healthier recipe.
Hardly sugar free, perhaps it would be better to say no white sugar added. Rice Syrup and Molasses are sugars.
Normar, happy to hear you are enjoying the articles.
Which stevia are you using? It could be the type of stevia as the white powder stuff is highly processed and has a bitter after taste. I would not use splenda, see this article: https://www.realfoodforlife.com/dyingtobethin
Sharon, Susan, Storm & Shiner
Well you are all right they are not in that way technically sugar free. No white or brown sugar.
For most of us a little of the healthier sugars are actually good for us. I do not see the healthier sugars as being bad for us. For instance molasses is full of nutrition with so many minerals. Here is a list of all of the sugars and a simple description of them: https://www.realfoodforlife.com/real-sugar
Storm, I agree this cake has a high amount of oil and as it is just a once in a while treat it can be okay. Still a healthier version would be great! If you make this recipe with apple sauce instead of so much oil it would be great if you shared it here.
Molasses is what you are left with AFTER you refine sugar. Blackstrap molasses has the lowest sugar content and the highest nutrient content of any molasses and is really quite good for you. as far as the rice syrup goes, I happen to agree it is much better for you than corn syrup or refined sugar.
And although that may seem like a lot of oil, we’re talking a whole cake. Not to mention, no matter how “good for you” a recipe is, you should always fall back on the motto “nothing in excess.” Although I also find the title of the recipe slightly misleading I know what these ingredients are and can think for myself so it really isn’t a big deal to me and it shouldn’t be to anyone. You either want to try the recipe or you don’t, it’s really as simple as that. All things said it still has a much lower sugar content, especially per serving, than any cake I have ever tried thus far and it’s being made for my birthday today so I’m going to enjoy it regardless of the sugar content 😀 <3
Hello,
Thank you for your nice article. I like it very much. I will try it at my home.
Sorry I am from Britain looking up your recipe what is “stevia (clear liquid Sunny Dew?
Frances
Hi Frances
Stevia is my very favorite sweetner; here some great info about it: https://www.realfoodforlife.com/powerfoods/exotic-powerfoods/stevia
Hope you can find some.
Diana
i was disappointed that there was no printer friendly vesion to get the receipe. It took two paers for each recipe and ythat makes it more complex to store etc Karl
Karl, that is a good idea that we had not thought of. I will discuss with Randy how we can do it. Thank you.
brave randy! i’m glad you were the guinea pig for this recipe.
i’m seriously considering trying it!!!
it seems i may be gluten intolerant after all, so i’m definitely looking for more gluten free recipes.
Yes poor Randy 🙂
It really is his favourite that I make.
Annie, many people are gluten intolerant and do not even know it. All the recipes on this site are gluten free so you are in a good place.
Another thing you may want to do is get an Vital Assessment done and have the food sensitivity testing done.
sounds good, but unfortunately almost all the ingredients are things we can’t find easily here in Spain…
Grace, you can substitute ingredients. Tell me what you cannot get.
Karl, there is now a way to print our pages.
“a little of the healthier sugars ” might be ok for us, if we weren’t drowning in sugar in all our other foods.
You write the articles about stopping sugar craving, etc., but this recipe has 3/4 cup of semi-natural/processed sugars (molasses, rice syrup) and then… add 1/2 tsp of stevia. Seems to me the stevia is lost/futile among the molasses/rice syrup.
I’m not trying to be belligerent about it, but this combination isn’t really educating people off of sugar… as our weight and diabetes rise. You say the website is all gluten-free… perhaps you should have a sister website, where you take all these gluten-free recipes and make them truly mostly sugar free (few of the ’19 Different Sugars’ you write about)… substituting dates/other fruit and stevia …as one person suggested substituting applesauce, and then, perhaps, you might raise the stevia amount.
I know there’s some complexity to the purposes/mix of ingredients, and we can’t eliminate all sugar, but we should eliminate the overabundance of it… and apples/fruit have a lot, too (but some with fiber to slow metabolization).
Maybe someday in the future we’ll force corporate profiteering food processors to provide foods with only 10-30% of the salt and sugar they force on us now… and let the consumer adulterate the food to their preference/detriment. We need to start by showing them our preference for buying low sugar/salt products, and lower sales of sugar/salt for recipes. Their bottom-line is what will motivate them.
I noticed one of the Care2 articles apologized for ranting… well, here’s mine, and I make no apology for it, because what we have on store shelves is very little choice… to avoid sugar/salt glut… and even Michelle Obama only got some food processors to cut back by only 10%. (A step they can easily take back when the public eye moves on.)
I’m glad to see the article title doesn’t say sugar-free… although links elsewhere do say so, prompting the other comments here about it. Why write against sugar glut and then use so much of it? I know you say ‘most of us’ and ‘good for us’… but it seems we have a sugar problem (which you’re writing against)… because a lot of us develop type 2 diabetes and other related health problems. And for those people, sugar-laden recipes are a non-starter. For them as well as ‘most of us’, great recipes would be slow-metabolic ‘treats’ and even recipes that simply taste great and needn’t necessarily be very ‘sweet’. Store shelves and restaurant foods are enough to contend with. Something to think about.
I’ll stop now… I’ve said enough and won’t belabor other articles/comments.
Anon, I appreciate your passionate response. I am sorry that our approach to health does not meet your particular needs. I am passionate too; for me it is about not including any white or brown sugar or artificial sweeteners into my body ever; I never eat any of them. I have an extremely reactive system and have found eating them makes me feel very unwell. That being the case I am sure that what I do will suit most people because I rarely meet someone who is as sensitive to sugar as I am.
The sweeteners I use in the recipes is a way less then what any average recipes has in it. I believe most people would find it difficult to never eat any thing sweetened. I use a wide variety of sweeteners and they all have a little nutrition in them and some like molasses has lots of minerals. Personally I eat small quantities of my own baking and recommend that others do too.
The rise in diabetes and obesity is not to do with eating healthier sweeteners; it is about consuming many pounds of white sugar in food and beverages along with all the other dumb carbs (white bread and rice for example) and simply overeating due to lack of real nutrition. That said; the recipes here are not intended for diabetics; that is an area which I never said I was doing. There are sites that work with that specifically if that is your need.
All fruits and vegetables except for green leafy vegetables have sugar in them so it is not possible to avoid natural sugar for a healthy sustainable diet. The only way around it would be to eat meat and greens and this earth cannot support that for the quantity of people on it. I for one would not survive on that diet. We all have individual needs in our body so that may work for some and if that is your path then do know it is not what we are supporting on this site.
May you find what you are looking for to be a healthy vibrant person on the earth.
Diane, what molasses do you use – blackstrap or ordinary molasses?
Joy, I use black strap as it is less sweet and has more nutrients. Thank you for asking; I will now edit this recipe to say black strap and remember to say it in other recipes.
I just want to make sure that the recipe really uses “potato flour” and not “potato starch.” Both are very different. Most gluten free recipes call for potato starch as it is lighter. Potato flour will absorb lots of liquid, and can make the baked good quite heavy, unless only very small amounts are used.
I would like to make this, but want to make certain I am using the right ingredient. I have both, here.
Thia, as the recipe says Potato flour and that is what it is. I do not use potato starch as I do not believe all that starch is good for us. It is healthier not to eat starch which is simply one molecule away from being sugar.
Yay!! Thank you!! (I agree!)
One more question! Have you tried chia meal (instead of flax) in your recipes? Have you found it works as well? Just thought I’d ask, before giving it a go.
I have not tried using chia so I am not sure how it will work. If you do that then let me know how it works. I will have to do a few experiments with it.
Sounds delish! My son is sensitive to flax and the chia mentioned previously. Do you have any other suggestions? I recently found Chestnut flour, maybe I’ll try that.
Lanie, try soya or chick pea flour as they have a stick to it quality.
And do let me know how it works.
Sounds good, but I would replace the vegetable oil with coconut oil, since vegetable oil becomes a trans fat when heated. I would also replace the stevia with norbu. Can’t wait to try it though.
Thank you.
I’d like to email this to me & my daughter-in-law; I haven’t setup my Facebook acct yet
I would like to try this cake but will have to sub a few ingredients. I am making the effort of trying to eat green stevia and ginger to heal my ulcer and I will have to put it in a cake to eat it.
Thankyou for posting recipe.. I will let you know how it turns out if I can convince my overworked spouse to get his apron on.
Question is how to best incorporate the green stevia powder?? I’m guessing this cake recipe might have enough sticky and oil to make the green stevia powder less gritty if I add it to the dry ingredients. But we are new to stevia and don’t like artificial chemical sweeteners also for our mental health and senility sake.
sounds good!