Luscious Vegan Gingerbread
by Nigella. Featured in COOK EAT REPEATIntroduction
I am preposterously proud of this squidgy gingerbread, and I don't mind who knows it. It's everything you want out of a gingerbread — sticky, spicy, deeply aromatic — and you would never miss the butter or eggs.
Eat darkly on its own (though you may well consider piling squidgy squares of this on a plate, dusting with icing sugar and stud with birthday candles for serving) or, to each bowl, add a dollop of oat-milk creme fraiche, a treacle-toffee squiggle of date molasses, and a scattering of pomegranate seeds for seasonal sumptuousness.
Warning: ideally you need to make this at least a day before you plan to eat it. Harsh, I know.
I am preposterously proud of this squidgy gingerbread, and I don't mind who knows it. It's everything you want out of a gingerbread — sticky, spicy, deeply aromatic — and you would never miss the butter or eggs.
Eat darkly on its own (though you may well consider piling squidgy squares of this on a plate, dusting with icing sugar and stud with birthday candles for serving) or, to each bowl, add a dollop of oat-milk creme fraiche, a treacle-toffee squiggle of date molasses, and a scattering of pomegranate seeds for seasonal sumptuousness.
Warning: ideally you need to make this at least a day before you plan to eat it. Harsh, I know.
Ingredients
Yields: 12 slabs but could easily be cut into 18
- 150 millilitres vegetable oil
- 200 grams golden syrup
- 200 grams black treacle
- 125 grams dark muscovado sugar
- 75 grams pitted soft prunes (about 8 in number)
- 30 grams fresh ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ready-ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 250 millilitres oat milk
- 300 grams plain flour
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 2 teaspoons regular cider vinegar
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- ⅔ cup golden syrup or light corn syrup
- ⅔ cup black molasses
- ⅔ cup dark brown sugar
- heaping ⅓ cup pitted soft pitted prunes (about 8 in number)
- a 3 inch piece of fresh gingerroot
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ready-ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup oat milk
- 2¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons regular apple cider vinegar
Method
- Heat the oven to 170°C/150°C Fan/325°F. Line a 23cm / 9-in square tin with a sheet of baking parchment, so that it covers the bottom and comes up the sides of the tin. Leave something heavy on it to keep it down while you melt everything together.
- Measure the oil in a jug, and pour it into a fairly wide, heavy-based saucepan; I use one of 22cm / 9in diameter. Measure the syrup and treacle using the oily jug, as this will stop them sticking and help them pour out easily into the saucepan.
- Tip the sugar into the pan, and chop the prunes finely before adding them. Peel the ginger with the tip of a teaspoon and grate it finely into the pan. Sprinkle in the spices and salt and warm over gentle heat, whisking to combine. But don’t whisk too much: you do not want to get a lot of air in the mixture.
- Once everything’s melted and mixed, take the pan off the heat; it should be warm at this stage, rather than boiling hot. Add the oat milk, whisking gently to make sure it’s incorporated.
- Whisk in the flour in 3 or 4 batches, getting rid of any lumps patiently as you go. This will take a few minutes; the only lumps you should see are the little bits of prune, although they will melt into the gingerbread as it bakes.
- Dissolve the bicarb in 2 x 15ml tablespoons of warm water — do this in a bigger cup than you think it needs — then add the vinegar and quickly whisk the fizzing mixture into the pan.
- Pour the gingerbread batter into the lined tin carefully and bake for 50–55 minutes, though start checking at 45. It may look cooked at 45 minutes, but as it’s so damp, a cake tester won’t help enormously — you’d expect some crumbs to stick to it — so take it out of the oven and touch the top quickly; if cooked, it should bounce back a bit under your fingers.
- Leave to cool in its tin on a rack, although I’m afraid I’m going to caution you against eating it the minute it’s cold. To taste this at its best, wrap the tin first in baking parchment and then in foil, and leave for a day or two before cutting into it.
- Heat the oven to 170°C/150°C Fan/325°F. Line a 23cm / 9-in square tin with a sheet of baking parchment, so that it covers the bottom and comes up the sides of the tin. Leave something heavy on it to keep it down while you melt everything together.
- Measure the oil in a jug, and pour it into a fairly wide, heavy-based saucepan; I use one of 22cm / 9in diameter. Measure the syrup and treacle using the oily jug, as this will stop them sticking and help them pour out easily into the saucepan.
- Tip the sugar into the pan, and chop the pitted prunes finely before adding them. Peel the ginger with the tip of a teaspoon and grate it finely into the pan. Sprinkle in the spices and salt and warm over gentle heat, whisking to combine. But don’t whisk too much: you do not want to get a lot of air in the mixture.
- Once everything’s melted and mixed, take the pan off the heat; it should be warm at this stage, rather than boiling hot. Add the oat milk, whisking gently to make sure it’s incorporated.
- Whisk in the flour in 3 or 4 batches, getting rid of any lumps patiently as you go. This will take a few minutes; the only lumps you should see are the little bits of prune, although they will melt into the gingerbread as it bakes.
- Dissolve the bicarb in 2 x 15ml tablespoons of warm water — do this in a bigger cup than you think it needs — then add the vinegar and quickly whisk the fizzing mixture into the pan.
- Pour the gingerbread batter into the lined tin carefully and bake for 50–55 minutes, though start checking at 45. It may look cooked at 45 minutes, but as it’s so damp, a cake tester won’t help enormously — you’d expect some crumbs to stick to it — so take it out of the oven and touch the top quickly; if cooked, it should bounce back a bit under your fingers.
- Leave to cool in its tin on a rack, although I’m afraid I’m going to caution you against eating it the minute it’s cold. To taste this at its best, wrap the tin first in baking parchment and then in foil, and leave for a day or two before cutting into it.
Additional Information
STORE:
Store, wrapped in baking parchment and foil or in airtight container, in cool place for up to 5 days.
FREEZE:
Tightly wrap whole cake left on baking parchment or slices in double layer of food wrap, then wrap whole cake in layer of foil or put slices in an airtight container. Freeze for up to 3 months (cake) or 1 month (slices). Unwrap and defrost on wire rack at room temperature.
STORE:
Store, wrapped in baking parchment and foil or in airtight container, in cool place for up to 5 days.
FREEZE:
Tightly wrap whole cake left on baking parchment or slices in double layer of food wrap, then wrap whole cake in layer of foil or put slices in an airtight container. Freeze for up to 3 months (cake) or 1 month (slices). Unwrap and defrost on wire rack at room temperature.
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Show more commentsI have just made this for the second time but substituted almond milk as I didn’t have oat milk and used soft dates instead of prunes - still the best gingerbread ever and the only vegan sweet treat I can honestly say is delicious (I am not a vegan!).
Made this last Christmas in place of the usual Christmas fruit cake, and it was a hit. Has been requested again this year. I now have to make 2, separate orders!
My son has many allergies, this cake is a total winner with him and also the family. It is wonderful as a pudding or just on its own also it freezes really well, for whenever family arrives unexpectedly. Simply delicious Nigella thank you!
I made this for my son who is asthmatic and allergic to eggs. First cake he has eaten and loves it. Thank you for creating this it is simply fantastic!
Moist, succulent delicious dark Vegan sticky spicy moist gingerbread cake ideal as part of your Christmas delights the most fantastic light cake looks and tastes fantastic. Quick easy to make cuts into 48 small slices or 24 larger pieces, it's even more squidgy after keeping for a few days, add some chopped up pecans, walnuts, Brazil nuts if you desire, serve with almond milk creme friache! Ideal at Christmas time, afternoon tea, to add to a hamper this makes an ideal gift wrapped in cellophane bags and tied with a festive bow. Utterly scrumptious. Enjoy!
Love this! Great to see a vegan pudding on your site, keep em coming!
I've made this gingerbread on two occasions so far and the comments have been very positive, usually along the lines of - best tasting gingerbread I've ever had and can I have some more please.
I am genuinely astounded by how good this cake is. Honestly, Nigella, if you had led the vegan revolution there would be many, many, MANY more of us behind it by now. Please, PLEASE consider writing a vegan cake recipe book.
This cake made me sign up for an account and also, I'm sure, make my man love me a little bit more.
I didn't have treacle or ground black pepper so I used blackstrap molasses ground white pepper. I also used skimmed milk, which I was worried about but doesn't seem to have been a problem.
OMG, DELICIOUS. Fiery and gooey, a new favourite. (We also couldn't wait a day to crack into it... )
I couldn’t resist having a slice or two of this gingerbread as soon as it had cooled - it smelled and tasted delicious! However, it is totally worth resisting for a day as it gets even better. So squidgy. Never buying ready-made gingerbread again!
Wowee, this was so moreish, luscious. I cut it in to squares and gave as an xmas treats to friends. I hadn't seen the show when I made this, and I used a much darker soft brown sugar (as dark as the treacle) resulting in a nearly black sponge, with the dusting of icing sugar it looked magical and the taste was exotic.
I made this today, as a New Year's Eve treat, after watching Nigella make it on TV recently - wow! It's absolutely delicious and so easy to make! I will be making it every year at Christmas from now on. Thanks, Nigella, for a brilliant recipe, probably the first vegan recipe I've ever made!