GLUTEN-FREE VEGAN SOURDOUGH GINGERBREAD CAKE
Hi Everyone! Christmas is around the corner and I think I’m just on time to share this delicious gluten-free & vegan sourdough gingerbread cake recipe.
I spent a few good weeks experimenting with a mix of different gluten-free flours, egg and butter substitutes to come up with this recipe, and I’m very excited to share it with you.
This gluten-free gingerbread cake is very moist and full of Christmas flavour! Adding gluten-free sourdough starter to the batter adds extra richness to the cake and keeps it fresh for much longer.
If you’re are looking for an allergy-friendly recipe, this is a perfect Christmas treat for you! This time I haven’t used any nut flour. Although I did use vegan butter and cream cheese that contain a small amount of almonds, it can be easily made nut-free by choosing a different brand for these products.
Can I replace vegan butter with coconut oil to make this gingerbread cake recipe?
Yes, you can, but the result will be quite different. I tried baking with both. Cake made with vegan butter (a blend of different oils) is softer and the fats are absorbed much better. The crumb structure will also be different. The gingerbread cake recipe made with coconut oil will have a more open crumb, which is not necessarily what you want for a cake, although it’s ideal for bread baking!
If you, however, still decide to go for coconut oil, I suggest to use 75-90g of coconut oil instead, as otherwise, the cake may feel too greasy. It’s just 30-45g less, but it makes a big difference.
Can I use a different type of gluten-free starter for this recipe?
I haven’t tried myself, but it really depends on the type of starter you would like to use. I find that buckwheat contributes to a really good structure and that’s why I use it to feed my starter, and for the base for most of my recipes. Using a different type of grain starter might slightly change the texture and the flavour of the cake. I would say that millet, brown rice, sorghum or oat starters are all safe to experiment with for this recipe.
I don’t have a sourdough starter. How can I make one?
Here is the recipe for the 100% buckwheat sourdough starter.
VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE SOURDOUGH GINGERBREAD CAKE
PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes
FERMENTATION TIME: 7-9 hours
BAKING TIME: 30 minutes
SERVES: 8 people
INGREDIENTS (3 layers)
-360g almond milk
-150g 100% hydration buckwheat starter
-180g super fine white rice flour*
-120g buckwheat flour
-120g molasses
-120g muscovado sugar
-120g vegan butter**
-90g apple sauce
-1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-3 tsp baking powder
-3/4 tsp baking soda
-3 tsp cinnamon powder
-1 1/2 tsp ginger powder
-1/4 + 1/8 tsp nutmeg powder***
-1/4 + 1/8 tsp clove powder
-Pinch of salt
CAKE FROSTING INGREDIENTS
- 400g vegan cream cheese ****
- 90g light agave syrup
- A dash of lemon juice
- 2 tsp orange zest
- 4 tsp orange juice
BAKING TOOLS
- 3x 6 inch sandwich cake tins. Click here to see the cake tins I used.
Instructions:
- In a large bowl, mix flours with almond milk, buckwheat starter, apple sauce, molasses and salt 7-9 hours before you want to bake the cake. Leave it at room temperature to ferment.
- Once the fermented batter is ready, heat your your oven to 180C.
- Coat your cake tins with coconut oil and dust them with some white rice flour. Set aside.
- In a separate medium-size bowl, add softened vegan butter, muscovado sugar, vanilla extract and spices, and mix it well.
- Add the mixture to the fermented batter and stir together to combine until smooth.
- Add baking powder and baking soda as the last ingredients and give it a final mix.
- Pour equal amounts of batter to each tin and place them in the oven to bake for 30min. Use the toothpick test to check if it’s done. Bake for extra 5 minutes if needed.
- Place each cake layer on the rack to cool down completely.
- To make the frosting, divide cream ‘cheese’ into two separate bowls. In one bowl, add 200g of cream ‘cheese’ with 45g of agave syrup and a dash of lemon juice. In the second bowl, add the rest of the cream ‘cheese’ together with 45g of agave syrup, orange zest and orange juice.
- Use the orange zest mixture to spread in between the layers and the other one to coat the top and the outside of the cake. I like to use my dough scraper to achieve the semi-naked cake look.
- Top it up with some Christmas cake decorations like ginger cookies, rosemary ‘Christmas trees’ , cinnamon sticks and etc. Enjoy!
NOTES
* For this recipe I milled my own basmati rice flour. If you don’t have your own mill and buy packaged flour, I would highly recommend looking at the expire date to make sure the flour you’re buying hasn't been sitting on the shelf for a very long time. Otherwise, it will affect the flavour and you might end up with a very bitter after taste.
** For this recipe, I used organic Naturli’ vegan butter block.
*** When measuring nutmeg and clove powder, please make sure that you stick to the measurements precisely. These spices are very strong and adding just a little extra can easily overpower the rest of the flavours.
**** I used Nush cream ‘cheese’ to make my gingerbread cake frosting.
