Applesauce is this key to this moist and flavorful vegan ginger cake. No one will know it’s fat-free and made with whole-grain flour.
Imagine biting into this moist and tender vegan ginger cake. First you breathe in the aroma of cinnamon, and as you take your first bite, you savor the warm flavor of ginger. And then, just when you think you’ve figured out all the secrets of this sweet delight, you bite into a hidden nugget of candied ginger and POW–a rush of tingling flavor!
And then I tell you that it’s fat-free, and you just don’t believe me.
The secret is the applesauce, which is the only liquid in the cake–no eggs or egg substitutes, no non-dairy milk, no water. Applesauce makes this whole-wheat cake dense but moist at the same time while adding some natural sweetness.
The maple glaze, though delicious, is really just for show because this cake is sweet and tender enough without it. So leave it off if you like, and if you’re really intent of cutting back on sugar, try replacing all or part of the granulated sugar with erythritol, a sugar substitute that may actually have some health benefits.
With or without the sugar, if you’re a ginger lover, you won’t want to miss this cake. Consider it a Christmas present from me to you!
For more sweet winter treats, check out 10 Healthy Vegan Christmas Dessert Recipes.
Applesauce Ginger Cake with Maple Glaze
Ingredients
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons crystallized (candied) ginger , chopped small (about 3/4 ounce)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves
- 2 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Glaze
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 pinch ginger powder
- Additional candied ginger for serving optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a bundt pan or 9×9-inch baking pan.
- Mix the dry ingredients together; then add the applesauce, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Stir until combined but don’t over-stir. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45-60 minutes. Test by inserting a toothpick into the center; it’s done when the toothpick comes out perfectly clean.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Invert onto cake dish.
- Prepare the glaze: Combine the maple syrup, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, and generous pinch of powdered ginger in a small saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool and thicken. (You can put the pan in a bowl of cold water to speed up cooling.) When the glaze has thickened but is still pourable, drizzle it over the cake. Serve immediately, garnished with strips of candied ginger, if desired.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
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I wish you all a happy, peaceful holiday. Be good to yourselves and to each other!
Caity @ Moi Contre La Vie
So excited to try this! I love recipes like this when I have everything on hand. Yum!
Abby @ The Frosted Vegan
I was just brainstorming about a bundt cake, and you have solved my problems!
Michelle @ Eat Move Balance
Wow–this looks incredible. And I love the ingredient list. Only applesauce?!? I almost don’t believe it. I might try it out with the erythritol, since I have some at home. I wonder if the Stevia Baking Blend I have would work also? Thanks for sharing!!
Susan Voisin
Thanks, Michelle! I think Stevia Baking Blend would be great. I don’t have any anymore or I would have tried it.
jaime @ sweet road
I love the versatility of this cake – more in terms of being able to use it for more occasions than just the holidays. It seems like a great fall and early springtime treat too.
Lizanne
This is going on the Christmas menu! You have no idea how perfect this is for my family.
Janet
Susan, I have everything except the candied ginger. Are there any subs? I have a big piece of ginger root on hand….could I somehow use that? This recipe sounds AMAZING and can’t wait to try it!
Susan Voisin
I think I would just leave the candied ginger out. Ginger root is probably too fibrous. You can also add a little more ginger powder to give it more kick.
Rose haluschak
I am going to make it for Christmas and leave out the candied ginger….since I have no idea where to find it in El Paso! Thanks, Susan. I love your recipes!
Rose haluschak
I found the candied ginger!
Brenda
Susan, the top photo is one of your best EVER!!
Susan Voisin
Wow, thank you, Brenda! That makes my day!
graveyardgypsy
Yum! 🙂 Best of all, I have all the ingredients in the cupboard, so will definitely be making myself one to eat after the mad festive rush is over!
Tom
Hi Susan. Your photography shines and stands out as does this already very popular recipe. If using liquid sweetener, say date syrup, you think that in addition to the applesauce would be too much liquid in the recipe? Unless I cut the apple sauce down some? It would be over 3 cups of liquid. Curious.
Susan Voisin
Thanks for the kind words, Tom! Yes, that’s why I didn’t try to use maple syrup or date syrup in the recipe. I think it would be just too much liquid because it’s balanced right now. I’m sure it would be possible to do, but it would take some experimenting to find the right balance of flour, apple sauce, and liquid sweetener, and even then, this is such a moist cake that I’m afraid the results wouldn’t be as good.
Rebecca
Yeah!! A new killer recipe that looks soooo easy AND yummy. I am definitely going to serve this to guests this holiday season- yeah!!! Thanks a bunch and happy holidays 😉
Angie
Do you think all-purpose gluten free flour would work?
Susan Voisin
I haven’t tried it, but I think it would.
Barbara
Thanks for yet another great recipe! So simple, yet so satisfying!
veganamericanprincess
I thought I knew it all, but I guess I dont. Never heard of the sweetener erythritol. Do you think the cake would taste good with the substitute? Where do you buy it?
Susan Voisin
I know Amazon has it, and NuNaturals also makes it (https://nunaturals.com/product/99), but it’s on the expensive side.
moonwatcher
Hi Susan,
This is gorgeous!! And I can almost smell the ginger and spices just looking at it! I did not know there was such a thing as stevia baking blend, and I just watched the video about erythritol. I might get adventurous and try one of those out with my gluten free flour mix. Right now I’m leaning toward toward making a gluten free version of the chocolate blueberry cake, with carob and huckleberries. So nice to add another possibility to the list for holiday treats. Hope the holidays are good to you, and thanks for being so good to all of us!
xo
moonwatcher
Jeremie
Can this be made in a loaf pan or a rectangular pan?
Susan Voisin
Rectangular pan, yes, but I think a loaf pan would probably be too deep and narrow.
Brenda
I’m baking this right now (as muffins) and it smells amazing!
laloofah
Well, I may as well just get busy right this red-hot minute making this, because as soon as my husband sees it he’s going to start whining for it! 🙂 (But being a UPS man, he’s definitely earned himself a yummy treat this week, not to mention the right to whine a little bit!)
ali
Do you think this will still work well and taste as relish if we swap in Gluten Free flour, like Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose GF Flour..? I can’t eat gluten..
ali
That was supposed to read “taste as delish” *not* relish. lol
my computer auto corrected me without my consent. 🙂
Radhika Sarohia
This looks so good…wonder if I could use low-carb flour to make it
Might have to add frosting too hehe
Angela W.
Susan — I just made this cake and it is FABULOUS! I didn’t have candied ginger so I simply added 1/4 tsp extra powdered ginger. I also lined the bottom of my cake pan with some thinly sliced apples before pouring in the batter…. absolute heaven!
My mom and daughter spent all day making traditional Christmas cookies and I didn’t eat even one! (a huge accomplishment, by the way)! So this cake is my reward.
Thanks and Have a wonderful new year.
maryeb
Hi Susan,
In the ingredient list there is a tablespoon of cornstarch listed. I see that the maple glaze uses a teaspoon of the cornstarch. Does the rest of the cornstarch get put in with the dry cake ingredients?
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I was at quite a loss as to what to make for dessert for my Christmas dinner. I was so excited to see this recipe. It looks perfect.
Susan Voisin
Hi Maryeb, the tablespoon of cornstarch goes into the cake and an additional tsp. goes into the glaze. I hope you enjoy it!
Isobel Lechner
This recipe caught my attention. I love anything ginger but am not a big fan of cake. It is great. It stayed moist for days, I even had a piece for breakfast. Definitely a recipe that I will keep and may be use the base recipe with different spices and flavorings.
Brenda
Just as an update if anyone else wants to make this as muffins: the recipe fills a full-sized muffin pan with some left over (which I just kind of smooshed into the 12 cups). They took about 30 minutes to bake. I skipped the glaze, but they still tasted great!
Mrylyn
I made this tonight and loved it! I did not make the glaze and it was still delicious!
slywlf
Oh my! I cannot wait to try this! 😉
Roberto
So easy and so good. Didn’t have the crystalized ginger and substitued Splenda instead of sugar. Omitted the icing and made in 9 x 9 pan. In essence was a real calorie savor. Wonder if substituting more vanilla or carob instead of ginger if it would be suitable as a plain cake or chocolate cake?
Werner
This is a fantastic dessert for the holidays. We celebrate with a Swedish theme to honor part of our heritage, but the pepparkakkor cake we have been making every year (loaded with eggs, butter, and sugar) doesn’t come close to the moist, rich flavor of your apple ginger cake…and so much more healthful! I made my own applesauce, which was a bit less than 2 1/4 c., so I added a splash of soy milk. Used a bundt pan and when cooled sprinkled lightly w/ powdered sugar instead of the glaze. Thank you so much for this, and all, of your recipes.
Rose haluschak
I made it tonight! Super good…with or without the candied ginger! This recipe ia a keeper. Thanks, Susan!
Heidi
This recipe was delicious! Made it with turbinado sugar instead of white sugar, and it was moist and wonderful–like really sinful gingerbread. I was all ready for my husband to hate it (he always gives me grief when I cook with applesauce instead of oil/margarine), but he can’t stop eating it. Thank you, Susan.
braelin
Susan, Ditto re. this being one of your best photos yet! Question for you– can you share where you got the cake stand? I always love your eclectic dishes– would love to hear more from you about where/how you’ve acquired such a collection! My guess is savvy thrifting and/or estate sales, but perhaps you have other secret sources!?!? 🙂 Do share!
Susan Voisin
I wish I could remember where I got the cake plate, but I’m sure it was on sale or clearance at some store like Tuesday Morning, TJMaxx, or Marshall’s. I pick up a lot of dishes at those places at clearance prices and also shop thrift and antique stores. My very favorites, though, are locally made pottery pieces that I pick up at craft shows– sometimes I luck out and find an artist who is actually affordable. I’m always looking for dishes that I think will photograph well, and I really need to have an estate sale of my own because I’ve run out of space for new ones!
Abra
So easy to make and everyone enjoyed it 🙂
Julie Beech
I loved the cake. My glaze was not so successful. Initially, I heated the maple syrup and then added the cornstarch. This resulted in lumps that were impossible to wisk away. I tried it again, this time mixing the syrup and cornstarch before heating. but being short on maple syrup I topped it up with a low sugar pancake syrup. This resulted in a goo that would not melt down. I would like to try the glaze again. Do you have any ideas for substitutions
ALB
Great! I’m just baking it :)) with some little changes! Thanks for the recipe!
Beth-ann
SOOOO delicious!! And it was amazingly easy to prepare!!
Susan Voisin
I’m so glad you liked it! One of the great things about fat-free vegan cakes is that there’s no butter and sugar to cream together. Couldn’t be easier!
roopa
i feel very very good recipe i love this very much
Rosemary
Made this wonderful cake today. WOW It is going to be one of mt favorites. I did make 1 change, I use brown rice syrup instead of the sugar. decreased the applesauc by 1/4 cup. It is so moist. I love it and I am so glad I foud your website!
Jen
Hi Rosemary! I would love to sub liquid sweetener as well and was wondering if you used a full cup of liquid sweetener in place of the dry? Thanks!
CBColeman
OH WOW . . so good! we’ve decide to make one of these every Sunday. Today we are trying it in mini-bundt pans. THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3
I experimented a little – used pumpkin pie spice to replace the spices, noticed that the amount of applesauce is equal to one 24-ounce jar and I use brown sugar, maybe that makes even denser? Might even pre-mix the dry ingredients so I can just dump applesauce, vanilla and lemon juice in when I need a fix.
YUMMMMMMEEEE
Lindsay
Are the cloves in this recipe ground or whole? I assume they’re ground, but I can’t find ground cloves anywhere.
I can’t wait to try this. I’m trying to wait for a party at the end of the month so I can share it… but I might have to make it now and eat it all myself!
Susan Voisin
The cloves are ground. I’m surprised you haven’t been able to find them! I just buy them in the regular grocery store spice section.
world best
I love the relative simplicity in making this and it’s one of those dishes that could easily fit in at just about any family gathering. Easy to procure all the ingredients as well. Lovely recipe indeed.