Vegan Iced Gingerbread Bundt Cake

By Ashley Melillo of Blissful Basil

Can we take a moment to cheers to this Vegan Iced Gingerbread Bundt Cake? 🥂 It’s the perfect way to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year.

Given that the holidays are also the busiest time of the year, it’s a good thing this pretty cake requires just 20 minutes of active kitchen time. It demands little more than a mix, a pour, and a pop into the oven from you. Can we get a heck HOLLY yes?! 🎄

Homemade gingerbread spice mix—a blend of ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice—is woven into a hearty spelt flour cake base. These warming spices, coupled with molasses, are the key to giving this cake its classic gingerbread flavor.

Swapping out cane sugar in favor of brown sugar adds additional depth to the cake’s gingerbread notes.

Vegan butter offers moisture and richness while flax “eggs” bind the cake together. While mild-flavored oil (e.g., grapeseed) could work in the place of the butter, we recommend sticking with the recipe as written—vegan butter really adds that extra something special.

‘Tis the holiday season, after all.

A simple, two-ingredient glaze is the finishing touch on this beauty of a bundt. Made with just powdered sugar and plant-based milk (or water), it’s easy to adjust the consistency to suit your preferences.

We prefer a moderately thick glaze that runs down the sides in a sheer, ice-like coating. Add more liquid to create a thin, barely there glaze or less to yield a super thick glaze that resembles royal icing.

We’ve gone the minimalist garnish route here, but feel free to get as festive as you’d like. Sprinkles, sparkling sugar, edible glitter, edible flowers—the options are about as endless as Santa’s toy-making duties.

As written, this recipe is naturally vegan. We’ve also included notes on how to make it soy-free and nut-free.

We hope you love this vegan gingerbread cake as much as we do. Happy holidays (and baking) to you!

Serves 12 | Active time: 20 minutes; Bake time: 50 minutes; Cool time: 30 minutes; Total time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

vegan, nut-free option, soy-free option

Gingerbread Cake

1 3/4 cups spelt flour
1 1/2 tablespoons Gingerbread Spice Mix (recipe below)
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
4 1/2 tablespoons filtered water
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) vegan butter, softened
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses (avoid blackstrap—too intense)
3/4 cup plain, unsweetened plant-based milk*

Icing

2 cups powdered sugar, more if needed to thicken
4 tablespoons plain, unsweetened plant-based milk or filtered water, more or less as needed

For the Gingerbread Cake

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch bundt pan and place on a small rimmed baking sheet (this will catch any drippings or bubbled-over batter during baking). Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the spelt flour, Gingerbread Spice Mix, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the ground flaxseed and filtered water. Let stand for 5 minutes, or until thickened and somewhat goopy.
To another large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer if you have one), add the brown sugar and vegan butter. Beat on high using a stand mixer or hand mixer until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed.
Add the whisked dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and then pour the flax "eggs", molasses, and milk over top. Mix until just combined, increasing the speed gradually to avoid a floury kitchen mess. The batter should be thick and fluffy.
Spoon batter into prepared bundt pan, and gently smooth the surface with a spatula. Wipe away excess batter drippings from the pan to prevent scorching.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the cake is pulling away from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cool for 20 minutes in the pan, then very carefully flip and turn the cake out onto a wire cooling rack. Cool completely.

For the Icing

Prepare the icing when the cake is nearly cool.
In a medium shallow mixing bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and milk until desired consistency is reached. Start by adding 2 tablespoons milk and work your way up from there, adding one tablespoon at a time until your glaze consistency is achieved.

To Assemble

Generously drizzle the icing over the cooled cake. Let stand to set the icing before serving or slice and serve immediately.
Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

*To keep this cake nut-free, use a nut-free plant-based milk like oat milk or pea milk. To keep this cake soy-free, use a soy-free plant-based milk like almond milk, pea milk, or oat milk.

Gingerbread Spice Mix