Vegan marmalade and ginger cake - this fiery cake is moist, soft and sticky with a delicate orange flavour and a spicy ginger kick.
It is easy to make, keeps well and is fantastic with a cuppa!
This delicious, spicy cake is an updated vegan version of one of my very old recipes. Made with orange marmalade and both fresh and dried ginger it is warming, sticky and very moreish!
It is lovely served as a snack with a cup of tea, but it would also be great as a pudding served warm with custard or ice cream.
While ginger cakes are most often baked around Christmas time, I think that this cake is lovely all year round. Why not try serving it with grilled pineapple and ice cream for a summery dessert?!
For any fans of the old (non-vegan) recipe, it can be found at the bottom of this post, below the recipe card; though I do urge you to give the new vegan version a try, it is delicious!
What Do I Need To Make Marmalade And Ginger Cake?:
Marmalade: I use a thick cut orange marmalade but a fine shred one should be fine too.
Ground almonds: Adding some ground almonds (almond flour) helps to keep the cake moist and give it a lovely texture. There isn’t really a good substitute for this ingredient.
Vegan butter: Either block or spreadable is fine but don’t use a ‘light’ variety. I used Flora original.
Plain flour: Regular plain (all-purpose) flour is best. I have not tried making this cake gluten-free but I suspect that it should work ok with a plain GF flour blend plus ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum.
Milk: Any kind of unsweetened non-dairy milk will work (except tinned coconut). I use soy.
Sugar: I use caster but granulated, light brown soft or coconut sugar will also work. Do not use sweeteners or liquid sugars instead.
Baking powder: Necessary for the rise. Do not use baking soda instead, they are not the same thing.
Ginger: I use both dried and finely grated fresh ginger for a strong ginger kick. For a milder flavour you can just use one or the other.
Cinnamon: Optional but delicious.
Orange: This is optional but adding some finely grated orange zest helps to bring out the orange flavour.
How To Make Marmalade And Ginger Cake:
(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)
Gently heat the butter and marmalade together until melted, whisk to break up the marmalade.
Whisk in the sugar, milk, orange zest and fresh ginger.
Add the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, ground ginger and cinnamon and stir with a balloon whisk until no dry lumps remain.
Pour the batter into a greased and lined 20 cm/8 in round cake tin and bake for 45 minutes.
Top Tips:
As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
The cake is ready when it is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.
The cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days.
It can also be frozen, well wrapped to prevent freezer burn.
The cake can be left plain, or you can gently warm 125g of marmalade with 2 Tablespoons of orange juice until runny and spoon it over the top of the cake before serving.
More Vegan Ginger Cake Recipes:
- Banana gingerbread
- Easy ginger cake
- Vegan ginger loaf cake
- Vegan parkin
- Vegan ginger bundt cake
- Woodland animal ginger cake
If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess
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Marmalade And Ginger Cake (Vegan)
Ingredients
Cake:
- 150 g (⅔ cup) vegan butter
- 125 g (4 ½ oz) marmalade
- 160 g (¾ cup) caster or granulated sugar
- 120 ml (½ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk
- finely grated zest of 1 large orange
- 1 Tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
- 215 g (1 ¾ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 80 g (¾ cup) ground almonds
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160℃ fan/350°F/gas mark 4. Grease a 20 cm (8 in) round tin that is 5 cm / 2 in deep and line with baking parchment.
- Gently heat the butter and marmalade together until melted, either in a pan over a low heat or in the microwave. Whisk to break up the marmalade.
- Whisk in the sugar, milk, orange zest and fresh ginger.
- Add the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, ground ginger and cinnamon and stir with a balloon whisk until no dry lumps remain.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 15 minutes then turn it out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
Notes
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos.
- As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
Original (non-vegan) version:
I originally published this recipe in 2017 and have since updated and veganised it. For anyone who loved the original marmalade and ginger cake recipe I have included it below.
Ingredients:
Cake:
- 175 g (⅔ cup + 1tbsp) butter unsalted, softened
- 200 g (1 cup) caster sugar
- 180 g (1 ½ cups) plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 80 g (¾ cup) ground almonds
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 large eggs
- 100 g (3.5 oz) marmalade
- finely grated zest of 1 orange
- 1 heaped Tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
- 2 tbsp milk
To Decorate:
- 125 g (4.5 oz) marmalade
- 2 tbsp fresh orange juice
- 75 g (¾ cup) icing (powdered) sugar sifted
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- 1 tbsp milk
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Grease a deep 20cm(8in) round tin and line the base with baking parchment.
Whisk together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, ground almonds, ginger and cinnamon.
Whisk the eggs into the butter mixture one at a time, adding a spoonful of the flour mixture with each one and beating well after each addition.
Fold in the rest of the flour mixture along with the marmalade, orange zest, ground ginger and milk until well combined then transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and spread level.
Bake for 45-60 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. You may need to loosely cover the top of the cake with tin foil halfway through baking to prevent it from browning too much.
Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 15 minutes then turn it out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
Gently warm the marmalade and orange juice together until runny then spread all over the top of the cake.
Sift the icing sugar and ground ginger into a bowl and stir in the milk to form a slightly runny icing. Drizzle the icing all over the top of the cake and serve. Store in an airtight container.
Jacqui Bellefontaine
Oh I so want to make this. I love marmalade (about to make a batch today), love ginger and I love cake so this sound bliss. Your pictures as always are beautiful. Ive pinned for later will try wait until the weekend before giving in and making this.
hannahhossack
Thanks Jacqui! This would be a great use for some of your marmalade! 🙂
Mary Adams
Hanna,
I have to let you know that this cake was wonderful. I made it a month or so and forgot to let you know how much myself and my spouse enjoyed this. It’s definitely a winner! I’m making the chocolate gingerbread cake, hopefully today, and I’ll let you know how it turns out. Also, the woodland animal ginger cake is adorable and I plan to make that in the near future. Thank you for your great recipes and artistic talent so glad I found your website!
Debra
What can be used as a substitute for the almonds in this recipe? It sounds just wonderful, but I cannot eat nuts. Thank you for all the wonderful recipes you share.
hannahhossack
Hi Debra, I would suggest substituting the almonds with an equal quantity of either semolina or polenta (by weight NOT volume). This should work well but you may need to add a drop more milk to the batter as they are drier than ground almonds, hope that helps and thank you!
Angela - Patisserie Makes Perfect
This looks delicious Hannah, I'll definitely have to give this a try.
Elaine
This looks great. I am thinking about making for me mother in law 60th. Do you think it will stay moist if coveted with a very thin layer of fondant icing. Was going to use marmalade to cover cake before icing? Or do you have any other ideas how to decorate with impact
hannahhossack
Hi Elaine, yes, it would stay moist if covered in fondant and marmalade would be perfect for sticking the fondant in place 🙂
Gareth Pengelly
Made this today and I am just enjoying a big slice with some Creme fraiche and a cup of tea. It’s absolutely gorgeous....I also had some crystallised ginger which I chopped into small pieces and scattered on the top to decorate...thumbs up from me.
Claudia
Delicious!! I swapped the dairy for substitutes (margarine, oat milk) and cooked for 60 minutes. The cake sank a bit but maybe that’s because I opened the oven after 20 minutes to place the foil over the cake. The glazes were excellent and the marbled effect was very pretty. Thank you for the recipe!
Cathy Anderson
Love, love the flavour in this cake! Love it warm and love in two days old! I’ve made it for friends for Christmas and for bake sales. Everyone loves it!
My problem is the center does not rise. It cooks, but the edges are higher than the middle. I used regular sugar but that is the only change I made. Do you have any idea how to fix my problem? I use a gas oven and have tried a glass pan and a metal one.
hannahhossack
Hi Cathy, so glad to hear you love the cake! Unfortunately that can be a common problem with really moist cakes like this one, I think that mine did dip a little in the middle too. My only thought is to try increasing the quantity of flour a little and see if that helps - I would try 200g to start.
Penny
I have just made a vegan version of this using 2 x egg replacements and 1 x flax egg, and using blend of Stork and Naturli instead of dairy butter. It is divine! What a super recipe, it's a really lovely cake, thank you Hannah! Mine had a sight dip in the middle which I find hard to avoid when excluding eggs, but its wasn't an issue - it hadn't collapsed or anything like that. It was a pleasure to make and a pleasure to eat!
Mary
I just made this and it was absolutely delicious. I used a thick cut Seville orange marmalade from a local farm shop... quite a rustic and bitter marmalade left here by my mum (I don't really eat marmalade) I was worried it would be bitter but it was perfect and the ginger and sugar really balances the flavour. It also rose perfectly and has a beautiful moist but light crumb. Even the children enjoyed it and I genuinely thought it would be too much for them. Really impressed.
Lynda Lord
Two of my husband’s favourite things are marmalade and ginger so I had flagged this recipe. Some friends were coming for lunch who are also big ginger fans so it was time to make it. The cake was beautifully moist with such lovely flavour. It came out of the oven with a proper rise and no sunken middle. Everyone loved this absolutely delicious cake. Thanks so much for posting this wonderful recipe which I will make many times over. Also I must say, I really appreciate your detailed instructions and the fact that you use weights for accuracy. I look forward to trying many more of your no doubt awesome recipes!
Hazel
Just made this cake for the first time. Utterly divine! Reminds me of ginger nut biscuits but better and in cake form.
Caroline
I've made this cake many times now, and every time its wonderful! The flavor is dimensional and balanced, and the texture is great — there is a slightly crusty outside that I really enjoy. It also a very quick and easy bake. It's become a seasonal staple for me!
Side note: It is also a great base for a little experimenting. I've experimented with adding vanilla or almond extract, tried using different jams and citrus combinations (blueberry and lemon), as well as tried it out using a combination of white and brown sugar. All are fun, but I love the tried and true original!