Chocolate gingerbread - this delicious, rich, sticky, spicy cake is a wonderful marriage between chocolate cake and gingerbread.
The cocoa and chocolate chips perfectly complement the warming, spicy ginger; this is the perfect cake for bonfire night or Christmas.
Gingerbread has to be one of my absolute favourite kinds of cake, my easy vegan ginger cake is definitely one of my top ten all-time favourites. This amazing chocolate gingerbread cake might just have surpassed that however!
It is a beautifully soft, moist, sticky cake, as all good gingerbread should be; but the flavour is elevated by the addition of cocoa powder and chocolate chips alongside the usual ginger and spices.
The result is wonderfully rich, deeply flavoured and so very moreish. This is a great cake to make for bonfire night or Christmas, but it is simple and easy enough to make that it is lovely just to have around to snack on at any point.
It is the kind of cake that is even better a day or two after baking as it becomes more sticky and delicious as it sits, and it will keep well for at least a week.
Ingredient Details:
Plain flour: Just regular plain (all-purpose) flour. I don't recommend swapping it for wholemeal, it will make the cake too dense.
I haven't tried making this cake gluten-free, but I suspect that it would work ok with a gluten-free flour blend plus ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum if the flour doesn’t already contain it.
Milk: You can use any kind you like but it should ideally be unsweetened and soy milk is best as it has the highest protein content.
Brown sugar: Dark brown soft or muscovado sugar adds a lovely treacle flavour. You can use light brown instead, but do go for dark if you have it.
Treacle: I use black treacle but molasses will also work.
Golden Syrup: If you weren't already aware then golden syrup is vegan friendly! Lyle's is the most well known brand, but supermarket own is absolutely fine and is what I use. See below for details.
Oil: Any neutral flavoured oil will work, I use olive.
Baking powder and soda: Make sure that you use both, they are not interchangeable.
Vinegar: This reacts with the raising agents to help the cake rise. I use cider vinegar but white or red wine vinegar is fine too, as is lemon juice.
Spices: Ginger, cinnamon and cloves add loads of spicy, warming flavour.
Cocoa powder: Use dutch processed cocoa powder rather than natural (that's just regular cocoa powder to those of you in the UK).
Chocolate chips: These are optional but highly recommended. For extra ginger flavour you could swap some of them for roughly chopped crystallised ginger.
What Is A Substitute For Golden Syrup?:
Golden syrup is a very common baking ingredient in the UK; it has a buttery caramel flavour and the texture of honey (Lyle's Golden Syrup is vegan friendly). It can be tricky to get hold of elsewhere, though apparently lots of stores in the US have it in the foreign foods section or you can get in online. You can also try making your own!
There isn't really a good substitute for it as it is very unique, but if you aren't able to get hold of any and don't want to make your own then you can swap it for light molasses or corn syrup instead.
How To Make Chocolate Gingerbread Cake:
(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)
Step 1: Whisk together the oil, sugar, treacle, golden syrup, warm milk and vinegar in a large bowl.
Step 2: Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, spices, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt and stir with a balloon whisk until no dry lumps remain.
Step 3: Fold in the chocolate chips.
Step 4: Pour the batter into a greased and lined 23 cm square cake tin and bake for about 45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
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!
Make sure that you don't over-beat the batter as that can make the cake tough. Just mix it until no dry lumps remain. I recommend stirring it by hand with a balloon whisk.
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.
FAQ's:
This chocolate gingerbread cake is best eaten a day or two after baking as it becomes more sticky and delicious. Store it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week or so.
Yes the cake freezes well. Allow it to cool completely then wrap it well to prevent freezer burn and freeze for up to 3 months. Allow to defrost at room temperature to serve.
Because this is such a rich, moist, sticky cake it will likely dip in the middle slightly, this is normal with this kind of cake and is not a fault with the recipe. You do need to be careful not to be heavy handed with the golden syrup and treacle however as adding too much can cause the cake to sink more than it should. Make sure to weigh them out accurately using a scale.
More Vegan Ginger Cake Recipes:
- Banana gingerbread
- Easy ginger cake
- Vegan ginger loaf cake
- Vegan parkin
- Vegan ginger bundt cake
- Woodland animal ginger cake
- Marmalade and 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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Chocolate Gingerbread Cake (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 150 ml (½ cup + 2 Tablespoons) neutral oil (I use olive)
- 100 g (packed ½ cup) dark brown soft sugar
- 180 g (9 Tablespoons) treacle
- 180 g (9 Tablespoons) golden syrup
- 250 ml (1 cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy) warm
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 280 g (2 ¼ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 40 g (4 packed Tablespoons) cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 3 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 175 g (6 oz) chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170℃/150℃ fan/325℉/gas mark 3 and grease a 23 cm/9 in square tin and line it with baking parchment.
- Whisk together the oil, sugar, treacle, golden syrup, warm milk and vinegar in a large bowl until well combined.
- Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt and stir gently with a balloon whisk until no dry lumps remain.
- Add the chocolate chips and gently fold through.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and spread it level. Bake for 45-50 minutes until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.
- Leave to cool completely in the tin then store in an airtight container.
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!
- Because this is such a rich, moist, sticky cake it will likely dip in the middle slightly, this is normal with this kind of cake and is not a fault with the recipe. You do need to be careful not to be heavy handed with the golden syrup and treacle however as adding too much can cause the cake to sink more than it should. Make sure to weigh them out accurately using a scale.
Saffron
Absolutely delicious cake with real depth of flavour from the black treacle, ginger and chocolate. The chocolate chips are a great addition (but I think it would still be a great cake without them). It was beautifully moist too. I tried it a day after baking but it was even better the next day so I would definitely try to wait a couple of days before eating as Hannah advises. A great recipe especially for this time of year.
Kat
Baked this two days ago. Lovely! The texture does get richer with time, almost brownie-like. My only 25cm pan is made of glass so I used that. Perhaps I should have used a 350o oven because the cake took a full hour to bake and had sunk in the middle significantly while still baking (I used both a scale and an oven thermometer). The tester came out with no wet batter although the centre still felt a little wobbly but I didn't want to overbake it so I took it out. It turned out perfect. The batter is quite runny so the chocolate sinks to the bottom- do not skip the parchment paper!
Rowanak
I think you have a very good knowledge of (vegan) baking. I have learned things reading your blog about the science of baking soda and baking powder! Typically when I bake vegan I am very anxious about the rise. This bake had a huge rise I was so impressed! It did sink in the middle and I maybe took it out of the oven 5 minutes too soon. I baked it in glass and lifted it out of the dish before it had completely cooled, my bad. The squares around the edge are Perfect. The cake has a lovely taste as well; can't wait to try more of your recipes.
Rosie Pressland
As normal Domestic Gothess strikes again. You are my go to vegan baking guru. I have made a lot of your recipes especially the cookies and sheet bakes - all met with pleasure from family and friends. Thank you so much
Suzie Pollington
Just tried this recipe!!! Absolutely love it.
I added orange zest and vanilla.
Thank you.