Jamaican ginger cake recipe – Learn how to make this gluten free version of this delicious, moist, spiced infused Caribbean cake.
I think it’s about time that I introduced you to another Jamaican classic cake. This one is a mouth watering Jamaican ginger cake aka Jamaican gingerbread cake, made from scratch and great to serve at a family gathering. I promise you will fall in love with this seriously moist ginger cake after one serving.
When it came to baking sweet treats and desserts, my grandmother was the queen of whipping up cakes. I have fond childhood memories of my sweet grandma making toto (coconut cake), sweet potato pudding and cornmeal pone.
Ginger cake was a favourite of mine so I used to love Sundays when my grandmother would tell me that she was going to bake some cake. I would always put in my request for some ginger cake.
Unlike the store brought Jamaican ginger cake, true Caribbean gingerbread is moist but not sticky at all. If you’ve tried both cake you will immediately tell there a distinct difference and that’s because the factory clone recipe has been adapted to something much more sticky (taste too sickly in my opinion).
Jamaican ginger cake ingredients
You will need the following;
- Gluten free flour
- Dairy free butter
- coconut sugar
- Raw molasses
- Baking soda/powder
- Large eggs
- Ground pimento (allspice)
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground and fresh ginger
- Ground nutmeg
- Pink salt
- Vanilla
The recipe for Jamaican ginger cake also calls for the following tools
- Loaf tin x2 (9×5 inch)
- Stand mixer (optional, can use a hand held mixer instead)
- Loaf tin liners (or use parchment paper)
- Spatula
How to make Jamaican ginger cake
I made the entire recipe using my stand mixer, however if you do not own one then simply use an electric hand mixer instead.
Cream the butter with the sugar – The first thing you will need to do is cream the butter and sugar together. You will need to do this using room temperature butter so it’s able to actually cream with the sugar. I do this using the highest setting while I continue weighing up the additional ingredients. Let the two ingredients cream for a few minutes before moving onto the next step.
Add the eggs and fresh ginger – Crack both eggs in the same bowl and combine with the fresh ginger and vanilla extract. Then add the eggs to the butter/sugar mixture which should start to turn into a liquid/slush.
The molasses – The molasses is what gives the cake that uber dark hue. Molasses is naturally a thick consistency, what I did was melt the molasses in 1 cup of hot water so it’s easier to work with.
Flour blend and spices – The spices should all be added to the gluten free flour prior to moving onto the next step.
Half molasses/half flour – To form the cake batter as a general rule of thumb, I like to add half of the molasses first with half of the flour blend. Give everything a good mix and scrape the bowl so it’s evenly combined. Then add the remaining molasses and flour. Again scrape the bowl so the rest of the ingredients glide in more smoothly
Is this cake freezer friendly?
Yes, cut into slices and wrap up in a freezer friendly bag and freeze for up to 6 weeks.
Can I make a vegan version of this ginger cake?
I personally haven’t tried making it myself but I do know lots of vegans who make a similar cake using flax eggs/olive oil or banana in place of animal eggs. Make that change and it should work following the same steps.
Notes and tips
- Suitable for gluten free lifestyle
- Use raw treacle if you cannot obtain any molasses
- Freezer friendly recipe
- Can use a held whisk in place of a stand mixer
- For best results use both ground and fresh ginger for potency
More Jamaican recipes you may like
Jamaican ginger cake (step by step with pictures)
Add the butter and coconut sugar to the stand mixer and cream until fluffy
Add the eggs to the mix, meanwhile prepare the GF flour by adding the baking powder and soda, pin salt.
Add the remaining spices to the flour blend, now add half of the molasses and flour to the mixer.
Add the rest of the flour and molasses to the cake batter than divide the batter into two loaf tins.
Jamaican ginger cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups of gluten free flour
- 1 cup of dairy free butter room temperature
- 1 cup of coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup of molasses + 1 cup of hot water
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp of baking soda
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- 2 tsp of ground ginger
- 1 heaping tbsp of fresh ginger grated
- 1 tsp of ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp of ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp of ground pimento allspice
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1/4 tsp himalayan pink salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 180c/356F/Gas mark 4 and line two loaf tins with either a liner or parchment paper.
- Add the flour to a large bowl along with the cinnamon, nutmeg, pimento, baking soda/powder, pink salt and set aside
- Cream the butter and coconut sugar until fluffy on high speed
- Crack the eggs in a bowl and add the vanilla extract and fresh ginger
- Add the eggs to the buttery mix, on medium speed, mix for 2 minutes. Meanwhile prepare the molasses by mixing the molasses with 1 cup of hot water in a jug and stir to melt completely.
- Carefully pour half of the molasses into the mixer along with half of the flour blend.
- Proceed to mix to combine on medium speed, stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add the remaining flour and molasses to the mixing bowl and give the cake batter a good mix for 1-2 minutes.
- Scrape the bowl one more time, mix for 1 minutes to ensure the cake bake has evenly mixed together.
- Pour the cake batter into both loaf tins and bake for 40 minutes.
- Check the readiness of the cake by using a skewer, if it comes out clean, the cake is done. If not bake for another 5 minutes at a times, checking with a skewer until it comes out clean.
Notes
- Suitable for gluten free lifestyle
- Use raw treacle if you cannot obtain any molasses
- Freezer friendly recipe
- Can use a held whisk in place of a stand mixer
- For best results use both ground and fresh ginger for potency
Nutrition
I love your website and your recipes are always interesting. Healthy but fun, this was as nice to make as it looks 😋
Thanks Sylvia